115 respondents had worked in schools as a self-employed visiting teacher since September 2020, 30% of the sample.

All self-employed teachers quoted their hourly rate which ranged from £15 to £57 with an average of £34.73, slightly higher than in 2019, with the median rate also rising slightly from £32 to £34.

Given the difficulties of teaching within schools during 2020 and 2021, self-employed teachers were also asked whether they had done any online teaching either instead of or in addition to face-to-face lessons. 25% of respondents said they had done so, 97% reporting that they were paid the same rate for both online and face-to-face lessons.

School type for self-employed music teachers

Hourly rates paid at independent compared to state-funded schools

Increase in rates

Just 21% of self-employed teachers saw an increase in pay since last year, a lot less than the previous year ending August 2019 (40.7%). Pay increases were small for those who did receive them, ranging from 12 pence to £2 per hour with an average increase of £1.17.

Room hire and administration fees

Very few respondents reported paying for room hire or administration fees – just 24 and four respectively.

Children Taught

Respondents were asked how many children they were teaching on a self-employed basis prior to lockdown, with numbers ranging from one to 200 (average of 29). The bottom 20% of respondents taught 10 or fewer and the top taught 45 or more. A large proportion of visiting teachers (62%) reported a decrease in pupil numbers from September 2019 to September 2020. Issues from coronavirus were generally stated as the reason for the reduction in pupil numbers.

Comparing employed with self-employed

Similarly to the previous year, hourly teaching rates are higher for self-employed contracts than employed.

For our full survey results see The ISM’s annual survey of teaching, examining and accompanying rates: Conducted November 2020 - January 2021.