First Tutors Reviews

Name: First Tutors
Address: PO Box 860, Preston
Rating: 4.59

4.6 Rating 8,870 Reviews

93 %

of reviewers recommend First Tutors

Company Reviews

Questions

Metrics

4.6

Based on 8,870 reviews

Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour

Visit Website

Phone:

0843 289 9165

Email:

enquiries@firsttutors.co.uk

Location:

PO Box 860
Preston
PR3 9DF

Write Your review

Tell us how First Tutors made you happy

Minimum 10 characters

Would you like to add a photos or videos?

Strengthen your review by uploading photos & videos.

Drag files here or browse

(Supported files: jpg, png, mpeg, ogg, mp4 & webm)

What's your name?

Leave this blank if you'd like to publish your review anonymously.

(Optional)

What's your email?

We need your email address to verify that your review is genuine

Please note that we may share your email with the company to verify your order.

First Tutors 1 star review on 10th April 2024

Lana

First Tutors 1 star review on 11th December 2023

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 3 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Good service, however far too expensive to pay for tutors details!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Dominque, Thank you for your feedback and we are happy to hear that you found our service good. The intro fee helps cover the costs of ID checks, reference collection and qualification verification. The intro fee is based on the tutor's hourly rate so if you find a tutor that charges 10 pounds an hour you will only pay 4.99 intro fee. The maximum intro fee is 24.99. Wish you the best of luck with your new tutor but if you encounter any problems just contact our customer service team who are happy to help. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“Was shocked to learn that to release the tutors' details a fee of £14.99 is payable PER TUTOR. It is the same if recruitnent fee was payable for every candudate you interview. To charge for using the site is fair enough such as membership fee, but a charge per contact is absurd!! The quality of tutors good though.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Anya, Thank you for your feedback. The intro fee ranges from £4.99 to a maximum of £24.99 depending on the tutor's hourly rate so for example if you chose a tutor that only charges £10.00 per hour we only charge £4.99 intro fee. It is free to contact and discuss your tuition needs with as many tutors as you wish via our website, we only charge when you decide which tutor you wish to go ahead with. The intro fee helps cover costs of ID and reference checks plus qualification verification which provides peace of mind for students and parents alike. I wish you the best of luck with your new tutor but if you encounter any problems please do contact us, we are here to help. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“The site is ok but could be easier to navigate. The company us too quick to take the money. I would like to have had more information before paying”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Fe, Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you couldn't find information. I will forward your comments to our team. Clicking the help tab on the homepage does provide information on how the site works and we also have a very efficient email support team that are here to respond to your emails usually within the hour 7 days a week to answer your questions. I wish you the best of luck with your new tutor but if any problems arise please do not hesitate to contact our support team. We are here to help, just click the "contact us" tab at the bottom of the webpage. Kind regards Sara Customer Service TEam First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“A little bit confusing on how to arrange to meet the tutor BEFORE you sign them up and start paying them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Helen, We are sorry to hear you found the site navigation a little confusing. We aim to make our service as user-friendly as possible. We do have a customer support team, working 7 days a week to help answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to use the 'contact us' button to forward your feedback and we will do our best to make the necessary improvements. Wishing you the best of luck with your tutor. Kind Regards, Sarah First Tutors Customer Service

