Online tuition for schools: SEND-trained tutors for the pupils you cannot timetable
Qualified teachers (QTS) with SEND training for EHCP tuition, pupils learning from home, alternative provision and GCSE or KS2 catch up. Fixed weekly online lessons, a note after every session, and a start within a week.
- Every tutor holds QTS and has SEND training
- Enhanced DBS and safeguarding trained
- Already working with schools, football academies and councils
- No minimum term, invoiced monthly
Online tuition for schools, SENCOs and local authorities
Online Tutors UK provides online one to one and small group tuition for schools across England. We work with mainstream primary and secondary schools, academy trusts, alternative provision, pupil referral units and local authority SEND teams to cover the pupils a timetable cannot reach: EHCP funded hours, pupils with medical needs or emotionally based school avoidance who are learning from home, pupils waiting for a specialist place, and Year 6 and Year 11 pupils who need catch-up before SATs or GCSEs.
Every tutor is a qualified teacher with SEND training and an enhanced DBS. Lessons run at a fixed weekly time on a secure video platform, in school or at home, and a short written report goes to your named contact after every session. Most placements start within a week of a referral, and there is no minimum term.
Who uses our tuition for schools
Most of our school tutoring falls into four situations, and the same model covers all of them: a qualified, SEND-trained tutor, a fixed weekly slot, and a written report to your named contact after every lesson.
EHCP tuition
A plan names one to one tuition and you need someone to deliver it reliably, without pulling a teaching assistant off a class. We deliver the hours, work to the outcomes in the EHCP, and send a termly summary you can take into the annual review.
Pupils learning from home
Medical needs, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), a managed move or a wait for a specialist place can leave a pupil at home for weeks. We give them a fixed weekly slot and the same tutor every time, so there is a familiar face and a routine until they are back in school.
GCSE and KS2 catch-up
Year 11s and Year 6s with gaps in maths, English or science that a classroom cannot close in time. Short, focused online lessons on the topics the pupil is actually missing, with homework set and a note back to the class teacher.
Alternative provision and part timetables
Pupils on reduced timetables, dual rolled between a school and an alternative provision, or in a pupil referral unit often have hours that nobody can staff. Short, frequent online lessons fit around the rest of the week and keep the core subjects moving.
How our tuition for schools works
Most placements go from first call to first lesson inside a week. The process is the same whether you are a SENCO commissioning EHCP hours, a head of year arranging GCSE catch-up, or a local authority officer setting up an EOTAS package.
- Call. 15 minutes with the SENCO or head of year to agree the pupil, subject, hours and what good looks like. If there is an EHCP or an individual plan, we work from its outcomes.
- Match. We propose a tutor with the right subject and SEND experience within two working days. You can meet them online before anything starts, and we will swap them if the fit is wrong.
- Start. A fixed weekly online slot, in school or at home, usually within a week of the call. We handle the login, the parent letter and the safeguarding paperwork, and we can run the first lesson with a TA in the room.
- Report. A short written note to a named person after every lesson: what was covered, how the pupil engaged, what is next. Attendance is logged each session, and a termly summary is ready for annual reviews and governors.
- Review. Monthly invoice, no minimum term. Scale up, pause or stop with a week’s notice, and review the pattern with us every half term.
SEND-trained tutors with QTS
Every tutor on our school work is a qualified teacher (QTS) with classroom experience and SEND training, so they understand IEPs, EHCP outcomes and what a SENCO needs to hear. Most have taught in the phase they tutor, and many have worked in resourced provision, alternative provision or as a SENCO themselves.
All hold an enhanced DBS, complete our safeguarding training and work to your safeguarding policy. We keep a single central record for the tutors assigned to you, and any concern is reported to your designated safeguarding lead the same day.
We match on subject, phase and need. A pupil with autism and anxiety gets a tutor who is calm, predictable and keeps the same structure every week. A Year 11 who needs grade 4 in maths gets an examiner who knows the specification. If the first match is not right, we change it without fuss.
We already work with mainstream schools, alternative provision, football academies and local authorities on EHCP and EOTAS packages, so we are used to working to a plan, reporting to a named person and fitting into an existing timetable.
What this looks like in practice
Three recent placements: an EHCP learner through two years of A-level sciences, a home-educated autistic learner taken from below pass level to a predicted pass, and a Year 9 pupil missing school who now attends every lesson.
Pricing and terms for schools
No minimum term. Invoiced monthly in arrears on 30 day terms, with no setup fee. Start with one pupil or a small group of up to three, and scale up, pause or stop with a week’s notice. Rates are per hour and all inclusive: there are no travel costs, platform fees or charges for lesson reports.
Funding. Most schools fund tuition from the pupil’s EHCP top up, pupil premium or the school’s own SEND budget. Local authorities commission us directly for EHCP, EOTAS and medical needs packages, and we can invoice the council rather than the school where that is easier. We are happy to complete supplier onboarding, safeguarding questionnaires and insurance checks before the first lesson.
Safeguarding. Every tutor is enhanced DBS checked and safeguarding trained. We follow your policy, log attendance every session, and report any concern to your DSL the same day. Lessons run on a secure video platform and can be recorded where your policy asks for it.
Alternative provision, EOTAS and local authority commissioning
Local authorities commission us for education otherwise than at school (EOTAS) packages, EHCP tuition and medical needs tuition where a pupil cannot attend a setting. We work from the individual plan, provide daily attendance reporting where the contract asks for it, and send half-termly progress reports and termly summaries for annual reviews. Referral to first lesson is usually inside five working days.
Alternative provision settings and pupil referral units use us to cover the hours a small team cannot staff: a GCSE science specialist for two pupils, maths for a pupil on a part timetable, or English for a young person who is dual rolled and learning at home three days a week. Lessons are short, frequent and built around the pupil’s existing timetable.
We also deliver the academic side of education programmes for football academies, where scholars study GCSEs and post-16 qualifications alongside full-time training. The same discipline applies: fixed slots, the same tutor, and a report to the academy’s head of education after every lesson.
Questions schools ask about online tutoring
Can lessons happen in school?
Yes. The pupil needs a quiet space, a device and headphones; a TA can sit in. Most schools run them from the SEN base or the library.
Do you work with pupils who do not have an EHCP?
Yes. Many of our school pupils are on SEN support or have no SEN identified at all. The need is usually a gap the classroom cannot close in time.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within a week of the call. We propose a tutor within two working days and the first lesson follows once you have approved them.
What do you need from us?
A named contact, the pupil’s current targets or EHCP outcomes, and a slot in the timetable. We handle the login, the parent letter and the safeguarding paperwork.
How is it funded?
Most schools use the pupil’s EHCP top up, pupil premium or their own budget. Councils commission us directly for EHCP and EOTAS packages, and we can invoice the council rather than the school where that is easier.
Which areas of England do you cover?
All of them. Because lessons are online, we work with schools and local authorities from Hampshire and West Sussex to North Yorkshire and the West Midlands, and a tutor in one region can teach a pupil in another. Where a school wants the tutor in the building, we tell you honestly whether we can staff it.
Can tuition happen during the school day?
Yes. Most school placements run in the school day, either in school with a TA nearby or at home for pupils who are not attending. Because our tutors are qualified teachers rather than students, daytime slots are not a problem. Evening and weekend slots are available for exam-year catch-up.
Two pupils, one term, no risk
Start with a two pupil pilot. If the lesson notes and the attendance are not what you hoped after half a term, stop with a week’s notice.
