Best Online Tutoring Platforms UK (2026), Compared Honestly
The best online tutoring platforms in the UK in 2026, in one paragraph: typical online tutoring costs £20-£40 per hour. MyTutor (from £26/hr at GCSE) has the largest tutor pool. Tutorful (from ~£20/hr) accepts 1 in 8 applicants and Enhanced-DBS-checks every tutor. Superprof uses a ~£39/month pass with tutor-set rates and no DBS requirement. StudyGuru (mine) is £24/hr flat at every level, Enhanced DBS checks every tutor, and sends parents an AI progress report after every session — with a £15-per-session Starter Pack to try it. By Ciaran Collins, founder of StudyGuru · Prices checked July 2026 · Last updated 23 July 2026.
Quick Comparison
| StudyGuru | MyTutor | Tutorful | Superprof | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical price | £24/hr flat at every level | From £26/hr at GCSE; most £26-£40 | From ~£20/hr, rising with experience | Tutor-set rates + ~£39/month Student Pass |
| Trial / intro offer | Free 15-min intro call + 4 sessions at £15 each | No trial discount, no commitment | Replacement lesson paid if first disappoints | Free first lesson common (tutor's choice) |
| Tutor vetting | 7-step process incl. live teaching assessment; ~1 in 14 accepted | Interviewed university students & graduates | ~1 in 8 accepted; 2+ years teaching experience | No interviews; credentials self-declared |
| Enhanced DBS required | Yes, every tutor | Vetting incl. DBS for tutors | Yes, every tutor | No — ask the individual tutor |
| After-lesson parent updates | Automatic AI progress report every session | Recordings; optional tutor reports | Lesson recordings | Arranged with tutor directly |
| Best for | Trying tutoring properly at low risk; GCSE & A-Level core subjects | Widest choice of tutors and subjects | Qualified-teacher CVs | Lowest rates for confident DIY vetters |
Full disclosure first
I'm Ciaran Collins, the founder of StudyGuru, one of the four platforms on this list. I'm not going to pretend to be neutral, so this page does two things instead: every number is accurate as of July 2026 (checked against each platform's published pricing), and every competitor entry names what they genuinely do better than us. I spend a lot of time watching what this market charges, and most comparison articles you'll find get the details wrong or were written three years ago. If any platform below changes its pricing, tell me and I'll correct it.
How we compared the platforms
Five criteria, in the order parents usually ask about them: the real hourly cost including any subscription or pass fees; how tutors are vetted (interviews, acceptance rates, and whether an Enhanced DBS check is required to list); how cheaply you can properly try the platform before committing; what you hear back after each lesson; and the size of the tutor pool. Figures come from each platform's published pricing and site copy, checked July 2026. Where a platform doesn't publish a number, we say so rather than guessing.
1. StudyGuru — best overall value for GCSE & A-Level (£24/hr flat, £15-per-session trial)
StudyGuru is my platform, so weigh this section accordingly. It charges a flat £24 per hour at every level — GCSE Foundation maths and A-Level chemistry cost the same, which is not how the rest of this market works. New families start with the Starter Pack: four one-hour sessions at £15 each (£60 total), preceded by a with any tutor. Every tutor holds an Enhanced DBS check and has passed a live teaching assessment — roughly 1 in 14 applicants are accepted. The feature the platform is actually built around is what happens after the lesson: parents receive an AI-generated progress report after every single session — what was covered, where your child struggled, what's coming next — produced automatically from the lesson itself. As far as I know, no other platform on this page sends parents anything after a lesson unless the individual tutor chooses to write it. Subject coverage centres on GCSE maths tutoring, GCSE science, GCSE English and A-Level maths and sciences. Where the others beat us:we're small and deliberately curated, so the tutor pool is a fraction of MyTutor's, we're online only, and if you need an obscure subject outside the GCSE/A-Level core, one of the platforms below will serve you better.
2. MyTutor — best for the widest tutor choice (from £26/hr at GCSE)
MyTutor is the biggest name in UK online tutoring, and for good reason. Tutors are students and graduates from UK universities, interviewed before they can teach. Prices start from £26 an hour at GCSE, with most listed rates between £26 and £40, paid per session with no contract. What you're paying for is scale and polish: thousands of tutors means you'll find someone for almost any subject and any time slot. The trade-off is that scale cuts both ways — your tutor is one of thousands, and if the match isn't right you're back in a very large pool trying again, with no automatic per-session feedback to parents beyond lesson recordings and optional tutor-written reports. Where MyTutor beats StudyGuru:tutor pool size, breadth of subjects (including humanities and languages), and the longest track record in the UK market. If budget isn't tight and maximum choice matters most, it's hard to argue with.
3. Tutorful — best if a qualified-teacher CV is non-negotiable (from ~£20/hr)
Tutorful takes quality seriously: roughly 1 in 8 tutor applicants are accepted, two or more years of teaching experience are required, and every tutor is Enhanced DBS checked. Lessons happen on their platform and are recorded. Prices start around £20 an hour and rise with tutor experience. Instead of a free trial they offer a guarantee: if you're not happy with your first lesson, they pay for your next one with a different tutor. They're also a partner of The Tutors' Association, which counts for something in an unregulated industry. One thing to connect from their own published numbers: the £20 starting rate rises with experience, so the experienced qualified teachers you'd choose Tutorful for typically cost a fair bit more than £20. Where Tutorful beats StudyGuru: depth of formally qualified, experienced teachers, and the bad-first-lesson guarantee is a genuinely parent-friendly touch.
4. Superprof — lowest hourly rates, if you do your own vetting (~£39/month pass)
Superprof works differently from the other three, and the difference catches parents out. It's a marketplace: tutors advertise themselves, and you pay around £39 a month (at time of writing) for a Student Pass that lets you contact them. Lessons are then arranged and paid directly with the tutor, and Superprof takes no commission on them. That model has real upsides — tutor rates are often the cheapest anywhere because there's no platform cut, and many tutors offer a free first lesson to win your business. But know what you're not getting: Superprof doesn't interview tutors or require a DBS check as a condition of listing. Some tutors hold one, but credentials are largely self-declared, and once you're paying the tutor directly there's no platform sitting between you if something goes wrong. The checking is your job. I wouldn't recommend it as a first stop for a parent new to tutoring. Where Superprof beats StudyGuru:the raw hourly floor is lower, free first lessons are common, and it covers in-person tutoring, which we don't offer.
How to choose between them, honestly
If you want the widest choice, it's MyTutor. If a qualified-teacher CV is non-negotiable, Tutorful. The lowest hourly rates are on Superprof, but remember the pass costs about £39 before you've had a single lesson, and the vetting is on you. The cheapest way to properly try tutoring is StudyGuru's Starter Pack — four real lessons for £60 total — which exists precisely because a single trial lesson tells you almost nothing about whether tutoring will work for your child. Two pieces of advice that apply on every platform. First, ask about DBS checks explicitly: on some platforms every tutor has one, on others none do, and the industry is unregulated, so nobody is checking on your behalf. Second, book earlier than feels necessary — September demand in UK tutoring is brutal, and the good tutors on every platform fill their evening slots by the first week of term.
Trust & Safety
Enhanced DBS Checks
Fresh Enhanced DBS arranged via uCheck for every tutor
7-Step Vetting
Identity, qualifications, DBS, live teaching assessment, and safeguarding approval
Pay After Lessons
Payment captured 24 hours after each session via Stripe
Secure Platform
All sessions on our platform with moderated messaging
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best online tutoring platform in the UK?
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Which tutoring platforms offer free trials or guarantees?
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Is a tutoring marketplace like Superprof cheaper than a managed platform?
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