Posted 7 years ago

“I found the process, especially that after agreement with a tutor confusing and unclear as to what needed to be done. Also once a tutor is agreed I think the system should automatically inform other outstanding requests and closing them. I say this as a web site designer myself.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Ian, Thank you for your feedback. I have passed your comments on to our web developer. If you are ever unsure of the process to obtain a tutor and what happens next do email us at customer service so we can help you. You may also find that our FAQs answer some of your queries: https://www.firsttutors.com/uk/music/how-to-find-a-teacher.php Kind regards, Grace Customer Service Team First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“Two reviews : Excellent easy to use site. Was able to book a fantastic tutor for my daughter for Chemistry. However, Second tutor for English - had one lesson, not suitable although very nice. Trying to discuss this with the site and see if I can get a refund is nigh on impossible (no other tutors available in the area that teach English at Higher level so although have been provided with the oprrutunity to select another tutor, this isn't a possibility). £19.99 plus lesson fee is very steep for one lesson that wasn't really to the mark”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Lisa, Thank you for your feedback. We do understand your concerns. If you wish to pursue a refund instead of the offer of another tutor for free please email customer service to state so. Kind regards, Grace Customer Service Team First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“good site. able to find a teacher.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“Have to pay in advance of speaking to tutor. Not managed to meet him yet though. The tutors availability is limited and it would have been better to have had better access to him earlier. Very limited choice in this subject.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Rachel, Thank you for your feedback. I see that 4 of the 5 tutors did respond to your request and although they did admit to having limited availability, you managed to book two tutors for different subjects. The other tutor (Rachel) did have availability but it would seem you didn’t receive/see her message? We do have many tutors on our books so we always advise our clients to contact as many as possible to improve the chances of finding a suitable tutor as quickly as possible. Please contact us via email if you have any problems with your tutors, we are here to help. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“Seems ok so far in terms of actually getting a tutor although the site is a bit clunky to use. The instructions could be clearer. Have yet to see quality of teaching.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Julia, Thank you for your feedback. I will pass your comments to our team. We are constantly working to improve the user experience so we would appreciate your input as to where you think we could improve. I will send you an email about this now. If you experience any problems with your tutor please do let us know via email, we are here to help resolve any problems you may encounter. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“i can not contact my tutor, she doenst respond to me”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Chris, We are sorry to hear about this. I can see we sent a follow up email after your purchase to check everything was okay, but because we did not hear from you we were unable to help. I have sent you instructions now on how to leave feedback for your tutor and choose a replacement at no further cost. Please check your inbox. Kind Regards, Sarah First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Chris, Thank you for your feedback. I see that one of our team has contacted you about this so I trust all is well. Please do not hesitate to contact us via email if you have further issues. kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“Not a lot of choice in my local area - only one in reasonable distance. It was not clear whether the tutor would be able to come to me or whether I needed to travel. The tutor also needed prompting to respond to my enquiry. All that said, I did find a local tutor that seems to suit my needs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Daniel, Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear you had some problems using the site. Do let us know via our Contact Us page (https://www.firsttutors.com/uk/contact-us.php) if you have any further issues as we are more than willing to help you sort them out. Kind regards, Grace Customer Service Team First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“I actually found your site really hard to navigate, unsure of where to start and what the stages were. I have found a tutor but feel that the steps to do so could be clearer.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Shona, Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear that you found our site difficult to navigate. We aim to make our service as user-friendly as possible and would be willing to discuss this further with you to make some improvements. You can contact us directly by clicking the 'contact us' button at the bottom of the webpage. Wishing you the best of luck with your tutor. Kind Regards, Sarah, First Tutors Customer Service.

Posted 7 years ago

“Think set up fee is expensive been on other tutor sights and they don't charge at all to book”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Karen, Thank you for your feedback. Yes, we are aware there are sites that do not charge but we do carry out ID checks, reference collection and verification of qualifications which is what makes us different to other websites and what most parents feel gives them that extra peace of mind. If you have a problem with your tutor please do not hesitate to contact us, we are here to help. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

“I did not find the site easy to use. When I asked for help I received a standard response. I feel you would have a higher success rate if there was a voice at the end of the phone to help when someone is struggling. You also did not make it clear what your commission/ fee's are? I was made to believe is was £4.99 but it was £24.99 I feel you are unable to justify the sort of commission if when I needed help you only sent me standardise email reply's. I would not recommend you as I feel you web site could be more user friendly”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Pat, Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear you didn't feel the site was user friendly and shall pass your comments on. The introduction fee per tutor is between £4.99- £24.99 and related to the price a tutor charges per hour. The process to acquire a tutor is outlined on our 'How to Find a Tutor' page (https://www.firsttutors.com/uk/how-to-find-a-tutor.php) if you need more help. Automated responses are there to help answer the most common questions, but we do acknowledge they can't solve every query. Do just reply to an automated response, as per the instructions on the email, if you need more help. Kind regards, Grace Customer Service Team First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“Too early as only had one session”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

