The Ultimate Guide to Online Tutoring
When most people think of tutoring, they imagine sitting in a classroom with an educator who is years older than them showing them the best way to answer homework questions.
The traditional idea of tutoring has changed over the years, and this is no longer the case! With new and improved methods of teaching, high school students have more of a say in how they’d prefer to be assisted!
Online tutoring has also been proven to help students in other areas of their schooling outside of the specific subject(s) that they’re being tutored in.
A study was done by educational researchers in Spain to measure if an online math tutoring program would impact students’ grades and test scores. According to researchers, they found that “The program improved students’ scores on standardized tests, their attendance, the amount of time they devoted to homework, and their sense of well-being.”
Ultimately, there are many benefits to online tutoring that go beyond a solid GPA or passing a class with an A! Let’s get into them:
Why Online Tutoring Exists
Online tutoring is huge, and with many changes in the world, this method of teaching has become largely preferred in a lot of educational spaces and settings.
Students have the opportunity to achieve a number of their academic and personal goals with the help of an online academic tutor. From improving your academic performance to becoming an awesome test taker, tutors are there to help you limit the stress and anxiety that may come along with learning.
Academic coaches can also assist students in broader topics such as college prep, college-level classes you can take in high school, college applications, and much more!
It’s important to find a service that speaks to your direct needs and go from there. For example, if your goal is to get better at math, then seek a tutor that can help you in the subject as a whole and not just for a specific homework assignment. Be encouraged to view tutoring as a journey and not a one-stop shop.
One of the most important reasons why tutoring is so effective is that it allows you to learn the material more efficiently. Tutors can assist you with any misunderstandings or gaps in knowledge that have prevented you from grasping key concepts and ideas in previous attempts at self-study.
Online tutoring can also be viewed as a win-win situation because educators can strengthen their skills in several ways as well! It’s a two-way street, and both parties must benefit from the experience to make learning more fun!
Most importantly, you can get tutoring help wherever you need it! From your bed, at school, or at a coffee shop, a lot of services are available to assist you around the clock at little to no cost.
It’s important to note that while online tutoring may work for some students, other students may need a more personalized service such as in-person tutoring. Whether that be on a daily basis, on the weekends, or after school, there are some different pros and cons when it comes to tutoring. Knowing the type of approaches you can take to get academic help is key!
What to Look For in an Online Tutor
Finding a tutor that can align with your personality and your needs should be high on your list of priorities! It’s okay to have a standard when it comes to online tutoring because you should.
Your academic success and confidence are on the line, and you should want the best resources in your capacity to feed your journey as much as it should feed theirs. Here are a few things that you can look for in a tutor:
Empathy. Does your tutor understand you and put themselves in your shoes? It’s super important for a tutor to see things from your point of view because it will help them understand you as a person, which in turn, can help them see how you approach your work. Finding a tutor who exercises their emotional intelligence will be better for both of you in the long run.
Experience. Does your tutor have extensive experience in this topic? Try to find a tutor that has a lot of experience in the topic(s) that you’re struggling with. It’s likely that they will be able to guide you and potentially assist you in learning more about the topic than expected!
Who doesn’t like getting ahead? ;) It’s also a great way to measure credibility.
Resourceful. Tutors can also be great points of reference and resources! They can likely connect you to online courses, test outlines, other tutors, and many other things!
It’s great to connect with someone who has a point of reference for a wide range of things. It’s awesome when they’re dedicated to getting you ahead and seeing you win all while utilizing their networks to get you there!
Trust. While online tutoring is usually safe, it doesn’t mean that there could be instances where you feel uncomfortable or unsafe with your choice of a tutor. That’s why we encourage you to visit trusted and certified online tutoring platforms where educators can be screened for the credibility of their expertise.
A lot of platforms offer camera-video free services to prevent bias and to protect the safety of students. Platforms also have “help” and “support” issues on standby should any suspicious activity arise.
Adaptability. Having a tutor that can shift gears to cater to your areas of concern is so important! Say you’ve been learning one topic, but realize that you’re struggling with another area of the subject that is being covered in class.
