Welcome to the Tutor Portal
Select a section above to get started. Read both guides before completing the assessment.
Section 1, Tutor Guide
How Exceed works, what we expect, and how to deliver at the standard we set
Tutor Guide
Everything you need to deliver at the Exceed standard. From your first session to your last feedback report.
"Read every section. Know it. Live it."
Frederick Cookson-Jones
Co-founder and Director. Responsible for academic delivery. Curriculum design, tutor standards, SEND provision, and the quality of every session we run.
Murtaza Ali
Co-founder and Director. Heads up operations. Student onboarding, tutor pairing, scheduling, and client relations.
Exceed Tutoring was founded with one clear goal: to give every student. Regardless of background, ability, or learning profile. Access to specialist, high-quality tutoring that actually works.
We built this company because we saw a gap. Generic tutoring that treated every student the same. We do the opposite. Every student gets a tutor matched specifically to them, a programme built around their needs, and consistent, measurable progress.
SEND support is not an add-on for us. It is built into everything we do.
"Achieve the grades your child is capable of."
At Exceed, great tutoring goes far beyond delivering curriculum content. It is about understanding the whole student. How they think, how they respond under pressure, what makes them disengage, and what makes them click.
Meet Them Where They Are
Never where the curriculum says they should be. Find the real starting point and build from there.
Make It Human
Learning that feels relevant and personal will always outperform a worksheet. Connect first, teach second.
Believe in Potential
Every student has it. It is your job to unlock it. Especially for those who have been told otherwise.
Be prepared. Be present. Be specialist. Be Exceed.
WhatsApp Setup
You will be added to your student's group chat by Ops. Ensure notifications are on and your profile picture is professional.
Profile Picture
Upload a professional but approachable photo. Parents connect more easily when they can see who they are working with. Non-negotiable.
Calendar Access
Ops will share the Exceed Google Calendar with you. All sessions must be logged here correctly and on time.
Agreements
Your sub-contractor agreement must be signed before your first session. Ensure you understand and agree to all terms.
Before Your First Session
Do not begin tutoring until: your agreement is signed, you are in the student group chat, your calendar access is confirmed, and you have reviewed the student's profile from Ops.
Associate Tutor
Your first 6 months. Learning our systems, building student relationships, and establishing your delivery style. Full support throughout.
Tutor
Once you demonstrate consistent quality, punctuality and strong student outcomes, you become a permanent team member with higher rates.
SEND Specialist Tutor
Complete our SEND accreditation to unlock SEND-specific students, higher rates, and a specialist designation.
Lead Tutor
Senior members who support tutor training, contribute to curriculum resources, and help shape the Exceed programme.
Your rate rises with your tier: Associate Tutor £13/hr, Tutor £15/hr, SEND Specialist Tutor £18/hr, and Lead Tutor £22/hr. Your tier reflects your progression, the complexity of the students you take on, and your SEND accreditation.
Core Tutoring
1 x 1hr session per week. Standard academic support aligned to the student's curriculum and target grade.
Intensive Support
2 x 1hr sessions per week. For students with exams approaching or complex SEND needs.
SEND Programme
Fully adapted sessions built around the student's SEND profile. Delivered by accredited tutors only.
Rate Transparency
Do not discuss your rate with other tutors or with clients directly. All rate queries go through Ops.
Student Profile from Ops
Ops sends all relevant info. Level, subject, SEND profile, exam timeline, and parent goals.
Introduction in Group Chat
Ops introduces you. You send a warm, professional introduction message.
Time Slot Confirmed
A recurring weekly slot is confirmed with the client through the group chat.
Session Link Sent
Send the Exceed meeting link at least 1 hour before, no later than 5 hours before. To the group chat, not privately.
Initial & Session Reports
Within 24 hours of Session 1, file your session report (/lessons → Reports) and the student’s initial report (/lessons → Reports).
Your first session is always 1 hour. The goal is assessment, rapport, and planning.
