12 Questions to Ask a Home Tutor Before You Hire Them

A number comes through on the school parents' group at nine at night. You call. In four minutes the tutor has described ten years of experience, a student who went from 58 to 91, and a free Tuesday slot. It fits, so you say yes.

Three weeks later you learn two things. She has never taught ICSE. And homework, in her system, means whatever the school has already given.

Most of that is avoidable with twelve questions asked before the first paid class. Here they are, in the order you would actually ask them, with the answers that should make you pause.

What should you ask a home tutor before hiring them?

Ask twelve questions in four groups: board and class experience, how they teach a topic your child does not get, homework and progress updates, and practical terms like missed classes and replacement. Finish by asking for one parent reference. The whole call takes about fifteen minutes.

You are not testing whether the tutor is clever. You are checking whether they have a method, and whether they will tell you the truth when progress is slow.

Questions 1 to 3: experience with your child's board and class

Ask which boards and classes they have taught in the last two years, which chapters students usually get stuck on, and whether they will do a demo class this week. The first two answers reveal real classroom experience. The third shows whether they are confident with a new child.

Boards are not interchangeable. A CBSE Class 10 science answer wants clean, point-wise writing that fits the marking scheme. ICSE wants more detail. IB and IGCSE students need help with command terms, coursework and a different grading logic.

The chapter question is the best one on this list

Question 2 is hard to fake. Someone who has really taught Class 10 maths answers in seconds: trigonometric identities, and the surface area word problems. A Class 9 science tutor names motion graphs. A Class 11 accountancy tutor says rectification of errors.

A tutor who says "every chapter is important if the child studies properly" has not taught many children. That is not unkind. It is what the answer tells you.

Insist on the demo even if the tutor comes recommended. It shows how they handle your child, not how much they know. Our guide on choosing a home tutor in Gurugram explains what a strong demo looks like.

Questions 4 to 6: what will you do when my child does not understand?

Ask what they do when a child still does not follow after two explanations, how much of each session the child will spend solving problems alone, and what their plan is for the first two weeks. Good tutors answer all three with specifics. Weak tutors answer with reassurance.

Question 4 matters more than any qualification. Every tutor can explain a topic once. The job is the second and third attempt, when the first has failed and the child is embarrassed.

What a good answer to question 4 sounds like

• "I check the earlier idea it depends on. Nine times out of ten the gap is from Class 7, not this chapter."
• "I switch to a diagram or a real example, then make her do a similar sum while I watch and say nothing."
• "I ask him to explain it back to me. Where he stops is where the confusion is."

Compare that with "I will explain until the child understands." That is a promise, not a method.

A tutor who cannot describe their second explanation only has one.

Question 5 catches the commonest quiet failure. The tutor solves everything neatly, the notebook looks excellent, and marks do not move. Twenty minutes of teaching and thirty of the child working suits most classes.

Question 6 tests planning. A sensible answer is "for two sessions I will test the basics, probably from a class below, then tell you what I find." Starting from the current school chapter skips the diagnosis.

Questions 7 to 9: homework, testing and progress updates

Ask what homework they will set and what happens when it is not done, how often you will get an update and in what form, and how they will check that a topic has stuck. These three answers decide whether the tuition has standards or only has hours.

On homework, a clear answer sounds like this: "Six to eight sums after every class, due before the next one. If it is not done, we use the first fifteen minutes to finish it, and I tell you." That last part matters. Consequences hidden from you are not consequences.

Testing is the part most tutors skip

Covering the syllabus and learning it are different things. Ask how retention will be checked, and listen for something measurable: a short written test every two or three weeks, or revisiting an old chapter cold. Studies on memory consistently find that testing yourself beats rereading.

For Classes 10 and 12, ask when past papers start. A tutor who leaves sample papers until January has left it late.

Questions 10 to 12: missed classes, replacement and references

Ask what happens when a class is missed by either side, what the plan is if the tutor falls ill for two weeks or leaves mid-year, and whether you can speak to a parent they taught for six months or more. These answers protect you in February, when a gap hurts most.

Missed classes cause more arguments than fees do. Settle four points now.

1. How much notice each side gives before cancelling a session.
2. Whether a class you cancel is made up, adjusted in the fee, or lost.
3. Whether classes the tutor cancels are always made up, and by when.
4. What happens during school exam weeks and festival breaks.

Replacement is the question independent tutors dislike most, and one reason families use an agency. Ask plainly: if you cannot come for two weeks, will you send a substitute or do we pause? "We pause, and you do not pay" is fair. No answer at all is a warning.

Fees belong in the same conversation. Most families in Gurugram pay somewhere between Rs 4,000 and Rs 15,000 a month for one subject three times a week, with Class 11 and 12 science, IB and IGCSE higher. Our home tuition fees guide breaks that down, and the learning models page shows how group and hybrid options change it.

Run the safety checks too: photo ID, current address and a second contact number. Our tutor background checklist covers how to ask without giving offence.

Which answers should worry you?

Worry about guaranteed marks, refusal to do a demo, vagueness about timing, blaming children before meeting yours, and discomfort about ID or references. Also treat "I never give homework, we finish everything in class" as a warning. None of these are small problems you can fix later.

One answer that sounds bad but is good: "I have taught mostly CBSE, so give me two weeks to learn the IGCSE pattern." Honesty about a gap beats confidence about everything.

How to ask without sounding like an interview

Say at the start that you have a few questions and roughly how long they will take, then ask them in a normal order instead of reading a list at speed. Most good tutors are relieved by clear questions. The ones who are irritated are telling you something useful.

• Open with your one-line brief: "Aarav is in Class 9 CBSE, losing marks in algebra and geometry constructions."
• Let the tutor ask questions back. One who asks about school, sleep and screen habits is already teaching.

If you are still unsure that tuition is the right step, read the signs a child actually needs a tutor first. Sometimes the real problem is a broken routine.

What to do this week

Shortlist three tutors, run these twelve questions on the phone with each, and book demos with the two who answer best. Give yourself two weeks. Write the answers down as you go, because after three calls they blur and you remember tone rather than substance.

1. Write your one-line brief today, naming the class, board, subject and the exact weakness.
2. Collect three names from different sources so you are not choosing from one narrow pool.
3. Note the replies to questions 2, 4 and 11. They separate people quickly.
4. Call one reference per tutor and ask the awkward question about honest feedback.
5. Put the fee, the slot, the missed-class rule and the notice period in writing before the first paid class.

Four to six weeks in, review honestly. By then a good tutor has named specific weak areas and set written work you have seen. If not, our piece on when to change your child's tutor tells you whether to wait or start again.

At Dheeru Home Tuitions, tutors go through a four-step selection process before meeting a student, and the about page sets out what that covers. Whoever you choose, ask the twelve questions anyway.