There’s now a whole range of platforms where people are finding work as tutors, even without a bachelor’s degree to their name. Even better, many of these options allow you to teach online, making it really easy for tutors to connect with students, wherever they are in the world.
In this article, we’ll be covering how you can become a tutor, even without a degree.
So, what do you need to be a tutor?
The qualifications you need to start working as a tutor will depend on the platform you’re using, as well as the subject you decide to teach.
Most tutoring platforms will require tutors to have a GED (General Educational Development test), a high school diploma, or another, subject-specific certification. To become an online English teacher, for example, many platforms will require a TEFL certification (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Tutors of other languages may require a similar qualification.
However, there are platforms that require no previous accredited qualifications at all. They are willing to give everyone a shot at tutoring, no matter their background or experience.
Let’s look at some online platforms where tutors can find work even without a college degree.
Platforms for tutoring without an academic degree
The platforms listed below offer a helpful launchpad for people to start working as online tutors. None of these require a bachelor’s degree from their tutors, but there may be other qualifications needed before the platform accepts an applicant.
The list of platforms:
- Preply
- Tutors.com
- Wyzant
- Revolution Prep
- Knowledge Roundtable
Preply
Preply is an online tutoring jobs platform that connects students learning languages, academic subjects, and even hobbies with online tutors. To become a tutor at Preply, there is no necessary certification or even prior experience with teaching. What matters most is that you have a deep knowledge of what you’re teaching. A teaching certification or diploma demonstrating expertise is only required if you want to teach some subject areas. Preply welcomes everyone who enjoys sharing what they know, who works hard to make personalized classes, and who makes a difference in the lives of students.
Tutors.com
Tutors.com offers tutoring for everything from math to music by asking about the student’s age, skill level, and location and then matching them with a list of ideal tutors. While a bachelor’s degree is not needed to start working at Tutors.com, they do ask for a GED or a high school diploma.
Wyzant
Wyzant connects students with a list of recommended tutors and has a simple messaging tool for new students to talk to prospective tutors to help them find their best fit. Wyzant doesn’t require any official qualifications for tutors to get started, only that they’re based in the US and have a social security number.
Revolution Prep
Revolution Prep is an online tutoring platform for individuals or small groups learning together, covering all the major classes you’d find in a high school curriculum. A bachelor’s degree is preferred, but not required, for a tutor to start working there. Tutors are also full-time, which means trading flexibility for job security, as well as completing 150 hours of training each year.
Knowledge Roundtable
The Knowledge Roundtable website connects students to tutors for the subject of their choice. It also allows tutors to create tutorials for their subject matter in exchange for advertising space to help find students. Knowledge Roundtable has no certification or location requirements to start tutoring. However, it’s much less popular than other sites, so it can be quite hard to get new students.
How to become an online tutor with no teaching experience
Even if you have no experience with tutoring, it’s still possible to find work with online tutoring.
What’s important is to use what knowledge, experience, and qualifications you do have, and to present them in the best way to the platform you are planning to tutor with. Like a job interview, it’s about proving the quality of what you can bring to the job.
In this section, we’ll show you how to become a tutor with no experience.
Have deep knowledge of your subject
Whether your plan is to tutor for languages, engineering, or something hobby-related, it’s essential to have a deep understanding of your chosen topic. Even without a bachelor’s degree to back up your knowledge, you’ll have to use what you know to showcase your expertise.
The trick is finding a way to convey what you know and then proving to your students that you can be a rockstar tutor for them.
If you want to start teaching English online, then being a native speaker is already a huge plus. Even without experience or training in education, teaching your mother tongue to others is valuable in itself.
For other subjects, try to leverage how you became so knowledgeable and add this to your tutor profile. Use your work experience in that field, even if you weren’t teaching others. A former software engineer will have a lot of practical knowledge to share, even in their first-ever class.
Highlight relevant experiences
It goes without saying that having more teaching experience puts you a step ahead of your competitors. It helps with picking up work as an online tutor, and also to improve the quality of the classes you’re giving.
If you don’t have any experience in this field, ask yourself if there are other kinds of teaching experience you have under your belt that could be highlighted.