Session 1, What Must Happen
- Assess the student's actual level. Not what the parent thinks
- Identify the 2-3 most critical gaps to address first
- Understand how the student learns. Pace, style, pressure tolerance
- Build initial rapport. This is the foundation of everything
- Confirm the recurring session time and expectations with the parent
Critical Reminders
- Feedback report must be submitted within 24 hours of Session 1
- Do not contact the parent directly about findings. All feedback goes through Ops
- If the student is significantly below the indicated level, inform Ops immediately
All reports now live in /lessons → Reports (Session report & Student report)
Following Session 1, map out all remaining sessions for the month. This is not optional.
Why Monthly Planning Works
You always know what is coming next. The student never feels like they are drifting. Parents see structure. Progress is trackable.
What Good Planning Looks Like
Topic sequence based on the national curriculum. Priority gaps first. Exam technique woven in early. Time for review and consolidation.
During Sessions
- Share your screen and work collaboratively at all times
- Camera on. Connection is built visually
- Use an interactive whiteboard (Jamboard, Miro) to annotate
- Begin each session with a 5-minute review of previous content
Every session should follow this structure regardless of level, subject, or student.
Debrief 5 min check-in. How are they? What happened since last time?
Review 10 min recap of last session. Quiz or explain-back.
Teach New concept with worked examples.
Apply Student attempts practice. You observe and guide.
Close Summary, next session preview, parent message via Ops.
Every session should end with the student knowing what comes next and feeling confident about it.
Non-Negotiable
Every session must run for its full scheduled duration. If you finish early, you do not end the session early.
- Ask the student to teach the concept back to you
- Set a short quiz on today's content
- Ask reflective questions. What was hardest?
- Introduce the next session's topic as a preview
- Set a short extension problem or creative task
- Practice exam technique on a past paper question
- Discuss revision strategies relevant to their subject
- Check in on student wellbeing and confidence levels
The client is paying for the full hour. Deliver the full hour. Always.
Tutor Comms
All queries and admin go directly to Frederick or Ops. Do not raise operational issues in student group chats.
Client Group Chat
Includes you, the parent, and Ops. Session links, updates, and scheduling. Keep it professional at all times.
Tutor Community
The Exceed Tutor group chat for team updates and important notices. Notifications must be on.
Communication Rules
- All parent enquiries must be responded to within 12 hours
- Do not discuss session findings directly with parents. Goes through Ops first
- If a parent raises concerns about pricing or scheduling. Direct them to Ops immediately
- Never give your personal contact details to any client
Reports are not admin. They are the product the parent actually sees. They keep families informed, prove the value of every session, and protect you professionally. There are two kinds, and they now live in one place: the Reports section of your lessons platform (/lessons). Learn both.
Session Reports. After every session
- Filed in /lessons → Reports → Session report
- One report for every single session you deliver, within 24 hours. No exceptions
- Covers: what you taught, how the student engaged, what you set for next time
- A session with no report is treated as a session not delivered
Student Reports. Initial & monthly
- Filed in /lessons → Reports → Student report
- Initial report: within 24 hours of Session 1. The student’s starting point, key gaps, and your plan
- Monthly report: a progress summary at the end of every month. What has improved, what is next
- This is what parents judge our whole service on
Critical. Do not get this wrong
- Session report → /lessons → Reports → Session report, after every session.
- Initial & monthly → /lessons → Reports → Student report.
- You never send a report to the parent yourself, Ops reviews and releases it.
- Late or vague reports affect your standing and your pay. Detail builds trust.
Every lesson runs inside the Exceed online lesson space. Our meeting platform. Set it up the same way every time so the student can always find you and the session starts on time.
Open the student in your portal at exceedwithtuition.com/lessons and click their upcoming session to open the lesson room.
Post the lesson link to the client group chat at least 1 hour before (never later than 5 hours before), never privately.
Join 2 to 3 minutes early. Camera on, quiet space, professional background.
Share your screen and open the interactive whiteboard. You work with the student, never at them.
When the session ends, mark it complete in /lessons and file your session report.
Non-negotiable
- Link goes to the group chat, on time, every time.
- Camera on for the full session. Connection is built visually.
- Run the full scheduled duration. The family is paying for the whole hour.
Everything you run day to day lives in one place: your portal at exceedwithtuition.com/lessons. This is where you add your students, build your weekly timetable, log sessions, and raise your invoice. Keep it accurate. Your pay is generated from it.
