What do you need to be eligible for the school platform?
To identify whether a tutor is eligible for schools opportunities we check for the following:
Prevent training has been completed
DBS check less than 36 months old (please note we will stop sending you new opportunities in advance of your DBS check expiring, to know more please check How do I know what I need to do to become compliant?)
2 completed and approved reference checks from anyone who could sign your passport photo.
5-year address history
You haven’t lived overseas for more than 3 months in the same country for the past 5 years
If you do not meet any of the above requirements you won’t be eligible for school opportunities until you have provided what’s missing.
How do I know what I need to do to become compliant?
When you log in to your homepage, if you’re no longer compliant, you’ll see a banner at the top with actions that need to be taken so you’re able to access school opportunities again.
There may be up to four actions you need to take:
Prevent training - The purpose of this training is to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism as well as directing them to the appropriate advice and support. It will only take 10 minutes to complete.
References - We need two complete references which aren’t from friends or MyTutor reviews. This could be from a work colleague (this cannot be another tutor), manager, university lecturer or former teacher (anyone who could sign your passport is great). We understand this is confusing as you’ve already been teaching on the platform but this is a requirement from the Department of Education to teach school pupils.
Address history - We need a five year address history to comply with the latest safeguarding legislation - this is so that we can confirm whether you have lived abroad in the last 5 years. We’ll need an address history whether you provided your own DBS check or applied for one with us.
DBS renewal - The requirement has changed and your DBS certificate now has to be less than 36 months old. In order for you to have your check submitted and approved in time you will stop seeing new opportunities in advance of the 36 month renewal date.
There is an exception that is you must not have had a break in service for longer than 12 weeks.
For new tutors being onboarded:
If you are uploading a current DBS check, your check must be less than 12 weeks old, so you're not asked to apply for a new check just after joining us.
If you are on the DBS update service, legally, you have to give us permission to check the update service every time we do, we can’t automatically see that you’re on the service. If you’re on the update service and happy for us to check it, please confirm by emailing us or sending us a message on live chat and we will confirm with DBS and update your profile. We’ll need a copy of your certificate before we can check this service.
For existing tutors:
Your checks must be less than 35 months old to continue being notified about new opportunities. This gives time for the check to be done before working with new pupils.
Your checks must be less than 36 months old to continue working with your existing pupils. If your DBS expires, your existing work will be released to a new tutor.
Why have you made this change? / Why can I no longer see school opportunities?
The National Tutoring Programme was launched by the DfE (Department for Education) in 2020 to support many schools and local authorities in providing tuition to their students.
So far you’ve helped over 60,000 children to be tutored through the NTP - children who, without this funding, may never have received tutoring.
For MyTutor to continue as an NTP partner, and to ensure you can continue working with schools, it’s important that we evolve our policies and procedures in line with the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education legislation, published this September.
From now on, tutors will be unable to access school opportunities until they’re fully compliant with this legislation. As soon as you are compliant with the requirements you’ll be able to see school opportunities again.
Please note this won’t impact any private tutoring you do - it only applies to working with schools.
How does this impact my private work with MyTutor?
These requirements are only required for school opportunities. You can continue tutoring your private clients and accept new opportunities on the private side.
I’m now compliant but still cannot see school opportunities, why?
We will be running checks to update which tutors are compliant every hour. Once you have completed all the steps on your banner it will disappear and you’ll be eligible to see school opportunities again within one hour.
I’m part of the DBS update service, why am I seeing this message?
Legally, you have to give us permission to check the update service every time we do. We can’t automatically see that you’re on the service. If you’re on the update service and happy for us to check it, please confirm by emailing us or sending us a message on live chat and we will confirm with DBS and update your profile. We’ll need a copy of your certificate before we can check this service.
When I have a new DBS check what do I need to do to be eligible for lessons straight away?
Our systems update every hour, so you will show as eligible within an hour of your DBS check being confirmed by Verifile.
What counts as a reference?
A reference can be someone like a work colleague (unfortunately it cannot be another tutor), manager, or former teacher or lecturer - we can’t accept references from family and friends. You can find examples of people who could provide a suitable reference here. Get in touch with our team if you have any questions about who could provide a suitable reference.
Why do I need to renew my DBS?
The legislation for the NTP now requires that a DBS check must be less than 36 months old to be compliant, which is different to our previous policy. If you’re part of the update service - please let us know via live chat or email and we’ll check this for you. You can read more about the update service here. We strongly recommend you sign up for the update service to ensure you stay compliant.
Why do you need my address history?
We need a five year address history to comply with the latest safeguarding legislation - this is so that we can confirm whether you have lived abroad in the last 5 years. We’ll need an address history whether you provided your own DBS check or applied for one with us.
Why am I unable to work with school opportunities if I’ve lived overseas the last 5 years?
We can only accept checks provided by the Disclose and Barring Service (DBS), and can’t complete or accept overseas background checks at this time.
How do I get on the DBS update service?
The DBS Update Service is available for anyone who has received their new DBS check within the last 30 days. You can find more information here. If you are past the 30 days, you will be able to apply for this check the next time you get a new DBS check.