How to choose a good tutor: what to ask and what to avoid

A good tutor combines real subject and exam knowledge with the rapport to get your child doing the work. Here are the questions to ask, the red flags to avoid, how qualifications weigh against fit, and how to tell whether it is working.

Last updated 2026-07-03.

A good tutor combines two things that are easy to describe and harder to find together: real knowledge of the subject, syllabus and exam, and enough rapport to get your child actually doing the work. Expertise without connection leaves a student switched off; warmth without expertise leaves them liking someone who cannot lift their marks. When you are choosing, you are looking for both, plus the honesty to tell you when tutoring is working and when it is not.

Below are the questions to ask, the red flags to walk away from, how to weigh qualifications against fit, and how to judge whether the money is doing anything.

Look for knowledge plus rapport, and a tutor who diagnoses before teaching, sets specific goals, communicates with you, and is honest about progress, including when your child no longer needs them. Insist on a Working with Children Check. Walk away from guaranteed-mark promises, vagueness and pressure to commit.

What makes a good tutor?

The strongest tutors share a recognisable pattern. Use it as a checklist:

They diagnose before they teach. A good tutor's first job is to find the specific gap, not to launch into a generic lesson. If they teach the same thing to every student, they are not tutoring, they are lecturing.
They explain at your child's pace. The whole point of one to one is adjusting to the individual. A good tutor checks understanding constantly and changes tack when something does not land.
They set and review specific goals. "Get better at chemistry" is not a goal. "Be able to balance redox equations by the end of the month" is. Progress you can see keeps everyone honest.
They build the student's independence. The aim is a student who needs them less over time, not more. Good tutors work themselves out of a job.
They are honest about progress, including delivering the awkward message that tutoring is not the right tool, or is no longer needed.

What questions should I ask before hiring a tutor?

A short, direct conversation tells you most of what you need. Ask:

How would you work out where my child is stuck? Listen for a real diagnostic approach, not just "we'll cover the topics".
How do you measure progress, and how often do you review it? You want a tutor who tracks and reports, not one who simply fills an hour.
What is your experience with this exact course and level? HSC, VCE, QCE and the other senior systems differ; current, specific exam knowledge matters.
Do you hold a current Working with Children Check? For anyone working with under-18s, this is non-negotiable. Every state and territory requires the relevant clearance for people working with children.
How will you keep me informed, and how do you handle homework between sessions? Progress comes from what happens between lessons as much as during them.
What happens if it is not working? A confident, honest tutor has a clear answer to this.

What are the red flags?

Some warning signs are worth walking away from, however impressive the rest of the pitch:

Guarantees of a specific ATAR or mark. No honest tutor can promise a number. Results depend on the student, the cohort and the exam, none of which a tutor controls.
Vagueness about method or progress. If they cannot explain how they will help or how you will know it is working, there is nothing to hold on to.
Pressure to lock in long contracts or large upfront payments. Reputable tutors let their work earn the next booking.
No Working with Children Check, or reluctance to provide one. A firm stop.
Talking about themselves, not your child. The pitch should be about your child's needs, not the tutor's trophies.
Dismissing the school or teacher. Good tutors complement the classroom; they do not set themselves against it.

Trust the fit, not just the CV

Meet or trial before committing where you can. The single best predictor of whether tutoring works is whether your child engages with the tutor and does the work. That is something you can often sense in one session and never fully tell from a profile.

Do qualifications matter more than rapport?

Both matter, and the right balance depends on the problem you are solving.

For advanced or exam-specific work, deep subject and syllabus expertise is essential. Here, a registered teacher or a specialist with a strong track record earns their rate.
For a student who has lost confidence or motivation, rapport and the ability to rebuild belief can matter just as much as credentials. A relatable recent high achiever who sat the same exam a few years ago can be transformative.

A registered teacher brings formal training and professional accountability. A strong recent graduate may bring relatability and up to date exam experience. Neither is automatically better. The combination you never want is high qualifications with no connection, because a student who does not engage does not do the work, and the work is where the progress lives. Match the tutor to whether your child's real problem is knowledge or confidence, which we help you diagnose in our honest guide to whether your child needs a tutor.

How do I tell if it is working?

Set expectations early. Marks lag; they can take a term to move even when learning is back on track. Sooner than that, look for:

A change in how your child talks about the subject: less dread, fewer "I can't do this" statements.
Evidence they understand the specific gap that prompted the tutoring, usually within a handful of sessions.
More willingness to attempt work independently between lessons.

If, after six to eight weeks, none of this has shifted, treat it as information. Review the tutor, the format, or whether tutoring was the right tool for this problem in the first place.

When should we stop?

Stopping well is a sign of good tutoring, not a failure of it.

Stop when the goal is met. Once the gap is closed and your child can sustain the subject independently, the job is done. Ongoing lessons "just in case" create dependency and cost without a clear purpose.
Stop, or change something, when it is not working. No shift after six to eight weeks is your cue to reassess rather than keep paying.
Be wary of the tutor who never suggests an exit. A tutor who only ever recommends more sessions, and never names an endpoint, is not putting your child's independence first.

For the bigger picture, our honest guide to whether your child needs a tutor helps you decide if tutoring is the right move at all, and our guide to the cost of tutoring helps you judge value for money. Getting the subject choices right in the first place, covered in our subject-selection guide, and setting up a solid study routine with the free study planner, can reduce how much tutoring your child needs. If you would like help finding a tutor who genuinely fits your child, or an honest view on whether you need one at all, the ExamExplained team is one message away.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a good tutor?

A good tutor combines two things: genuine knowledge of the subject and the current syllabus and exam, and the rapport to get your child engaged and doing the work between sessions. Expertise without connection leaves a student disengaged; warmth without expertise leaves them liking someone who cannot actually lift their marks. The best tutors also diagnose before they teach, explain clearly at the student's pace, set and review specific goals, and are honest about progress, including when tutoring is not needed anymore.

What questions should I ask a tutor before hiring them?

Ask how they would diagnose your child's specific gap, how they measure progress and how often they review it, their experience with the exact course and level (HSC, VCE, QCE or equivalent), whether they hold a Working with Children Check, how they handle homework and communication with you, and what happens if it is not working. Their answers reveal whether they teach to a plan or just fill an hour.

What are the red flags when choosing a tutor?

Be wary of guarantees of a specific ATAR or mark, which no one can honestly promise; vagueness about method or progress; pressure to lock into long contracts or large upfront payments; no Working with Children Check; reluctance to communicate with you; and anyone who dismisses the school or the teacher rather than working with them. Talking only about themselves rather than about your child is another warning sign.

Do qualifications matter more than rapport?

Both matter, and the balance depends on the need. For advanced or exam-specific work, deep subject and syllabus expertise is essential. For a student who has lost confidence or motivation, rapport and the ability to rebuild belief can matter just as much. A registered teacher brings training and accountability; a strong recent graduate may bring relatability and up to date exam experience. What you never want is high qualifications with no connection, because a disengaged student does not do the work.

When should we stop tutoring?

Stop when the gap is closed and your child can sustain the subject independently, which is the goal, not an open-ended dependency. Also stop, or change something, if after six to eight weeks there is no shift in understanding or confidence. A good tutor will tell you when your child no longer needs them. If a tutor only ever recommends more sessions and never an exit, treat that as a reason to review.