Add your students. When Ops assigns a student, add them in /lessons with their name, subject, level and service so they appear on your timetable.
Build your timetable. Set each student’s recurring weekly slot. Your whole week is then laid out for you and the family can see it too.
Log every session. Mark each session complete (or cancelled/missed) in /lessons using the correct label. Incorrectly labelled sessions are not paid.
File your reports. Session report after each lesson (/lessons → Reports); initial and monthly student reports (/lessons → Reports).
Invoice. At the end of the month, /lessons totals your logged sessions and generates your invoice in the Payouts section. Check it and submit by the last working day.
Important
- Your invoice is built from what you log. If it isn’t in /lessons, it isn’t paid.
- You are responsible for your own tax and National Insurance.
- Never discuss pay or rates with clients. All queries go to Ops.
All sessions are via the Exceed meeting platform. All sessions must be logged on the Exceed Calendar. Not your personal one.
Session Labelling Format
Student First & Last Name, Subject, Service
- Green = Session Completed
- Red = Cancelled, Missed, or Rescheduled
Link Timing Rules
- Send Exceed meeting link at least 1 hour before
- No later than 5 hours before the session
- Send to the client group chat. Not privately
Incorrect Labels
Sessions labelled incorrectly will not be processed for payment. Label correctly every time.
As a self-employed sub-contractor, you are responsible for submitting your own invoices monthly.
Log every session in exceedwithtuition.com/lessons throughout the month, with the correct label
At month end, /lessons totals your sessions and generates your invoice in Payouts. Check and submit it by the last working day
Ops verifies the sessions and processes payment
Important
- You are responsible for your own tax and National Insurance
- Late invoices will be processed in the following payment cycle
- Do not discuss payment with clients under any circumstances
Business Hours
Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm. Urgent matters outside these hours should be flagged to Ops via WhatsApp marked URGENT.
Response Times
- Client messages: within 12 hours
- Ops messages: within 4 hours during business hours
- Frederick directly: same day unless stated otherwise
Strict Rules
- Never share personal contact details with clients
- Never discuss other tutors, rates, or internal business with clients
- Never arrange sessions outside of the Exceed structure
You represent Exceed Tutoring in every message you send. Conduct yourself accordingly.
Notify Ops First
Contact Ops directly as soon as you know you cannot attend. Do not message the client group chat first.
Minimum 24 Hours Notice
Anything less without a genuine emergency will be recorded. Repeated short-notice cancellations affect your standing.
Rescheduling
Propose a reschedule date to Ops within 24 hours of the missed session.
Missed Sessions Without Notice
Two unannounced absences trigger a formal review. A third results in termination of your contract.
SEND support is at the core of what makes Exceed different. Every tutor must develop genuine competency in adaptive delivery.
What We Expect from All Tutors
- Understanding of ADHD, Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, and processing difficulties
- Ability to adapt pace, format, and communication to the student's profile
- Patience, consistency, and emotional awareness in every session
SEND Specialist Pathway
Tutors who complete the structured SEND training unlock SEND-specific students, higher rates, and a specialist designation. Speak to Frederick if interested.
Critical
If you are assigned a student with a SEND profile and do not feel adequately prepared, tell Ops immediately. Before the session, not after.
Regular tutor huddles keep the team aligned, share what is working, and raise the standard of delivery across the board. Attendance is expected.
What Happens
Updates from Frederick and Ops. Review of common student challenges. Sharing of approaches that are working. Team announcements.
Your Role
Come prepared. If you have a challenge or a technique that is working. Share it. These sessions make the whole team better.
Frequency
Monthly or more if required. Dates shared via the Tutor Community group chat. Missing two consecutive huddles without notice will be noted formally.
We are a team. Every tutor here raises the standard. Or lowers it. Choose which one you want to be.
Section 2, SEND Guide
Understanding, supporting, and building genuine connection with students who have SEND needs
SEND Tutor Guide
Before you work with any student who has a SEND need, read this in full. Not because it's a box to tick. Because the student in front of you deserves a tutor who actually understands them.
