Tuition agency

A tuition agency is a commercial organisation which specialises in introducing tutors to students requiring help in the academic area. Tuition agencies exist largely due to the problems parents and students face in finding a specialist who can help them with the study of one or more specific subjects. The major tuition agencies also have the advantage of being known to the education authorities and thereby having access to lists of offenders and other undesirable characters who masquerade as tutors in the small ads of newspapers. They are also often able to provide tutors for even the more obscure languages, subjects and musical instruments.

Introductory Agencies

Clients (usually parents) are sent a list of names of tutors who have pre-registered with the tuition agency and are then left to contact the names on the list to ascertain which tutors are available and then make their own contractual arrangements with the chosen tutors. At the same time, tutors are given the name and contact details of the client and are 'encouraged' to get their call in first.

The agency is remunerated by the tutor adding a fee to the amount they charge the client each lesson and then passing the agency fees back to the agency weekly or monthly as appropriate. The agency is legally obliged to state clearly its fee per lesson (or whatever other fee structure it operates to the client) in writing and at the commencement of lessons. Tutors who do this type of work are traditionally self-employed Fact|date=June 2008.

Employment Businesses

Clients contact an agency to discuss their needs and requirements and they are personally matched to suitable tutors. This has the advantage of saving abortive calls from the client to tutors who are no longer available, unsuited by dint of the location or level or even who have left the area and not bothered to update the agency. It also should mean that the tutor who eventually calls the client is the one who "in the opinion of the tuition agency" is the tutor best suited to the particular client and who can match with their subject, level, timing and location requirements.

The agency's fees are added to the tutor and the tutor would normally collect both at the end of the lesson, again passing on the agency's element at regular intervals. The agency is obliged to declare the fees it charges to the client at the time of booking. The fees charged by employment businesses tend to be slightly higher because of the extended service they provide. Again, tutors who work for such tuition agencies tend to be self-employed.

Employment Agencies

These are agencies which contract direct with the client to provide a service. The point of contact is between the client and the agency throughout the booking and the agency is responsible for actually employing the tutor with all that employment entails.

From the agency's point of view, there is no longer any requirement to declare the fees charged by the agency (something which can cause friction with clients who do not appreciate the high cost of recruitment, vetting etc) but they are now responsible for employee benefits due to the tutor.

The agency invoices the client either in arrears or in advance and then pays the tutor an agreed hourly rate (which is usually considerably lower than a self-employed tutor would charge).

It is generally illegal for agencies to charge tutors for registering with them. This (and the few exceptions when charges are permitted is covered by a Government Act. Specifically, tuition agencies are governed by the Employment Agencies Act which sets out the legal framework within which all categories of agency must operate. In Singapore, although tutor registration is generally free of charge, tutors will have to pay 50% of his or her first month's tuition fee to the tuition agency as commission for referring to them students. Tutors will subsequently be paid the full month's tuition fees by their employers according to pre-arranged agreement. Such a practice is the norm in the tuition industry in Singapore, and is practised by tuition agencies such as: gradtutors.com and CampusTutors.com.sg and keytuition.com . Clients, who are either parents or students, on the other hand, need only pay for the lessons given by the tutors.

Reliability

Some agencies offer verification of their registered tutors' qualifications and credentials and in fact encourage their registered tutors to upload digital copies of their certificates and qualifications. In Singapore, it is customary for home tutors to verify their credentials.Fact|date=September 2008

Online Tuition

With the increase in online-tuition (tuition which takes place over the internet), the line between employment agency and business is in danger of becoming blurred. While it is perfectly normal to expect the tutor to collect fees from the client when they meet or for the agency to send invoices to clients (with appropriate credit control procedures should the client default), it is infeasible to expect the tutor to wait for cheques to arrive by post or to take credit card payment over the internet. Likewise it is imprudent for agencies to give credit to students in other countries for which standard debt recovery action would be simply non-viable. Since it is the agency which contracts with the client and not the tutor, the agency must pay the tutor even if the client defaults.

Importance of Tuition Agencies

Tuition agencies play an important part in the education process and, unlike as was the case with previous generations, their services are not reserved for the higher-earners.Fact|date=May 2008 In many cases, it can be more time-saving and economical for going through an agency as compared to finding tutors directly.

Privacy of Tutors

From the point of view of a tutor (and with the exception of introductory-type agencies), there is a stronger feeling of security as his or her name and phone number are usually only made available to clients with the tutor's approval and "after" initial contact between the tutor and student has been made. Better qualified tutors often stay with an agency for a longer period of time and the bigger agencies will typically hold details of tens of thousands of such tutorsFact|date=June 2008.

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