Price increase letter to tutoring families
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Dear [PARENT NAME], Before the summer, a quick update on [STUDENT NAME] and on next year. [STUDENT NAME] has [ONE SPECIFIC, e.g. "moved from a 5 to a solid 6 on past papers and is much quicker on the non-calculator questions"]. The focus for [TERM] will be [NEXT FOCUS]. From [TERM], sessions will be [NEW PRICE] per [HOUR / SESSION], up from [OLD PRICE]. I set the current rate in [YEAR], and since then the [SUBJECT] specification and the resources I prepare around it have both changed a fair bit. Each hour with [STUDENT NAME] has about [N] minutes of preparation and marking behind it, and that's what I want to keep doing properly. If you'd like to keep the cost the same, [45]-minute sessions at [PRICE] work well for [TOPIC PRACTICE / YOUNGER STUDENTS]. And if [SIBLING NAME] joins too, back-to-back sessions are [SIBLING PRICE] each. I'll keep [STUDENT NAME]'s [DAY] slot open until [DATE] — just let me know you'd like it. Best wishes, [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →a full term ahead — before the summer holidays for September, and never in exam season
5–15% per hour, from the start of a term
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [PARENT NAME], [YOUR NAME] (tutor). Emailed you about [STUDENT NAME]'s progress and next year's rate ([NEW PRICE] from [TERM]). I'll hold the [DAY] slot until [DATE] — just let me know.
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in private tutoring instead:
- exam specifications and board requirements change, and every change means preparing new material
- unpaid prep, marking and parent updates around each paid hour
- travel between homes, or the room hire for in-person sessions
- demand peaks in exam years, and a tutor who is full is underpriced by definition
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "Online tutoring platforms are cheaper."
- "They are, and some tutors on them are good. You would be starting with someone who does not yet know [STUDENT NAME] — how they get stuck and what works." Continuity is the product; in an exam year, a parent will not swap it for a saving.
- "Can we just do the run-up to exams?"
- Say yes, but be honest about the limit: "I can, though the spring slots fill by January, so I would need to book you in now." Scarcity is real in tutoring — use it truthfully and you will rarely lose the full-year family.
- "We're a bit stretched this year."
- Offer fortnightly sessions with set homework in between, rather than a discount. It keeps your rate intact and often suits students who need time to practise between sessions.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: lessons and childcare
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these families, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.