SEND is not one thing. It's an umbrella term covering hundreds of different conditions, profiles, and presentations. Two students with the same diagnosis can be completely different in how they learn, behave, and respond to you.
This guide covers the conditions you'll encounter most often. Read all of it, even if you think you already know it. You'll find something that changes how you work.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) affects how the brain regulates attention, impulse control, and activity levels. ADD is the inattentive presentation without the hyperactivity.
- Difficulty staying on task. Especially with low-interest material
- Impulsive answers, jumping between ideas
- Forgetting homework, losing equipment, missing deadlines
- Hyperfocus on topics they find genuinely interesting
- Emotional dysregulation. Big reactions to small setbacks
- Short, varied tasks. Switch every 10 to 12 minutes
- Immediate, specific praise ("that explanation was exactly right")
- Movement breaks. Even 30 seconds standing helps
- Connect content to their genuine interests wherever possible
- Never shame a distraction. Redirect warmly and move on
Never frame ADHD as laziness or bad attitude. The student's brain is working hard. It's just working differently. Telling an ADHD student to "just focus" is like telling a short-sighted student to "just see better."
"ADHD students are often the most creative, passionate, and energetic learners. They just need the right conditions."
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects reading, writing, and spelling. It has nothing to do with intelligence. Many of the most successful people in the world are dyslexic.
- Slow, effortful reading. Often avoids reading aloud
- Inconsistent spelling of the same word in the same piece
- Struggles to get ideas onto paper even when they can articulate them verbally
- Difficulty with sequences. Dates, times, instructions
- Strong verbal reasoning despite weak written output
- Never ask them to read aloud unless they choose to
- Give extra processing time. Don't rush or fill silences
- Use verbal discussion as an alternative to written answers
- Colour-coded notes, diagrams, and visual structures
- Explicit spelling support without shame
"Dyslexic students often have exceptional verbal reasoning. Ask them to explain it to you. You'll be surprised how much they actually know."
ASC (Autism Spectrum Condition) affects how people communicate, process information, and experience the world. "Spectrum" means it looks completely different from person to person.
- Strong preference for routine and predictability
- Literal interpretation of language. Sarcasm and idioms can confuse
- Deep interest in specific topics, sometimes to an intense degree
- Difficulty with open-ended or vague instructions
- Sensory sensitivities. Noise, light, texture
- Consistency. Same structure, same sequence, same energy every session
- Clear, direct language. Say exactly what you mean
- Give an agenda at the start so they know what to expect
- Use their deep interests as hooks into the curriculum
- Don't push eye contact or interpret lack of it as rudeness
"Autistic students are often deeply loyal, intellectually rigorous, and committed once trust is established. Earn it, and they'll give you everything."
Anxiety in Learning
Anxious students are often hypervigilant, exhausted, and waiting for something to go wrong. They need you to be calm, predictable, and non-threatening before they can even begin to engage with content.
- Never cold-call questions without warning
- Reduce stakes, "let's just explore this together" not "let's test you"
- Validate effort constantly, not just results
SEMH (Social, Emotional & Mental Health)
SEMH covers a wide range of needs from attachment difficulties to trauma responses. These students may be unpredictable, push boundaries, or test your consistency.
- Boundaries + warmth. Both together, always
- Don't take behaviour personally
- Consistency is the intervention
Anxiety often masquerades as attitude. A student who's rolling their eyes and saying "this is pointless" may actually be terrified of trying and failing. Look underneath the behaviour.
Specific difficulty with number processing and maths concepts. Not the same as being bad at maths. It's a different way of processing numerical information. Use visual models, real-world contexts, and concrete objects wherever possible.
Affects coordination and movement. But also working memory, organisation, and sequencing. Students may struggle with handwriting, planning essays, or keeping a desk organised. Patience with the physical, and structure for the mental.
Many students have more than one diagnosis. Co-occurrence is the norm, not the exception. Focus on the individual in front of you, not the label.
Most SEND students have a history with tutoring and learning support that feels like being assessed, corrected, and found lacking. By the time they get to you, their guard is up. Their default assumption is that this will be more of the same.
Your first job is not to teach. It's to prove that you're different.