Having an online tutor that is able to help and transition you into another area of learning can help you learn how to troubleshoot and realign in your personal and academic journeys. They will be able to assist you in this and work through it with you along the way!
Remember, the goal is to find a tutor and a platform that can meet you where you are in your current academic journey!
List of Online Tutoring Services
We’ve compiled a list of different online tutoring services that are available to students at every grade level!
We’ve broken it down by audience, cost, and covered subjects. We encourage you to visit these resources and choose which works better for you and your individual circumstances and needs.
1. UPchieve
You know we had to go first 😎. We understand that students have lives. In reality, you might need some homework help while you’re on the go to soccer practice, or just that extra pair of eyes on an essay at 2 am when you’re stuck and having writer’s block.
We’re a 24/7 FREE platform that connects you to an academic coach in under 5 minutes! The UPside is that you can get connected to a coach at any time through our mobile app or website.
Audience: Low-income high school students
Cost: FREE
Subjects covered: High school level classes including Math, Science, Reading & Writing, Social Studies, College Counseling, Standardized Testing
Location: Online
2. Chegg
Chegg provides tutoring through their subscription-based platform that allows users to choose the subject(s) that best suit their academic needs. Their 24/7 service is accompanied by instructor-made homework help, step-by-step math support, and in-depth textbook explanations.
Audience: College students
Cost: Starts at $14.95/mo (subject to change)
Subjects covered: College-level classes
Location: Online
3. Club Z
Club Z provides tutoring through its online platform, as well as one of its 400+ franchise locations. They offer a multitude of different subjects ranging from Pre-K to College level. Their tutoring focuses on study skills and developing other skills such as foreign languages and music.
Audience: Pre-K, 12K, College students
Cost: $10-$55 hourly rate (based on the tutor)
Subjects covered: High School level classes, College level classes
Location: Online and in-person
4. eTutorWorld
ETutorWorld provides online tutoring to K-12 students. They ensure their students receive personalized and flexible tutoring by matching the students' needs to the tutor. They offer learning packages, test prep, and free worksheets.
Audience: K-12
Cost: starts at $21 per session
Subjects covered: K-12 subjects
Location: Online
5. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a non-profit that provides practice exercises, online lessons, and instructional videos to students that need them. They focus on test prep and K-14 subjects for students across the globe.
Audience: K-14
Cost: Free
Subjects covered: All major K-14 subjects, College test prep
Location: Online
6. Learn to Be
LearntoBe is an online non-profit that aims to provide free education to students that do not have the means. They offer tutoring in various subjects based on the student's requirements.
Audience: K-12
Cost: Free
Subjects covered: K-12 subjects
Location: Online
7. Preply
Preply is an online tutoring platform that has tutors from all over the world. The platform focuses on languages. With its various native-speaking tutors, Preply offers students language learning lessons.
Audience: All grade levels
Cost: Average of $15 per hour (tutor based)
Subjects covered: Languages, language test preps
Location: Online
8. The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review offers online tutoring for major tests and exam prep. Their test prep includes preparation for exams such as GRE, SAT, and MCAT. As a service, they provide private tutoring but their specialty lies in test prep.
Audience: College students
Cost: $39.99 per hour
Subjects covered: Test prep and private tutoring
Location: Online
9. Revolution Prep
Revolution Prep is an online tutoring platform that provides private, group, and test prep tutoring to students. Their tutors are full-time members of the organization, ensuring their students receive their full attention.
Audience: Grades 6-12
Cost: Starts at $199 for 5 hours
Subjects covered: Test prep., IB courses, AP courses
Location: Online
10. Skooli
Skooli is an online tutoring platform that allows students to ask a question. Based on the question then they are matched to one of Skooli's tutors. They make their service more accessible to students by having a pre-purchased plan- unlimited access for a year.
Audience: High School and College Students
Cost: Pay as you go: starting at $0.83/min OR pre-purchased plan(365 days)
Subjects covered: Math, Calculus, Trigonometry, English, Science, Business
Location: Online
11. Smarthinking
Smarthinking by Pearson is an online tutoring and writing service that provides its students with help not only in regard to academics but also in professionalism. This service even provides assistance with resume preparation.
