If you run a tutoring business, you should have a contract between you and your students. A well-drafted tutoring contract will clarify:
- exactly what services you will provide to your students;
- what the payment arrangement is; and
- that you intend to limit your legal responsibility to the greatest extent possible.
Before you sign a new student to your agency or tutoring business, you must ask them to sign your tutoring contract. Importantly, if your student is a child, their parent or legal guardian must sign on the child’s behalf. In this article, we discuss five clauses that you should address in your tutoring contract.
1. Scope of the Services
Your tutoring contract must carefully set out all of your tutoring services. This will:
- provide certainty for you and your students; and
- avoid misunderstandings and disputes.
For example, if your tutoring agency prepares students for the International English Language Testing System examinations, explain how it does so. Note the ways that your agency works to improve students’:
- listening;
- comprehension; and
- vocabulary.
You should also detail whether you will conduct practice examinations for your students.
Establishing your services’ scope to set client expectations is essential. This will limit the likelihood of a dispute arising. Otherwise, students and their parents may feel unhappy if they believe they did not receive the service promised.
While it is important to set out the services you provide, it is equally important to explain the exclusions of your offering.
For example, you might require students to:
- buy certain textbooks or materials; or
- pay additional fees to attend examinations.
Make sure this is clear from the outset so that students are not surprised down the track.
2. Pricing and Payment Terms
You might charge:
- an upfront deposit to secure the student’s place in a class;
- weekly payments for each class;
- a set hourly rate;
- additional fees for expenses, such as the cost of materials and textbooks; or
- a lump sum payment at the start or beginning of the course.
Students will need to know when payment is due, so this needs to be clear in your payment terms.
You should also outline what happens if a student:
- misses or cancels a class; or
- needs to discontinue lessons altogether.
Consider whether you will refund the amount paid for classes that they have not taken. Alternatively, you may charge a cancellation fee. Or the fee may apply if students fail to provide adequate notice. However, not giving a refund or charging unreasonably high cancellation fees may be unfair. As such it is best to seek legal advice on how to draft payment and refund clauses in your contract.
Continue reading this article below the form3. Liability
As a service provider, you will take on a degree of responsibility for your services. However, you can include a limitation of liability clause in your tutoring contract to limit your responsibility as much as possible.
While you may want to limit your liability, your students will expect you to take on a degree of responsibility for the quality of your services. A lawyer can help you achieve an appropriate balance between these competing interests in your tutoring contract.
For example, you might explain to students that your agency will prepare them academically to the best of its ability. However, the agency does not accept responsibility for their performance in an examination. Then, if a student does not achieve the results they were aiming for, they cannot hold your agency accountable.
You should also limit your liability for things outside of your control. This includes:
- the actions of your students or any third parties;
- any services or materials you do not provide; or
- any major events that may prevent your classes from continuing.
4. Legal Compliance
Tutoring agencies need to comply with additional laws and regulations, relevant to the nature of the industry. In particular, you will need to consider your obligations:
- when working with minors; and
- your obligations as a member of the Australian Tutoring Association, if applicable.
Working with Minors
If your agency works with minors, it is best practice to set out in your tutoring contract how you will protect them while they are under your care.
The Australian Tutoring Association recommends that if you teach a child in their home, that:
- you must work in a public part of the house;
- the tutoring can never take place in a child’s bedroom;
- an adult must always be in the house; and
- the adult must sign confirmation after the lesson attesting to these practices.
Similarly, if you tutor students in a classroom, you must:
- keep curtains, blinds and doors open; and
- never discipline a child with the door shut.
You will also need suitable employment procedures for your agency. In particular, all employees must have a Working With Children Check. As an individual, it is also best practice to have a current, valid Working With Children Check.
Code of Conduct
Your tutoring contract should also explain your ethical responsibilities as a tutoring agency. Agencies and individual tutors who are members of the Australian Tutoring Association abide by a Code of Conduct that obliges them to use their:
- resources for the best educational outcomes for students;
- teaching and learning practises to enhance student’s self-esteem and confidence to learn; and
- skills to help students improve in the subjects in which they receive tuition.
A lawyer can help you strike a balance between the warranties and promises you make to students about the services and outcomes you provide while limiting your liability to the greatest extent possible.
5. Termination
Your tutoring contract should set out the process if you or your student wants to terminate the contract.
For example, you must consider if:
- a student needs to give notice that they want to end the arrangement early; and
- how much notice is necessary to avoid any further payments.
Further, if the student has paid for lessons in advance, it should be clear both in this clause and your payments clause whether they would be entitled to a refund.
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Key Takeaways
When you provide services to clients, you must have an agreement. In summary, a tutoring contract should contain clauses to:
- ensure that you get paid;
- set out the scope of your services;
- limit your liability; and
- reduce the risks of disputes happening.
Your tutoring contract should be clear and easy to understand so that your students know exactly what they are agreeing to.
If you need help with your tutoring contract, our experienced contract lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
All of the above will apply to your contract. Some extra considerations for you will be clarifying your role as a contractor, not the student’s or parents’ employee. This will clarify your responsibilities for contributing to your super, income tax payments, and any relevant professional insurance.
A major consideration for tutoring online will be safety. To remain legally compliant, ensure you are up to date with the best practices for supervision and communications with students and parents. You may also want to be familiar with the functions of your online platform (such as locking meetings and preventing private messaging), so you can use them to protect yourself and your students. You may also want to include some details about cancellations due to power outages or internet difficulties.
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