What is the Tutor Rep scheme?
At MyTutor we have big dreams. We’re on a mission to impact the lives of 1 million students across the UK. And thanks to you, we’re well on our way to achieving it.
We want to make sure that we’re involving you in business decisions every step of the way, but with thousands of you logging on in any given month, it’d be a colossal task to speak to every one of you!
The rep scheme exists to open up the lines of communication between you and the business. There’ll be 6 elected tutors who represent the wider community, and make sure your voice is heard.
Who are my Tutor Reps for 2023-24?
You voted in your hundreds for this year’s tutor reps and the final 6 have been decided. These tutors are responsible for collecting your feedback, sharing your ideas, and helping bring the improvements to MyTutor that you’d like to see - so make sure you take some time to watch their super short intro videos. It’ll help you get to know who they are, and what you can expect from them.
Meet the reps here: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17984922044609404/
And if you want to hear what happens at tutor rep meetings, or chat to your tutor reps, make sure to join the Tutor Community.
Here are the top questions you have been asking about the Tutor Rep scheme:
What does being a rep involve?
What does being a rep involve?
Becoming a BNOC (Big Name On Community). Making yourself known in our new community, encouraging discussion and summarising shared views.
Taking part in online monthly meetings. Sometimes we’ll lead discussions or brainstorms, other times you’ll work together to create the agenda.
Being a rep means you’ll get BTS access to MyTutor HQ. We’ll consult you and share tutor feedback to make sure the business is working for you.
Who can apply?
Who can apply?
We’re looking for 6 tutors who are passionate about representing the wider tutor community and improving MyTutor.
Applications are open to all tutors, and we’ll make sure the final reps represent everyone (for example covering a wide range of subjects, both schools and private tutors, newer tutors as well as our day ones).
What’s the application process?
What’s the application process?
Upload a 30s video introducing yourself and answering a question
Write a written response to: Give us an example of something you’d post in our new tutor community to encourage others to share their views (300 characters or less).
Provide your basic details (name, email, gender, subjects you teach, if you’re a private tutor, schools tutor, or both).
You can share the video in a few different ways:
Upload it as a file
Share it as a Google Drive link (with sharing access to anyone)
Share it as an unlisted YouTube video, which means only people with the link can watch it
From there, 15 tutors will be shortlisted by last year’s reps, and we’ll share the shortlist and a survey, for you to vote on who you'd like to represent you.
Can I apply to be a rep if I don’t have any students right now?
Can I apply to be a rep if I don’t have any students right now?
Of course! All we’ll ask from you is that you’re active on the site, meaning you’re logging in and looking for work, so please don’t worry if you haven’t got any students at the moment.
How are reps chosen?
How are reps chosen?
A group of tutors including last year’s reps and some of our content creators will review applications and create a shortlist.
We want to make sure everyone plays a part in the voting process, but it would take much longer than is reasonable for all tutors to sift through and fairly vote on all applications.
So applications will be reviewed by the people who know what it’s like to be an effective rep, or have worked with members of the MyTutor Team before. They’ll use the same criteria to narrow all initial applications down to a shortlist of 12 tutors - which you’ll then be able to vote on.
What are the shortlist criteria?
What are the shortlist criteria?
The shortlisted candidates will be chosen based on the following criteria:
A member of the new Tutor Community, or willing to join
Plan to tutor for at least the duration of the rep scheme
Happy to commit to the time & requirements of the rep scheme
Their answers showed us they’re invested in the entire tutor community & they clearly demonstrated what they think they can bring to the rep scheme, and to their fellow tutors
All applications will be reviewed by tutors, including your current tutor reps.
Unfortunately, due to the volume of applications, we won’t be able to offer personalised feedback if you apply but aren’t successful.
What are the timelines?
What are the timelines?
Applications will close on Friday the 17th of November at 23:59
Voting opens on Monday the 27th of November until Friday the 1st at 23:59
We’ll kick off the scheme in December, which will last until May
What's the time commitment?
What's the time commitment?
As well as attending an hour-long meeting with MyTutor each month, we expect you’ll spend an hour or so each week engaging with other tutors in the community and summarising their feedback.
It’s really important that all reps share this commitment so time spent is split equally - so if you suspect you’ll struggle with the workload then this opportunity might not be for you.
What’s in it for me?
What’s in it for me?
Becoming a rep is a great way to gain new skills, and make a real difference to the experience of your community of tutors.
You’ll be paid £200 at the end of the 6 months, as well as receiving a LinkedIn endorsement (or equivalent) from us. It really is something to be proud of, and that shows future employers that you’re a go-getter - so you should shout about it on your CV and job applications.
To get paid you’ll need to have:
Attended online monthly meetings, with your camera & mic switched on
Contributed to discussion
Posted weekly in the new tutor community
Collected feedback from other tutors on a monthly basis
What if I can't continue the rep scheme?
What if I can't continue the rep scheme?
We understand sometimes things come up that are unavoidable. However, if you think you may stop tutoring with us in the next 6 months, that your workload won’t be manageable, or are having doubts about your commitment to the scheme, we’d recommend you hold off from applying this time around.
How can I get involved if I don’t want to be a rep?
How can I get involved if I don’t want to be a rep?
There are many ways for you to contribute, get your voice heard and make an impact, without working as a rep.
You can actively engage with your reps in our online community by tagging them or responding to their posts.
Your experience and insight are extremely important to us. We’ll be posting regularly about the scheme in the community so turn your notifications on if you’d like to contribute.
The aim as mentioned is to hear directly from a tutor representative – so your insight as someone teaching on the platform isn’t missed out. We’ll let you know how and when to get in touch with them when the time comes.
What did the rep scheme achieve last year?
What did the rep scheme achieve last year?
In terms of soundboarding ideas and understanding your perspective more clearly, the scheme was invaluable to us last year.
Here are just some of the things we achieved together that make MyTutor better for you:
We heard that school tutors found it difficult when they opened up blank pupil detail forms, so we overhauled the process for teachers to make it easier for them to fill in. And as a result, the completion rate increased by +115%!
You told us how frustrating it is when parents don’t show up to free meetings, and you’re left waiting. So we tested out removing them entirely. Here are the results of that test, and what we’re planning next.
A lot of time was spent chatting about lesson space fixes and features... It’s vital that you have the best tools to do your best work. This Summer we moved to a new lesson space which is more resilient and serves you better.
Throughout the scheme, and from your responses to our latest survey, it was clear that we needed to find a way to make it easier for tutor reps and tutors to communicate directly. This term we got to work launching a new community where you can expect to hear from your reps regularly and be able to chat to them 1-1. Plus if you’re tight on time you can simply like or upvote ideas and suggestions from other tutors (to help us get an idea of how many of you feel the same).
The topic of pay came up time and time again. And we learnt that you want to know more about how the business is doing. We review tutor earnings annually, and this year we were more transparent about our thought process than ever before. We updated this help page about where our fee goes, explained our position as pre-profit and set up termly webinars where you can tune in to hear senior leaders talk about challenges, opportunities and plans.