A home education tutor teaches a home-schooled child the subjects a family has chosen not to teach itself, often maths, the sciences and English once a child is working towards GCSEs or IGCSEs as a private candidate. Parents in England who home educate remain under the legal duty to ensure their child receives a suitable full-time education, with no requirement to follow the National Curriculum or to sit exams, so a tutor works to whatever plan the family has set.
For families arranging support, Taylor Tuition matches home-educated children with a one-to-one tutor, online for families across the UK and internationally or in person in central London, with fees starting from £50 per 50-minute session depending on tutor level and subject.
What does a home education tutor do?
A home education tutor usually takes on one subject, or the exam course in that subject, and teaches it to the family's plan in place of a school scheme of work. Arrangements usually follow one of a few patterns, and families often combine them as a child gets older.
- Weekly sessions in subjects a parent prefers not to teach, such as maths, the sciences or a modern foreign language
- A GCSE or IGCSE course planned back from the exam series the child will sit as a private candidate
- Several tutors across several subjects, with a parent coordinating the overall timetable
- Focused work on a gap, such as reading fluency, written English or arithmetic, for a child who has recently left school
Tutoring for GCSEs and IGCSEs as a private candidate
A home-educated child who wants GCSE or IGCSE certificates sits the exams as a private candidate, entered through a school, college or exam centre that accepts external entries. Many families choose IGCSEs for some or all subjects, since they are assessed mainly or wholly by written exam and avoid the coursework, practical and speaking components that a centre would have to supervise.
Tutoring for a private candidate starts from the specification the centre has agreed to enter, so the exam board and specification are worth confirming with the centre before teaching begins. Sessions then cover the course content and timed past-paper practice, and for the sciences that includes the practical skills IGCSE papers test in writing, through papers such as Cambridge's Alternative to Practical.
The guide to GCSEs for home-educated children covers finding a centre, choosing exam boards and planning from Year 9. IGCSE tutor profiles and GCSE tutor profiles show who is available at each level.
Do home-educated children have to follow the National Curriculum?
No: in England, parents who home educate do not have to follow the National Curriculum, keep to school hours or term dates, or enter their child for exams. Many families still use it, or a GCSE or IGCSE specification from Year 9 or Year 10, as the structure for deciding what each tutor covers, which keeps exams, a sixth-form place or a return to school open as options.
The rules on deregistration, the local authority's role and the position in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are set out in the guide to home schooling in the UK.
How sessions fit around home education
A home-educated child has no school timetable to work around, so sessions can be arranged during the school day as well as after school, depending on the matched tutor's availability. The number of sessions usually follows the plan: a weekly session keeps a subject moving, and an exam course often needs more in the months before the series.
Sessions run online for families across the UK and internationally, and in person in central London. Families receive progress reports after sessions and have a dedicated point of contact at Taylor Tuition, which helps when several tutors are teaching the same child.
Primary and Key Stage 3 home education
Tutoring for younger home-educated children usually centres on reading, writing and maths, the subjects where a structured sequence matters most and where a parent may want an independent view of progress. Key Stage 3 is often when families bring in subject specialists for the sciences and languages, ahead of deciding which GCSEs or IGCSEs to sit.
Primary tutor profiles and Key Stage 3 tutor profiles show who is available for each stage.
Paying for tutoring as a home-educating family
Parents who home educate in England meet the cost themselves, since there is no general government grant for home education, and exam entry and centre fees for a private candidate are usually the parents' responsibility too. The guide to home schooling funding sets out the exceptions, including support for children with an EHC plan and part-time college places for 14 to 16 year olds.
Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject; there is no registration fee and the initial consultation is free. For a wider comparison of tutoring prices, see how much a tutor costs.
How tutoring with Taylor Tuition works
Every placement begins with an introductory session with the matched tutor, and we re-match at no extra cost if the fit is wrong. Tutors who work with children hold an enhanced DBS check, and most are registered on the DBS Update Service.
More than half of our tutors hold Qualified Teacher Status and around three in five hold a master's degree or doctorate, and the tutor pool includes former heads of department and school leaders, experienced exam-board examiners, and teachers from independent and boarding schools. We cover the school curriculum from primary to A-Level and IB, so tutors can be matched subject by subject as the plan develops.
Tutor profiles show who is available. Send an enquiry and we reply with tutor recommendations, or ask for a call back to talk it through first.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
- Can a tutor cover the whole curriculum for my home-educated child?
- Yes, though most families use more than one tutor, since a single tutor rarely teaches every subject to the same depth. A common arrangement is a specialist for each exam subject, with a parent coordinating the timetable and covering the rest. We cover the school curriculum from primary to A-Level and IB, so tutors can be matched subject by subject as the plan develops.
- Can a tutor prepare my child to sit GCSEs or IGCSEs as a private candidate?
- Yes. The tutor teaches the specification the exam centre has agreed to enter and prepares the child with timed past papers. The family arranges the entry with a centre that accepts private candidates, which the JCQ centre finder helps to locate, and pays the centre's fees. Confirming the exam board and specification with the centre before teaching starts avoids preparing for the wrong papers.
- Can sessions take place during the school day?
- Yes, depending on the matched tutor's availability. A home-educated child is not tied to a school timetable, so daytime sessions are an option alongside after-school ones, and the time is agreed with the tutor before the first session. Sessions run online for families across the UK and internationally, and in person in central London.
- How much does a home education tutor cost?
- Fees start from £50 per 50-minute session and depend on tutor level and subject. There is no registration fee and the initial consultation is free. Exam entry and centre fees for a private candidate are separate, are set by each centre and are usually paid by the parents, since there is no general government grant for home education in England.
- Does online tutoring work for a home-educated child?
- For most secondary subjects it does: online sessions use a shared screen for worked examples and past papers, and they suit families anywhere in the UK or abroad. Younger children often need a parent nearby for the first few sessions. Where in-person teaching matters, sessions are available in central London.
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