How to be matched with students

When a new student is looking for support, we open a distribution on the Portal and send an email notification to all tutors who are approved to teach that subject and level. This article walks you through everything you need to know about applying and what happens next.

Never miss a notification

Add tutoring@lanterna.com to your contacts to make sure our emails do not land in your spam folder. If you use Gmail, check that our emails arrive in your Primary inbox rather than Social or Promotions. If they do not, drag one into your Primary inbox so future emails land there automatically.

Before you apply

Read the distribution carefully before doing anything else. Every student is different, and the description will tell you what kind of support they need, their availability, their time zone, any specific preferences or requirements, and whether the student has any special educational needs or disabilities that you should be aware of and feel confident supporting. Make sure you can genuinely meet all of these before applying.

Applying is a commitment to support that student. Please only apply if you are certain you can follow through. Being linked with a student and then withdrawing is disruptive for everyone involved, reflects poorly on the entire Lanterna Education team, and creates a poor experience for the student and their family. If you realise after applying but before being linked that you can no longer commit, please let us know immediately at tutoring@lanterna.com. If you have any questions about a distribution before applying, please reach out to us first.

Submitting your application

When you are ready to apply, click the link in the notification email or navigate to Job Openings in the Portal. When submitting your application:

• Select the time slots when you are available, with the student's time zone in mind. Make sure your availability is accurate and realistic.
• Write a short, genuine supporting statement that addresses the student's specific needs as described in the distribution. Keep it concise and to the point. Every application should be tailored to that particular student; copying and pasting the same text across multiple applications suggests you have not read the description carefully, and will reflect negatively on your application.
• If you and the student are more than two time zones apart, include a sentence explaining how you would manage this.
• Confirm that you have read the Online Private Tuition Tutor Policy and the Written Assignments Tuition Policy.
• Click Send application.

How we select tutors

When selecting a tutor for a student, our first priority is always the student's needs. Tuition works around the student, not the other way around. We carefully review each applicant's tutor profile, so it is essential that your profile is always up to date and accurately reflects your experience and qualifications. We then consider availability, the quality and relevance of the supporting statement, and how many active students a tutor currently has. We give priority to tutors with fewer active students to ensure equity across the team.

Applications are more competitive for popular subjects, so please do not be discouraged if some applications are unsuccessful. We encourage you to apply for as many students as you have genuine availability for. That said, applying to every available opportunity with the same generic text and availability can work against you, as it signals that you have not engaged carefully with what the student needs.

After applying

Standard Tier tutors are typically linked within a few hours of the notification being sent, so it is worth applying promptly. Higher and Top Tier tutors may wait up to 48 hours, and in some cases up to seven working days, due to additional processes such as tutor profile proposals.

If your application is successful, you will receive a linking email confirming that you have been connected with the student. If you are not selected, you will receive a rejection email. Please do not be discouraged and keep applying.

If you have any questions at any stage, please contact us at tutoring@lanterna.com.