Life as a Tutor FAQs

How would you describe an average week in the life of a tutor?

There is no average week! A tutor could be teaching on Monday, prepping on Tuesday, dealing with student queries on Wednesday, writing some material on Thursday, counselling students on Friday or maybe teaching everyday, completing a training course, attending a client event, advising at an open evening the list goes on..

However, in a year on average a tutor can expect to be in the classroom for 110 of the 223 working week days (after we've deducted holiday, bank holidays and weekends). So roughly half of your time is spent in the classroom and the remainder for your first six months is for you to prepare to teach. After six months you will be encouraged to take on some other responsibilities (material production or client management) as you become more efficient at preparing.

Do I need any past teaching experience?

Absolutely not. There's a 2 year structured training programme for all of our new tutors. This starts with a week long induction course and intensive teacher training. Once you've completed your first two years in the classroom you'll still receive specific technical training and any soft skills training you need to develop both your teaching style and career at BPP.

Are there any downsides to being a tutor?

Of course as with all jobs but the upsides certainly outweigh the down (see below). On the downside first of all it's an incredibly demanding job at times, you can't be on anything but top form when you're stood in front of a class of 40 students, you can't put it off until tomorrow and hide behind your computer! In the weeks where you're teaching every day by Friday you're mentally and physically exhausted.

The other downside for most, although some people do view this as a positive, is the out of hours teaching that comes with the territory. A significant part of our business comes from students who study in the evenings or at weekends we obviously need to teach these courses. You are paid your salary for your day time teaching but for evenings and weekends you will be paid overtime or can take time off in lieu. All tutors have to do their fair share of the out of hours teaching however, you do know about it six months in advance and the timetabling team can avoid clashes with weddings, birthdays etc, you get paid for it, and it's limited so on average you could expect to work 12 weekend days (Saturday or Sunday) and 28 evenings (6 pm - 8:45pm) per year.

And the upsides?

Are significant. There's indescribable job satisfaction in teaching and making a difference to the person right in front of you, it's something that few roles in the world of finance give you. It's immensely enjoyable too in fact I've heard tutors say on more than one occasion 'sometimes I'm in class teaching and I think to myself I can't believe I'm being paid to do this'.

Whilst being in the classroom is great out of the classroom you're supported by a great team all willing to chip in and help, go out for beers or share a story to make you feel better after a hard day.

Add to the above, the flexibility to work at home if you're not teaching, no strict start and finish times and the autonomy to manage your own workload, six weeks holiday, do I need to go on..

How will you decide what I teach?

All our tutors teach across the accountancy / tax ualifications so it doesn't matter if you're ACCA / CIMA or ACA ualified you would specialise by subject and teach this under each examining body's specific syllabus. In terms of selecting a subject specialism most tutors come in to teach on the foundation level subjects in the first instance so would teach the basics of either management accounting & or financial accounting or tax. After six months we would consider your strengths, preferences and the businesses need in deciding your progression both in terms of subject matter and level.

Where will I be based?

BPP had centres in Waterloo, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Shepherds Bush. Tutors are allocated a desk at one of their preferred locations but we are timetabled to teach across all four.

What happens during the recruitment process?

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend one of our assessment days, where we will ask you to prepare and present a series of tutorials. You will also be interviewed by our recruitment team and learn more about life working at BPP. Following the assessment day a decision will be made.