Private tutoring agreement template
A private tutoring agreement is the contract between a tutor, or a tutoring business, and a pupil's parent or guardian. This version covers the subjects and sessions, fees and payment, missed and cancelled sessions, safeguarding and DBS checks, the parent's responsibilities, an optional agency introduction fee, ending the agreement, the 14-day cancellation right and personal information. It is signed with each new family, and the pupil, the subject, the sessions and the fee change each time.
Made by DocuWeave. Use at your own discretion.
What changes each time
33 values. Everything else is your wording, kept exactly.
The tutor and the family
- Tutor's name or business
- Tutor's address
- Tutor's email
- Parent or guardian
- Parent's address
- Pupil's name and year group
- School (optional)
The tutoring
- Subjects
- Aims
- Session length and frequency
- Where sessions take place
- Start date
- Progress feedback
Fees and cancellations
- How fees are charged
- Rate or monthly amount
- Payment method and timing
- Travel and materials charges
- Notice of fee changes
- Notice for cancelling a session
- Minutes we wait for a late pupil
Safeguarding and records
- DBS level
- DBS certificate number
- DBS certificate issue date
- DBS Update Service registration
- Usual adult at home during sessions
- Recordings kept for
- Records kept for after tutoring ends
- Privacy notice link
Agency and ending the agreement
- Agency name and address
- Introduction fee period and amount
- Notice to end
- Weeks overdue before we may end it at once
- Date of the agreement
The rules it usually needs
Written in plain English when the template is set up.
- One of several wordings
“Fees: either charged per session, or a monthly amount paid in advance.”
For a monthly plan, sessions missed because the tutor cancels are credited to the next month, or refunded if the agreement ends.
- One of several wordings
“Where sessions take place: at the family's home, at the tutor's premises, or online.”
For online sessions, the safeguarding section says they are held in a shared area of the home with an adult nearby, on the agreed platform only.
- One of several wordings
“DBS checks: either the tutor holds a basic, enhanced, or enhanced with children's barred list certificate, or does not hold one.”
For a tutor with an enhanced certificate, the certificate number and issue date are set out and the family may see it.
- Only when…
“Include the agency introduction fee only when the tutoring is arranged through an agency.”
For a tutor working independently, the introduction fee section and the agency party are left out.
- Only when…
“Include the recording consent only when online sessions may be recorded.”
When recording is offered, a consent box and a deletion period appear, such as four weeks.
Questions people ask
Does a private tutor need a DBS check?
There is no general legal requirement for a private tutor to hold one, but many families ask. Since January 2026, self-employed tutors in eligible roles can apply for enhanced checks through a DBS umbrella body. The template records which level the tutor holds, or states that they hold none, so the parent knows from the start.
Can a tutor guarantee exam results?
No, and the agreement says so. It commits to planning sessions around the pupil's needs and giving progress feedback, not to a particular grade.
Does a parent have a 14-day right to cancel?
Often, yes. If the agreement is made by email, phone, online or away from the tutor's premises, consumers generally have 14 days to cancel. The template includes the wording and the model cancellation form for those cases, and handles a start within the 14 days by agreement.
Can a tutoring agency charge an introduction fee?
It can, if the fee is clear and prominent before the family agrees. The template is set up so that where an agency is involved, the fee and the period it applies for are set out in their own section.
Can I use my own tutoring agreement instead of this one?
Yes. Upload your own Word or PDF version and DocuWeave turns it into a template in your wording, then fills each new copy from the emails and details you already have.
Use this template
It opens in DocuWeave as a template you can check, change and publish. Nothing is used until you do.