Having experience at an international summer camp as a worker, or even as a volunteer, could show that you know how to keep children engaged. If you’ve given training at a company, it would show that you understand how to explain ideas clearly and effectively.
By taking the experiences that most closely resemble the skills you need to be a quality online tutor, you can improve your chances of picking up your first students and getting real online tutoring experience.
Consider picking up a qualification
If you want to teach a language, then it’ll be vital to have a certification to prove your fluency in the target language. Exams like the Cambridge English exam and the TCF for French are a crucial way of proving your expertise, and all major languages will have a recognized qualification you can get. Similarly, picking up a TEFL qualification can take as little as a few weeks, and will give you a foundation in language teaching as well as a qualification to prove you’re ready.
The same goes for other subjects. Picking up any formal qualification, even if it’s not a bachelor’s, will go a long way in proving your knowledge. The UK’s Open University offers free online courses in an incredible range of subjects, as do platforms like Udemy, though these courses are unaccredited.
Some particularly popular courses are: Learning to teach online by UNSW Sydney, Leading ambitious teaching and learning from the University of Michigan, and New Learning by the University of Illinois.
Having formal qualifications isn’t essential for becoming a tutor. But there is a big range in how much online tutors make, and qualifications are a big factor in what income tutors should expect.
Getting started as an online tutor today
If you’re asking yourself, “can I teach online without a degree?”, the answer is categorically “yes”! It’s entirely possible to start working as an online tutor, even without a bachelor’s degree and with no teaching experience under your belt.
The key to success is being passionate about the success and growth of your students. Learning how to teach online without a degree has never been easier and more accessible. So, take steps to hone your skills and invest in your subject knowledge. Even without a degree, you can create a glowing portfolio that’s appealing to teaching platforms and students.
FAQs
How to become an online tutor without a degree: Find out at Preply? ›
To become a tutor at Preply, there is no necessary certification or even prior experience with
Preply Teacher Requirements: No degree or teaching experience is required. Looking for tutors that enjoy sharing knowledge and making a difference in students' lives.
Can anyone teach on Preply? ›What kind of tutors does Preply look for? No specific certification or teaching experience is required! We welcome tutors who: Enjoy sharing knowledge and making a difference in students' lives.
Is it hard to become a Preply tutor? ›Getting started on Preply is a relatively easy affair, the application process is straightforward, with the only major hurdle being the making of a video for students to view as they search for tutors. Once you've got that out of the way and you're accepted as a Preply tutor, you need to set up your profile.
What do you need to teach English on Preply? ›To teach English online at Preply, a teaching degree or diploma demonstrating your expertise in the subject area is required. However, no official qualifications or professional experience are required for most subjects taught on the platform.
Can I get TESOL certification without a degree? ›There are no degree requirements for getting a TESOL certification. However, some countries may have additional requirements for teachers.
Is it legal to teach online without a degree? ›While a degree isn't necessary to earn money teaching English online, most hiring companies do expect and require a TEFL certification. There are a LOT of full online TEFL courses that you can take and get certified in no time from home! A few years of experience.
Is Preply worth it for tutors? ›Overall rating: 2.4 stars out of 5. The bottom line: Preply takes an unreasonable proportion of tutors' earnings, which is why the best tutors tend to work on other platforms. Preply allows almost anyone to teach, rather than focusing on recruiting experienced and talented tutors.
Does Preply pay well? ›Average Preply hourly pay ranges from approximately $7.25 per hour for Cashier to $14.68 per hour for Foreign Language Teacher. The average Preply salary ranges from approximately $14,992 per year for Human Resources Specialist to $125,000 per year for Language Arts Teacher.
What percentage do Preply tutors get? ›The commission for every trial lesson with a new student is 100%. For all the subsequent lessons, the tutor is charged a percentage of the hourly rate (between 18% and 33%). The rate depends on the total number of lesson hours a tutor has taught on the platform.
What is the disadvantage of Preply? ›
Cons: Lots of competition for students. Preply's commission rate starts at 33% and does not go under 18% Teachers are not paid for each hour-long trial lesson, leading to a lot of unpaid time.