Audience: K-12 Students, Graduate Students, Professional School Students
Cost: tutoring: $45/hourly, writing review: $31 for max 10 pages, SAT essay review: $13
Subjects covered: K-12 Subjects, College Level Subjects, Professional Prep.
Location: Online
12. SpecialEdTutoring.com
SpecialEd Tutoring is an online tutoring service that focuses on individual tutoring for students with special needs. They focus on the needs of each specific student to ensure that students' unique needs are met.
Audience: K-12 Special Needs Students
Cost: Sessions start at $25
Subjects covered: K-12 Subjects / Homeschooling
Location: Online
13. TutorEye
TutorEye is an online tutoring service that provides individual tutoring to students. They provide their students the opportunity of coming in contact with tutors through their 'Written Help' portion that isn’t available for their live video conferencing.
Audience: K-12 Students
Cost: $0.5/min pay as you go / Monthly plans start at $49.99
Subjects covered: Math, Science, English, Language learning, Test Prep.
Location: Online
14. TutorMe
TutorMe is an online tutoring service that provides online tutoring lessons to students, as well as immediate tutoring based on the student's request. TutorMe holds a rigorous tutor selection process, ensuring only the most qualified of applicants become tutors.
Audience: K-12 students, College students
Cost: The starting price is $69/2 hrs monthly
Subjects covered: Test prep., Math, Computer Engineering, Engineering Humanities, History, and Foreign languages
Location: Online
15. Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors is an online tutoring service that provides different levels of tutoring to students. Except for their individual and group tutoring sessions, they also partner with schools. On their platform, they provide free online classes on various skills, named StarCourse.
Audience: K-12 Students, Adult Learners
Cost: $50-$95 per hour (depending on tutor and grade level)
Subjects covered: Grade K-5, Humanities, STEM, Languages, Essay writing, Coding
Location: Online
16. Wyzant
Wyzant is an online tutoring platform that provides tutoring for more than 300 subjects. Their focus is affordability by not having their students pay for subscriptions.
Audience: K-12 Students, College Students
Cost: Start at $10/hr (prices vary based on the tutor)
Subjects covered: English, STEM, Accounting, Coding, Music, Languages
Location: Online
17. Tutor Doctor
Tutor Doctor is a tutoring service based in Toronto, Canada that offers tutoring for all ages. Their tutoring services can be taken online, in-person(based if there is an office in your country of residence), or in-home.
Audience: K-12 students, College students, Adult learners
Cost: $40-$80 (depending on area)
Subjects covered: Science, Math, Languages, ESL, SAT Prep, ACT Prep
Location: Online / In-person based on country
18. Growing Stars
Growing Stars is an online tutoring platform that focuses on affordable tutoring while giving importance to students' schedules and working according to their schedules.
Audience: K-12 Students, College Students
Cost: $15-$21/hr based on subject and grade
Subjects covered: K-12 subjects, Test Prep., IT Courses
Location: Online
19. Tutor.com
Tutor.com is a tutoring service with The Princeton Review. Their specialized approach to 24/7 1:1 tutoring allows students to be helped at every level they’re at specifically. From early literacy development to dual enrollment support, this resource aims to put students first.
Audience: K-12
Cost: Free 7-day trial, $79.99/mo subscription
Subjects covered:
Location: Online
20. TutaPoint
TutaPoint is an award-winning online tutoring platform. The platform allows you to schedule a tutoring session in advance, or to request instant on-the-spot help. While the service is 24/7 sessions must be a minimum of one hour.
Audience: All grade levels
Cost: $50/hr
Subjects covered: Math, science, language arts, social studies, languages, and more
Location: Online
Final Thoughts on Online Tutoring
We encourage you to find the best tutoring platform that works for you and your needs! There are so many, and even more tutors that are ready and willing to help you achieve your academic goals and achieve greatness.
Remember that you don’t have to be on this journey alone, and if you need help, never be afraid to reach out and ask!
Ready to start your free online tutoring journey? Connect with one of UPchieve’s tutors in under 5 mins and sign up today!