Terms of Service

Scholars’ Concierge introduces families to independent tutors, and introduces tutors to families and to small groups. We speak with you, we run our matching, and we make the introduction. What happens in the lessons themselves is between the family and the tutor.

We do not check a tutor’s identity, qualifications, credentials or references. A tutor tells us what they teach and that is what appears on their profile. We do not describe any tutor as verified, checked, vetted or screened, because we do not perform those checks. Families should satisfy themselves about any tutor before lessons begin.

For private tuition, the family pays Scholars’ Concierge one week of lessons at the agreed rate, once, before the first lesson. One week means the number of lessons in one week of the agreed schedule, not seven calendar days. That payment is our entire commission, it is charged once for each new family, and none of it is passed to the tutor.

From the second week onwards the family pays the tutor directly, on whatever schedule the two of them agree. We take nothing further and we are not part of those payments.

For small-group tuition, the family pays monthly in advance, from which we retain 15% as an administrative fee for as long as the child is in the group. The seat price is fixed when the child joins and does not change with the size of the group.

There is no sign-up fee and no matching fee to families.

Once the agreement is signed, the family and the tutor are each committed to a minimum of one week of lessons, because both set that time aside in advance.

During the first week either side may reschedule through us with at least 48 hours of notice. We will be flexible in exceptional circumstances, such as an illness supported by a medical certificate.

If the tutor does not attend a first-week lesson and it was not rescheduled with at least 48 hours of notice, the family is refunded in full for that lesson and the fee is charged to the tutor. If the child misses a first-week lesson without that notice, the lesson is charged, because the tutor set the time aside.

If the engagement stops after the first week, the tutor is not paid for it. The first week is our commission and this is agreed in advance.

If the tutor turns out not to suit the family, we start a second search at no charge. The family pays only for lessons already taught.

A class missed with at least 48 hours of notice is not charged. Without that notice it is charged as usual. The same notice applies to the tutor, and a class the tutor misses without it is not charged to the family.

A make-up lesson is arranged through us, taught one to one, and charged at the tutor’s private rate rather than the group seat rate, with 15% retained as commission.

A family leaving a group with at least 48 hours of notice before the next lesson is refunded the balance of lessons paid for but not yet taken. With less than 48 hours of notice, the next lesson is charged and the remainder is refunded.

A tutor must give us two weeks of notice before ending a group. We will then offer each family another group, private one-to-one tuition, or a break.

The first week of private tuition, and small-group fees, are handled through HitPay. Payments between a family and a tutor from the second week onwards are arranged directly between them and do not run through us.

We do not handle cash.

We use automated processing, including software that ranks and matches, to shortlist tutors against what a family has told us, and to identify students who could form a small group. Families rank candidates and tutors accept or decline the exact tuition terms. Our Operations team approves every introduction. For new Private Tuition, the first-week payment must also be complete before adult contact details are released. An included replacement has no second payment, so adult contact details may be released after approval. Ordinary service messages are delivered through the system.

You may ask us how a decision about you was reached, and you may ask us to look at it again. Nothing in this section is a promise about the outcome of a search.

Exchanging contact details before the release gate is not permitted. For new Private Tuition, adult names and numbers remain withheld until both sides accept the same terms, we give final approval, and the first-week payment is complete. For an included replacement, no second payment is due, so adult names and numbers may be released after both sides accept and we approve. A student’s identity is never released to a tutor.

Once you are introduced, the relationship is yours. This clause exists to protect identity and personal data, not to prevent you from continuing with your tutor.

We introduce, we do not teach. Once an engagement is confirmed, the lessons and their conduct and outcomes are between the family and the tutor, who is an independent contractor and not our employee or agent.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded. Subject to that, our liability arising out of the service is limited to the fees you have paid us in connection with the engagement complained of.

We do not guarantee academic results, a tutor’s availability, that a small group will form, or that any particular tutor will accept.

We may update these terms as the service changes. We will not backdate a change to alter a fee already agreed. Continuing to use Scholars’ Concierge after an update means you accept the terms as they then read.