The Tutors’ Association exists, in part, to enforce professional standards across the tuition sector. There are currently no legal obligations on tutors specifically (other than being obliged to follow the law as it applies to anyone else). However there are a number of business practices which, whilst technically not being illegal, are quite clearly ethically questionable or widely regarded as unprofessional. It is a requirement of TTA membership that members are compliant with the law but also that they comply with our Code of Practice; the purpose of this is to give the wider public confidence that members will be held to a minimum standard of professionalism and conduct, in particular in relation to their practice as a tuition business. This is increasingly important as TTA more actively represents and advocates for the tuition sector – we need to justify why members should be held in high regard by government, the media and the wider public (including prospective clients, both parents and schools/local authorities).
The details below give an indication of some of the main requirements of members. Whilst it is not an entirely exhaustive list, the intention is to provide an indication as to how TTA will generally interpret the rules and the purpose of them:
Key Requirements of Tutors and Tuition Businesses:
- Complying with the law. All TTA members are required to comply with the letter and spirit of the law; this includes compliance with regulations surrounding operating as an employment agency/employment business, tax, other business regulations and not using corporal punishment (which would legally be regarded as assault). TTA also regards legal compliance as extending to not taking any action (or omitting to take an action) that would give an other party a legally actionable claim under civil law (e.g. fraudulent misrepresentation, discrimination, breach of confidentiality or defamation, covered further below).
- Safeguarding requirements. Very strictly speaking, there are no legal requirements imposed on tutors specifically in relation to safeguarding (separate from obligations that apply to any person). However, TTA requires members to comply with a significantly higher minimum standard of safeguarding practice. This includes:
- Tutors holding an Enhanced DBS check that is either less than one year old or registered with the DBS Update Service. A Basic DBS check is not regarded as acceptable.
- Taking reasonable steps to maintain awareness of expected safeguarding practice – including with reference to this guidance from the Department for Education aimed at out-of-school-settings (OOSS) providers. TTA also offers free safeguarding training for members (both individual tutors and corporates).
- Complying with KCSIE (Keeping Children Safe in Education) guidance, which can be found on the DfE website here. This includes complying with safer recruitment practices.
- Dealing promptly and effectively with any safeguarding issues and concerns that arise, for both individual and corporate members.
- Not engaging in unfair or unreasonable competitive practices. Tutors and tuition businesses will often compete with each other in a completely fair manner; many tuition providers offer similar or even identical services and there is no issue with this. However, there are some business practices which, whilst technically may not be legal, are not regarded as appropriate professional conduct and would be regarded by TTA as a breach of the Code of Practice:
- Defamation (including slander and libel). It is almost always unnecessary to make disparaging comments as to the quality of services offered by another tutor or tuition provider and, in most cases, making public statements that are likely to harm the reputation of another provider are likely to constitute defamation. It is not always necessary to specifically name another provider if the nature of the public statement (for example, its timing, placement, or inferences that would be made by a reasonable person) indicates to whom the comment relates. TTA regards defamation as a breach of its Code of Practice, irrespective of whether the defamed individual is a TTA member or whether they take legal action or not. Generally speaking, there is a valid defence if you say something which is true and can be substantiated (e.g. “tuition company A charges £100 per hour” or “tuition company B does not offer maths tuition”) but great care should be taken to check the veracity of any claim and to ensure that there is appropriate evidence to substantiate it, should it be necessary.
- ‘Adword squatting’. A practice has developed by some unscrupulous businesses in recent years who attempt to win clients by purchasing digital advertising (e.g. Google Adwords) that uses key words that are clearly designed to catch customers who would be searching for the name of a competing tuition business. Obviously, there are some terms which are generic and clearly do not relate to any particular business (e.g. “maths tuition” or “A Level tutor”) but, generally speaking, where part or all of the exact name of a competitor is used, this is frowned upon and should be avoided. Tuition providers should advertise themselves on their own merit and not seek to aggressively divert customers who it could be reasonably surmised are trying to find a particular competitor.
- False reviews. The leaving of false (negative) reviews for a competing tuition provider, in the hope of deterring prospective clients from seeking their services is highly unprofessional, fraudulent and certainly amounts to a breach of TTA’s Code of Practice. Asking or encouraging third parties to do the same is also very likely to be regarded as a breach.