- Spend the first sessions listening, not testing. Find out what they care about, what they're afraid of, what has and hasn't worked before.
- Show up consistently. Same energy, same reliability, every session. For SEND students, you being predictable matters enormously.
- Make them feel capable early. Design your early sessions so they leave feeling better than when they arrived. About the subject and about themselves.
- Never make failure feel personal. Model that mistakes are information, not verdicts.
"The academic content is secondary. The relationship is the vehicle. Get the relationship right and the content follows."
Many SEND students arrive carrying years of internalized messages: that they're lazy, stupid, difficult, or "not academic." These beliefs aren't just feelings. They actively block learning.
- Don't contradict the belief directly. They'll resist it
- Don't force positivity. It feels fake and patronising
- Don't skip the evidence. Telling them "you're smart" without proof doesn't work
- Create moments of genuine competence early. Design tasks they can succeed at
- Name what they did specifically: "the way you broke that problem down was really effective"
- Revisit those wins in later sessions. Build a history of evidence
- Let them catch you being impressed. Genuine reactions land harder than praise
Confidence is built through repeated experiences of being capable. Not through being told you are. Be patient. The shift can take months.
Great sessions with SEND students have a consistent shape, even if the content changes every week.
Start off-topic. Ask about their week. Read the room. Adjust your energy to match theirs. Then gently lift it.
Tell them the plan. SEND students. Especially autistic and anxious students. Need to know what's coming. Remove surprise.
What did they do well? Name it specifically. Build the history of evidence.
Chunked, varied, accessible. Switch methods every 10 to 12 minutes. Watch their engagement and adapt in real time.
Summarise what they learned today. Set ONE manageable task. Not a list. A single achievable thing.
- Switch it up every 10 to 12 minutes. Especially for ADHD. Keep the pace moving. Reading, talking, writing, problem-solving.
- Never go over time. Predictability matters. End on time, every time.
- End on a win. Plan your sessions so the last thing they do is something they can do well.
Parents of SEND students are often exhausted, anxious, and carrying a lot of history. They've usually fought hard for their child's diagnosis and support. They need to trust you before they'll relax.
- Always report progress, not just problems. Parents who only hear bad news disengage or panic.
- Be specific. "Good session" tells them nothing. "They held focus for a full 15 minutes on fractions. That's progress" tells them a lot.
- Never diagnose or speculate. You're not qualified to suggest new diagnoses or comment on medication. If a parent asks, say "that's something worth discussing with their school SENCo or GP."
- Flag concerns early. If you're seeing something worrying. Emotional state, safeguarding, significant regression. Don't wait. Contact the Exceed team.
- Keep them looped in without being a messenger. All detailed conversations about progress go through Exceed. Your role is to make the parent feel confident and included.
If a parent raises a concern or becomes difficult, refer them to Exceed immediately. Never attempt to resolve a complaint yourself.
SEND students are statistically more vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Your job is not to investigate. It's to listen, stay calm, and report.
- Don't investigate. Your job is to listen and report, not to ask lots of probing questions or try to resolve it yourself.
- Don't promise confidentiality. If a student is about to disclose something serious and asks "do you promise not to tell anyone?". You can't make that promise.
- Listen without judgement. Let them speak. Don't show shock or disbelief.
- Report immediately. Contact the Exceed team as soon as the session ends. Write down exactly what was said, word for word if possible.
- Don't tell the parents. If the concern involves a parent, reporting to the parent could put the child at risk.
When in doubt, report. It is always better to raise a concern that turns out to be nothing than to stay silent about something that matters.
If you're working with a SEND student and something feels off. The relationship, the engagement, the student's emotional state. Stop, reflect, and reach out. We don't expect you to have all the answers. We expect you to ask.
You've read the guide. Now take the assessment below to demonstrate your understanding.
Section 3, Tutor Assessment
38 questions. Scenario-based plus a systems check. Answer in your own words. Your responses go directly to the Exceed team for review.
Tutor Assessment
38 questions across 7 areas, 32 scenario-based, plus 6 that check you know exactly how Exceed runs (reports, lessons, timetable and invoicing). Answer in your own words from memory. Your responses go directly to the Exceed team for review.