A history tutoring business sells sessions to parents and students whose demand follows an academic calendar and spikes before exams. Packages and term plans turn an unpredictable diary into a business, and the payment setup is what makes them work. Here is the setup.
Last reviewed: July 28, 2026. Sources listed at the end.
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How tutoring money actually arrives
Four flows. Ongoing weekly sessions, best sold as term or monthly plans rather than one at a time. Exam preparation blocks: intensive packages pointed at a specific date, which is the highest-value work in the calendar. Group sessions and revision workshops, sold by the seat. And essay or coursework feedback, priced per piece with a stated turnaround.
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By the numbers (July 28, 2026)
This money arrives at 3.5% + 15¢ on a stored or keyed card under Square's 2026 pricing. On a $260 monthly tutoring plan that is $9.25. Charged on a stored method each month, which removes the weekly negotiation and gives both sides a schedule they can rely on.
Term plans over pay-as-you-go
A student paying weekly cancels when there is a match, a party, or a bad week, and progress in a subject like history depends on continuity, since essay technique and source analysis improve across sessions rather than within one. Sell a term or monthly plan charged to a stored payment method on a fixed date, with makeup and cancellation terms stated at enrolment. Parents accept it readily when framed as a programme, and the tutor gets a diary they can plan around rather than a weekly negotiation.
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Exam preparation is where a history tutor earns the most and where scarcity is genuine, because the weeks before an exam are finite and fill early. Sell preparation as a package pointed at the date, collected at enrolment or on instalments that complete before the exam period, and make crunch-week sessions prepaid and non-transferable by stated policy. Open bookings early, because parents planning for a summer exam decide in the spring and a tutor with an empty April diary is a tutor who marketed in May.
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Start With MyCorp →Essay feedback as a product
Written feedback on essays and coursework sells cleanly as a defined product: a piece submitted, a stated turnaround, a price per essay or word band, paid at submission. That prepayment matters, because feedback is judgment delivered asynchronously and payment at submission is what makes the queue a queue rather than a pile of hopeful attachments. Be clear about what is offered, since there is a line between teaching a student to improve their own work and doing the work for them, and it should be stated rather than assumed.
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Group revision sessions raise revenue per hour without adding hours, sold per seat with payment as the booking and capacity capped where the format requires it. Where the student is a minor, the payer is a parent, so agreements, receipts, and scheduling communications go to the adult who funds them. Card suits plans, packages, and per-essay work comfortably at these amounts, and a stored payment method for recurring plans removes the monthly reminder entirely.
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Sources
- Swipesum — Square Fees Explained 2026 (verified against Square's published pricing)
- NerdWallet — Square Fees: Calculator and Pricing for 2026
What people ask me
Why sell term plans rather than single sessions?
Because progress depends on continuity, and a student paying weekly cancels for a match or a bad week, while a term plan gives the tutor a diary to plan around.
How should exam preparation be sold?
As a package pointed at the exam date, collected at enrolment or on instalments completing before the exam period, with crunch-week sessions prepaid and non-transferable.
When should exam bookings open?
Early. Parents planning for a summer exam decide in spring, and a tutor with an empty April diary is one who marketed in May.
How should essay feedback be priced?
As a defined product: a piece submitted, a stated turnaround, a price per essay or word band, paid at submission so the queue is a queue.
Who is the payer for a school student?
The parent, so agreements, receipts, and scheduling communications should go to the adult funding them rather than to the student.
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