Tutoring contract template: what to include and how to set your terms

What a tutoring contract should include

1. Parties and student: your business, the client (parent or guardian, or the adult student) and the student's name, grade and school.
2. Services and goals: subjects, session length, format (in person, online or both) and working goals. Say that tutoring supports school, not replaces it.
3. Location and supervision: for in-home sessions with a minor, an adult stays in the home. For sessions elsewhere, who handles drop-off and pick-up, and by when.
4. Rates, packages and prepayment: single-session rate, package prices, when payment is due, how long a package is valid, and notice before a rate change.
5. Cancellations and no-shows: the notice period (24 hours is typical), what a late cancellation costs, how long you wait before a no-show, and what happens when you cancel.
6. Make-ups and late arrival: when a session can be made up, and that a late student's session still ends on time.
7. Communication: who your main contact is, how often you send updates, your reply times, and how you message students under 18.
8. Academic honesty: you explain and check work, but you do not complete graded assignments, tests or essays.
9. No guarantee of results: grades and scores depend on effort, attendance, school and test day. No refund because a target was missed.
10. Privacy, photos and recording: what you keep, for how long, whether you may contact teachers, and tick boxes for photos, recordings and testimonials.
11. Ending the agreement: notice period and, most important, what happens to unused prepaid sessions.
12. Signatures: client, optional student line, and you.

Worked example: a 10-session package

Here is how package terms play out over four weeks. The family buys a 10-session package at $65 per session ($650) on a twice-weekly schedule. The single-session rate is $70. The contract says 24 hours' notice to cancel, late cancellations use a session, and the tutor's own cancellations are never charged.

After four weeks the family has used 7 sessions and has 3 left. Now suppose they end tutoring. What they get back depends entirely on the refund option in the contract:

Refund after re-pricing at the single rate: 7 sessions used × $70 = $490. Refund = $650 − $490 = $160. It ties the package discount to the commitment the family made when they bought the package.

Full refund of unused sessions: 3 × $65 = $195.

No cash refund: the 3 sessions stay usable until the package expires.

Any of these is fair if the family saw it before paying. The problem is having no rule at all, then trying to agree on one after the relationship has ended. Keep a session log with a package count, and show sessions used and remaining on every invoice, so the numbers are never a surprise.

Settings to choose

Pick numbers you will actually enforce. A 24-hour rule you waive every week teaches families that it does not exist.

What to add for online tutoring

• Platform and links: which video platform and whiteboard you use, and that links and passcodes are private.
• Technology: a laptop or tablet with camera and microphone, headphones, a stable connection, and a way to share written work, such as a stylus or a phone camera.
• Dropped connections: if your side fails, you make up the time. If the student's side fails, say how long you wait and whether the time is made up.
• Recording: either no recording, or recording for the student's review only, shared with the family and deleted on a schedule. Tell everyone when a recording starts.
• Online safety: for a student under 18, an adult is home and reachable, and you contact the student only through agreed channels, never social media.

Mistakes to avoid

• Promising results: "Guaranteed A" or "guaranteed 1400" invites a refund demand. Promise a plan, regular reports and your best teaching.
• No package expiry: open-ended packages turn into sessions owed to families you have not seen in a year.
• Asking for diagnoses on the intake form: ask what helps the student learn and make the learning-needs section optional. Families share more when they are not asked for documents.
• Messaging minors privately: copy the parent or use a group thread. It protects the student and you.
• One rule on the website, another in the contract: keep the agreement, the parent policies and the price sheet saying the same thing.
• No written progress: families renew when they can see progress. A short monthly report with skills, scores and homework completion does more than any discount.

Where the contract fits

The contract works best as part of a simple routine: a price sheet before the first call, the agreement, intake form and welcome letter when the family says yes, a short note after every session, and a progress report each month. Our Tutoring Business Contract & Forms Pack includes a 16-clause tutoring agreement with three refund options, an online tutoring addendum, a student intake form, a welcome letter with a one-page policy summary, a session notes log, a monthly progress report with a completed example, a price sheet, an invoice that tracks package sessions, and a test-prep plan, in editable Word and PDF.

Frequently asked questions