Choosing a tutor is a hiring decision made in about four minutes over chat. These nine questions are the ones that separate a tutor who will genuinely move your grade from one who will pleasantly explain things you already understand.
Ask the first four before you book anything. The rest fit naturally into the first message exchange.
1. When did you take this course, and with which lecturer?
Why it matters: Course content drifts. A new professor can change the exam format completely, and a script rewritten two years ago makes half of the old past papers misleading.
A good answer: A semester and a name. "Winter 24/25 with Prof. Keller, and I know she changed the exam to open book last year."
A warning sign: Vagueness about when, or an answer about the subject instead of the course. That usually means they did not take it.
2. How did you do in it?
Why it matters: It is a fair question and any decent tutor expects it. You are not asking for a transcript, just a straight answer.
A good answer: A grade, or an honest qualifier. "1.7, and I found the second half much harder than the first" tells you more than a perfect score with no detail.
A warning sign: Deflection. A tutor who will not discuss their own performance in the course they are selling is an odd starting point for a relationship built on honesty about what you do not know.
3. What do most people get wrong in this course?
Why it matters: This is the single most revealing question on the list. Somebody who has really taught the material has a specific, opinionated answer ready.
A good answer: Precise and diagnostic. "Almost everyone can do the mechanical integration and then loses fifteen points on the proof question, because the tutorials never actually practise proofs."
A warning sign: Generic study advice. "Start early and do the exercises" is true of every course ever taught and tells you nothing.
4. How do you run a session?
Why it matters: You are buying a method, not an hour. A tutor who lectures at you for sixty minutes is the least effective version of this, because you already have a lecture.
A good answer: Something with your hands in it. "You work a problem, I watch where you stall, we fix that, then you do the next one yourself."
A warning sign: No structure at all, or an offer to "go through the slides".
5. Can we start with one session and see?
Why it matters: It is a test drive. Fit between two people is not predictable from a profile, and a good tutor knows that better than you do.
A good answer: Yes, without friction.
A warning sign: Pressure to commit to a package up front. On AskYourClass there is no booking system and no prepayment, so nothing forces you into a block of sessions. Anyone pushing for one is working against the grain of how the platform is designed.
6. What should I send you beforehand?
Why it matters: The answer tells you whether they will prepare. It also makes your first session dramatically more efficient.
A good answer: A specific list. The script chapter, the tutorial sheet you got stuck on, last year's past paper, and a sentence about what you are trying to fix.
A warning sign: "Nothing, just come." Twenty minutes of the hour you paid for will then be spent working out what you do not know.
7. Online or in person, and which do you prefer for this course?
Why it matters: A tutor with an opinion here has thought about the material. Proof-heavy maths often works better at a shared table, while concept and exam-strategy work is fine on a call.
A good answer: A preference with a reason attached.
A warning sign: No preference at all, which usually means they run the same session regardless of subject.
8. Do you take groups, and what would that cost?
Why it matters: Money, and often quality. Three students splitting an hour pay far less each, and someone else in the room asks the question you did not know you had.
A good answer: A clear per-person rate. Group availability is shown directly on listings in the directory, so you can filter for it before you even ask.
A warning sign: Reluctance with no reason. Some courses genuinely need one on one work, and a tutor who says exactly why is giving you a real answer.
9. How quickly do you usually reply?
Why it matters: Tutoring is time-sensitive. A brilliant tutor who answers in four days is useless three weeks before an exam.
A good answer: You do not have to take their word for it. Listings show a median response time once a tutor has replied to anything, and profiles show how many sessions they have completed.
A warning sign: A slow reply to this very question.
The signals you get without asking
Before you send a message at all, a listing on AskYourClass already carries most of a first screen:
- The verified badge confirms the tutor's university membership through their university email domain. It confirms enrolment, not ability.
- Ratings and reviews can only be left by students whose request the tutor accepted, so they come from real arrangements rather than drive-by opinions.
- Sessions completed shows how much tutoring they have actually done through the platform.
- Attached materials such as a summary, formula sheet or annotated past paper are the strongest single signal on a profile. Someone who made those has taught this before.
- Study program and semester tell you how far ahead of you they really are.
Running the first session so it is worth the money
Send your material in advance. Bring one concrete goal, not a general feeling of being behind. "I want to be able to do question 3 from the 2024 past paper unaided" is a goal. "I am confused about the whole course" is a mood, and it will produce a vague session.
Spend the hour with a pen in your hand. The most common failure mode in tutoring is a comfortable session where a competent person explains things clearly and you nod, then you sit down alone the next day and cannot start question one. Understanding an explanation and being able to produce a solution are different skills, and only the second one is examined.
At the end, agree what you will do before the next session, and do that part alone. Tutoring works as a diagnostic and a debugger. The practice still has to be yours.
If something goes wrong
Two things worth knowing. Every profile has a report option for anything inappropriate, and reports go to a human moderation queue. And because there is no prepayment, walking away after one session costs you one session.
Nobody has an obligation to continue. If the fit is wrong, say so politely, pay for the time you used, and try someone else from the directory. That is a normal outcome, not a failure.
Frequently asked questions
How do I choose a good tutor for a university course?
Prioritise someone who took the exact course recently, ideally with the same lecturer. Then check their response time, ratings from accepted requests, and whether their listing includes real materials. Ask what most students get wrong in the course, because a specific answer is the clearest evidence of real teaching experience.
What should I ask a tutor before the first session?
When they took the course and with whom, how they did, what students typically get wrong, how they structure a session, what to send in advance, and whether they take groups. Six short questions are enough to decide.
Should I book several sessions in advance?
No. Start with one and see how it goes. There is no prepayment or booking package on AskYourClass, so a single session costs you nothing but that session.
Are tutor reviews on AskYourClass trustworthy?
Reviews can only be submitted by a student whose request the tutor accepted, which rules out reviews from people who never arranged anything. Read the text rather than just the star count, since specific comments about how sessions ran are more informative than the average.
What does the verified badge mean?
It means the email domain on the tutor's account matches the university on their profile, and their profile passed manual moderation. It is a check on university membership, not on grades or teaching ability.
What if the first session does not go well?
Pay for the hour, say the fit was not right, and book someone else. There is no contract and no package to cancel. Most students who find a tutor that works for them tried more than one.
How far ahead of an exam should I book a tutor?
Three to four weeks is the useful window. Early enough that you can act on what you learn and practise it, late enough that you know which topics are genuinely broken. The last week is mostly damage limitation.
Can I report a tutor?
Yes. Every tutor profile has a report option, and reports go to a moderation queue reviewed by a person. Use it for anything inappropriate, misleading or unsafe.
The best tutoring hour you will buy at university is the one with someone who sat exactly where you are sitting, eighteen months earlier, and remembers precisely which part hurt.
Find one at askyourclass.io/tutors.