How do I get noticed on Preply? ›- Social media. Social networks are a great place to promote your online lessons. ...
- Your video introduction. ...
- Forums and Q&A platforms. ...
- Your own teaching blog. ...
- Classified ads.
Tutors on Preply set their own hourly rate. The average rate is between $15 and $20 USD. Popular tutors earn about $550 weekly.
Does Preply have a curriculum? ›Preply is a resource with many materials to help your learning process. Most of us use other resources, as well, so the curriculum is pretty much determined by you and the tutor working together to meet your needs and goals.
Which is the best online teaching platform? ›- Hurix. Hurix e-learning solutions are designed to provide the best possible learning experience for learners. ...
- UpGrad. ...
- Udemy. ...
- Coursera. ...
- Edureka. ...
- edX. ...
- Udacity. ...
- Learn World.
With Preply, you can form realistic, measurable learning goals and stick to them. Preply students choose how many weekly classes they want to take with their tutor and pay for them as a recurring monthly subscription. These monthly subscriptions help students stay committed to learning and see fast results.
Can you teach in the US with a TESOL certificate? ›United States
Qualified ESL teachers are in demand in the United States, and TESOL jobs are on the rise, especially in public schools and adult language classes. Requirements vary by state, but most require a bachelors, and sometimes masters, degree in addition to a TESOL certificate.
Even without a four-year degree, a native English speaker with an accredited TEFL / TESOL Certification can realistically find great opportunities in dozens of countries around the world including Spain, Russia, China, Argentina and many nations in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
What is the difference between TEFL and TESOL? ›TESOL refers to teaching English to individuals and groups who speak another language. This can be either in the U.S. or abroad. TEFL refers to teaching English in places where English is a foreign language. It's particularly useful for those passionate about teaching English in multicultural settings.
How long does it take to get TEFL certified? ›Typically, a fully accredited TEFL certification course will last anywhere from 4 weeks to 6 months. Shorter, 4-week long courses will generally run full-time (30-40 hours per week) and are very demanding.
Can you teach TEFL without degree? ›
You do not need a Bachelor's degree to teach English abroad in many countries. Having an accredited TEFL certification is all you need to teach English in numerous destinations throughout South America, and in some parts of Europe and Asia -- no 4-year degree required.
What qualifications do I need to be a tutor? ›- Subject knowledge. To tutor a specific subject, consider getting a degree or certificate that shows your own expertise in the subject. ...
- Passion for learning. ...
- Communication. ...
- Patience. ...
- Organisation skills. ...
- Creativity. ...
- Understanding. ...
- Earn a degree.
italki has a wider range of teachers, which allows you to be pickier with your selection requirements. It's usually cheaper than Preply and Verbling and offers many extra community features for free, which can help you get more out of your language learning experience.
Is Cambly or Preply better? ›Cambly is cheaper in the long term for very serious and consistent learners, but Preply is more flexible. You'll also never lose your investment on Preply.
Can you make a living off Preply? ›How much money can I make on Preply? The amount of money you can make on Preply will depend on how many hours you work. On Preply, the average monthly salary of tutors working 0-10 hours per week is $117.7. On the other hand, tutors working 40-50 hours per week make an average of $1,416.4.
Does Preply use zoom? ›Preply classrooms are mainly used for the lectures. But some of the tutors also use skype and zoom etc. for their classes as well.
Can I use my phone to teach on Preply? ›Yes! We are a mobile platform and you'll have full functionality on your phone or tablet, including video calls, file sharing, and messaging. Can I send messages in the Preply Classroom outside my lesson?
What tutoring pays the most? ›- LSAT Instructor. Salary range: $48,000-$125,000 per year. ...
- GRE Tutor. Salary range: $42,000-$94,000 per year. ...
- GMAT Tutor. Salary range: $35,500-$89,000 per year. ...
- GRE Instructor. Salary range: $43,500-$83,000 per year. ...
- Mandarin Tutor. ...
- ACT Tutor. ...
- MCAT Tutor. ...
- Kindergarten Tutor.