“FirstTutors have a decent amount of maths and physics tutors, mostly on the budget side. I imagine this is because many seem to be new tutors who do not have much reviewer reputation yet. This is a good place for a bargain if you are willing to take a risk - I got a cheap, new tutor who is doing a fab job. If a tutor has a bad review, it is counted but not displayed - rather irresponsible if you ask me. I came out a winner this time, with a great tutor, but I wouldn't be surprised if many parents come away disappointed. FT has a largely passive model - they don't seem to do much in actively vetting tutors, no DBS is required to be listed even. They do not help punters find a match either, with limited, web-based search facilities and no personal interaction. FT seem to earn their fee for not much effort from their end. The fee structure (2017) is also a bit annoying - £20 for one tutor or £25 for multiple tutors. Most people will only need one but he/she turns out naff you would have to stump out another £20 for a replacement. In conclusion I'd say it is a good site for a tutor if you are on a budget and willing to take a little gamble. It worked for me.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Neil, Thank you for your feedback. The private tuition industry in the UK is not regulated which is why private tutors are not obliged to have a DBS certificate. However, many private tutors are also teachers employed at schools and do have a DBS certificate so if they claim to have one we advise you request to see it on the first meeting together with photo ID too. First Tutors conduct identity checks on all tutors, we also request two references per tutor. We do indeed provide personal interaction when needed, send us an email and you will receive a prompt response (7 days a week) from our customer service team who help not just with complaints but any technical difficulties you may encounter during the request process. The intro fee is based on the tutor’s hourly rate (from 4.99 to 24.99) so there is an affordable fee for most people. (eg. if you can only afford 10 pounds per hour tutoring the intro fee will only be 4.99) There isn’t a one off fee to release an unlimited amount of tutor contact details. Please be assured that there is no gamble. If it does not work out with the tutor, we ask that you leave feedback on the tutor’s profile expressing your disappointment, we then offer you another tutor’s contact details free of charge. All you need to do is let us know via email. We are delighted to hear that you are satisfied with your tutor - just click the “contact us” tab at the bottom of the webpage if you need assistance of any kind. Kind regards Customer Service Team First Tutors Sara

Posted 7 years ago

“Unfortunately having paid the introductory fee, the tutor then cancelled the arrangement and I am still waiting for First tutors to contact me regarding this.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Julia, Thank you for your feedback. We received your email notifying us about the problem with your tutor on the 24.02.2017 at 09:47 and we responded the same date at 10:01 and again at 10:48 explaining how to leave feedback on the tutor’s profile to be able to claim another tutor at no further cost. Yet another email was sent on the 25.02.2017 at 09:10 Please could you check your spam/junk folders. We trust that you have now received our emails. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“Your website was quite easy to use, but you did not clearly explain who you were; by what criteria you choose your tutors nor the payment system up front. It is always annoying to discover later on that you have to pay "to get an address". I was also unimpressed that when I gave you feedback about some of the English used, you did not say you would look into it, you handed it back to me to raise with my tutor, which did not feel as if you accepted any responsibility for your site.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Sue, Thank you for your feedback. I will ensure this is passed on to our developers to see if information regarding our fees can be made clearer on the site. The fee you pay does help cover the cost of identity and reference checking on all of our tutors which gives many of our users peace of mind. With regard to your concerns, I can see that my colleague responded to your query regarding the grammar used on your tutors profile. All of our tutors are self-employed and are therefore responsible for their own profiles. If you are unhappy with the information provided we would advise giving feedback to the tutor as constructive criticism, as their hirer. Kind Regards, Sarah First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“Far to expensive for a few contact details.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Caroline, Thank you for your feedback. The intro fee helps cover the costs of ID checks, reference collection, qualification verification etc. which gives parents and students peace of mind. The fee is directly related to the cost per hour of tuition a tutor charges and unlike other tuition sites there are no further fees to pay. If you have any further queries do email us. Kind regards, Grace Customer Service First Tutors

Posted 7 years ago

“The website is easy to use and finding tutors near you is a fast simple process. Once you have purchased a tutors details however, you can no longer communicate with them through First Tutors. This is frustrating as First Tutors has been your only method of contact to that point. Attempting to access messages with your tutor via the menus, results in you being redirected to the log in page this happens on a loop.”

Helpful Report

Posted 7 years ago

Dear Adam, Thank you for your feedback. The reason you can't communicate via the system once you purchase the tutor's contact details is because the request has been confirmed (payment made) and our system sends you the tutor's personal contact details. This happens instantly via email, they also appear in your member's area under the section "my tutors". Open requests are only to discuss anonymously all tuition needs, once you both decide to go ahead you can do this via telephone and email. We wish you the best of luck with your new tutor. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need further help. Kind regards Sara Customer Service Team First Tutors.

Posted 7 years ago

First Tutors is rated 4.6 based on 8,870 reviews