MyTutor vs Tutorperch

MyTutor is a fully managed, commission-based marketplace where every lesson takes place inside an in-platform classroom, contact details are never shared between tutors and students, and the platform takes a fee embedded in each lesson payment. Tutorperch is a directory-only introduction service where a one-off £9.99 finder's fee is the only charge to the student, lessons are arranged off-platform, and no commission is taken at all.

We operate Tutorperch, so this page is written from one side of the comparison. It's written to be useful to a tutor or parent deciding between the two, not to argue Tutorperch is better at every dimension, it isn't. Last reviewed 27 May 2026. All figures are verified against the primary sources listed at the end of this page.

How much does MyTutor cost?

The two platforms use structurally different models, and the right comparison depends on how you intend to use them.

MyTutor charges no upfront fee. The platform earns by embedding a Platform Fee into each lesson payment, which its Terms & Conditions state can be up to 49% of the total amount paid. The pricing page lists lesson rates from £26/hour and states that the lesson cost includes the Platform Fee, so the tutor does not receive the full displayed rate. As we read the Terms, a separate booking fee applies on top of the commission.

Tutorperch charges the student £9.99 once per tutor unlocked, and nothing after that. The tutor receives 100% of whatever hourly rate they agree directly with the student, and Tutorperch is not involved in that transaction.

The practical difference depends on lesson volume. For a single lesson, the Tutorperch £9.99 finder's fee may be comparable to, or slightly more than, the implied platform fee on one MyTutor lesson at a lower rate. For any ongoing tutoring relationship, the total platform cost on Tutorperch is fixed while MyTutor's Platform Fee is charged on every lesson.

Classroom and platform scope

MyTutor is a fully managed service. All lessons take place inside MyTutor's own online classroom, with live video, a shared interactive whiteboard, and document upload. All lessons are recorded and accessible for a period of time. All messaging between tutors and students takes place through the platform, and tutors and students are prohibited from sharing contact details or communicating outside the site.

Tutorperch is a directory only. There is no video classroom, scheduling tool, or payment handling. The £9.99 unlock enables contact-detail sharing between tutor and student, and from that point the relationship runs entirely off-platform. Tutors and students agree their own lesson format, cadence, and payment method.

Search ranking

MyTutor does not publish its ranking formula. Its How It Works and pricing pages don't describe the signals used to order search results. Articles aimed at tutors state that they can opt for a temporary 7-day boost, that lesson recency, attendance, and punctuality (which the platform monitors and logs) are taken into account, and that tutors are assigned a Priority 1, 2, or 3 status that informs their ranking.

Tutorperch's ranking formula is published in full at /how-we-rank. Tutors are sorted by their review score, smoothed against a platform-wide baseline so a single 5-star review can't leapfrog a tutor with fifty 4.6-star ones. Older reviews count for less than recent ones, so a score reflects recent performance rather than all-time history. Safeguarding Verified tutors (Enhanced DBS, PVG, or AccessNI) get a small lift on their score. Scores are rounded to one decimal place to match the star rating shown on tutor cards.

When two or more tutors finish on the same final score, their order rotates each day, so every tutor in that tied group takes a turn near the top. Three page-1 slots are held open for tutors who joined in the last 30 days and who wouldn't otherwise have reached page 1, each clearly labelled as new. A recently joined tutor who has already earned a ranked spot keeps it with no label and no special treatment, and if no newcomer needs the lift, those slots fill from the ranked order like every other position. You can watch the rotation demonstrated live on our ranking page.

Tutor verification and safeguarding

MyTutor has one of the more detailed safeguarding frameworks of any UK tutoring platform. From its published Safeguarding Policy (last reviewed August 2025) and Tutor Terms:

• All tutors must pass a personal interview with two types of ID checked in person.
• Enhanced DBS with Children's Barred List information is mandatory and must be renewed every three years. At 2 years 11 months, the tutor is blocked from seeing new work until renewal completes.
• Two written references must be provided before a tutor gains access to the platform.
• Mandatory safeguarding training is required on induction and refreshed annually, including Prevent and online-safety training.
• A named Designated Safeguarding Lead and Deputy DSL are in post.
• All lessons are recorded, and CPOMS is used as the safeguarding case-management system.

Tutorperch requires identity verification before any tutor profile goes live. The Safeguarding Verified badge is optional. When displayed, it means a team member has manually reviewed the certificate against the identity-verified name and date of birth, with the certificate number recorded. The badge is valid for three years. Tutorperch covers England and Wales (Enhanced DBS), Scotland (PVG), and Northern Ireland (AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure), and uses the DBS Update Service. Because lessons are off-platform, Tutorperch has no ability to record or monitor them; whether to record is between a tutor and parent, and many independent tutors record their own lessons regardless.

What MyTutor offers that Tutorperch doesn't

A managed classroom. For families who want structural safeguarding oversight, all lessons recorded, all messaging on-platform, contact details never exchanged, and a named DSL who can review any lesson if a concern arises is a substantively different level of platform involvement than a directory can offer.

A near-peer tutor pool. MyTutor restricts tutors to university students and recent graduates from approved universities. For families specifically seeking a near-peer tutor with recent exam experience, that selectivity is by design.

A schools programme. MyTutor's schools service, used by over 1,500 schools, has teacher dashboards, attendance monitoring, and pupil-level reporting that Tutorperch does not have.

What Tutorperch offers that MyTutor doesn't

A fixed platform cost. For an ongoing relationship, the total platform cost on Tutorperch is fixed at £9.99. MyTutor's Platform Fee of up to 49% of each lesson scales with every session, so over a term of weekly lessons the accumulated difference is significant.

A published ranking formula. Tutorperch's is public in full; MyTutor's is not.

A minimal, fixed tutor cost. Tutorperch tutors pay £3.00 once to list. MyTutor charges no listing fee but takes a commission from every lesson.

An open tutor pool. Tutorperch isn't restricted to university students. Experienced working tutors, qualified teachers, and specialists who don't fit the MyTutor criteria can list here.

First Tutors review recovery. Tutorperch has helped tutors who were established on First Tutors bring their history across. Where a tutor's old profile sits in our public-web archive, they can claim it and their original reviews appear on their Tutorperch profile; for anything the archive didn't capture, we've published a step-by-step walkthrough and email template so tutors can file their own Data Subject Access Request with First Tutors. Imported reviews show on the profile and as a count on search cards, and parents can read them in full, but they don't feed search ranking. See what happened to First Tutors.