It would also depend on the tutor. Some choose the academic hour (45-50 minutes) to factor in homework assessment etc. HI john, Lessons have a varying duration ranging from 30 minutes to 45 mins, 1 hour and so on.. So it`s left for you and your Tutor to decide on the duration for each lesson!
What is a good profile position on Preply? ›Your description should follow these guidelines: Include the qualities that make you a good tutor. Explain your preferred teaching style and methods and what the student can expect. Briefly mention your previous experience.
How long should a tutor wait for a student on Preply? ›
If the student hasn't joined the lesson within first 15-20 minutes, you don't have to wait the whole hour. For the first lesson, we really try to be flexible with our students, because we all know that problems may occur. In this case there two options: You may choose to reschedule this lesson with student.
Can I teach French online without a degree? ›Yes, it's absolutely possible to tutor French online without a degree. In fact, browse tutor profiles on the largest online platforms and you'll see that often the majority of the tutors don't have a degree in teaching French. It's true that having a degree in teaching French will enhance your credibility.
Do you need a degree to teach on Cambly? ›Teacher Qualifications
Cambly does not require any additional degrees, certifications, or qualifications. You should be good with people and have strong conversation skills.
Generally, a bachelor's degree or an equivalent qualification is required to teach in the United States, as well as a Foreign Language in Elementary School (FLES) diploma for public elementary schools and a Français Langue Etrangère (FLE) diploma for high schools.
Do you have to pay to be a tutor on Preply? ›It's free to sign up for Preply, and we don't charge a fee to host your profile. Commission is only charged when a tutor starts to get bookings from students. The commission for every trial lesson with a new student is 100%.
Is Preply legit and safe? ›Preply is a reputable online tutoring platform that is both legit and safe to use. The company screens all tutors before they can teach on the platform and it protects your payment. Preply is also good about refunding your money if you have any issues.
Can I teach English in Paris without a degree? ›To teach English in France, you will need a TEFL certificate. A 4-year college degree is typically required as well. Native English proficiency is expected to find a TEFL job. The average salary for an English teacher in France is about $800 - $1,800 USD per month.
Can I learn French online and get a certificate? ›Get Your French Certificate Online at Lingoda
At Lingoda, we provide official certificates, which students can use as proof of their current ability level. Our certificates are issued in line with the widely accepted Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Is it easy to get hired at Cambly? Yes! Cambly has significantly fewer requirements for teachers than other online platforms. As long as you are a native English speaker, you have a good chance of getting hired by Cambly.
How long does it take to get approved by Cambly? ›Unfortunately, it may take a few weeks to get a response from Cambly about your application. Furthermore, Cambly doesn't respond to unsuccessful applicants. If after a few weeks you still haven't heard anything, we recommend revising your application and trying again with a different e-mail address.
How much does Cambly pay 2023? ›
Cambly pays an average of $51,239 per year, or $24.63 an hour. Cambly pays those in the bottom 10 percent $26,000 a year, and the top 10 percent over $99,000. Cambly employees in different sectors tend to have different salaries as well.
How do I become a French tutor in USA? ›To pursue a career as a French teacher, you need a bachelor's degree in French or education along with a teaching certificate in foreign language education. To earn your teaching qualifications, you must pass licensing exams in teaching strategies and the French language.
How can I teach French online and earn money? ›Teaching French online is simple with online platforms like Preply. Getting set up is easy; all you'll need is a strong internet connection, a computer with a webcam, a headset with a microphone, and the ability to use Zoom or Skype.
Can you teach a foreign language without a degree? ›You do not need a Bachelor's degree to teach English abroad in many countries. Having an accredited TEFL certification is all you need to teach English in numerous destinations throughout South America, and in some parts of Europe and Asia -- no 4-year degree required.
What percentage does Preply take? ›When a student purchases their first trial lesson, Preply's commission is 100% of its value. For all your subsequent lessons with a student, the commission fee will vary from 18% to 33% of your hourly price, depending on the total number of lessons you've conducted.
How do I quit Preply? ›You can delete your student profile under the 'Settings' menu by clicking on the red 'Delete account' button at the bottom of the page. We will ask to enter your email address used to register on our platform in order to confirm the deletion of the account.