The new MusicTeachers.co.uk
An outline of the new site
What happened on 24th January 2022
The 24th January 2022 saw the beginning of the new MusicTeachers.co.uk. The previous version of the site was replaced with a platform with a new look and feel. A listing on MusicTeachers.co.uk now comes with new services and tools, a new business model and new requirements regarding quality and safeguarding. The new site was built to help musicians and educators grow their teaching practice quickly and safely.
For teachers listed on the previous version of MusicTeachers.co.uk, your profile will not be automatically transferred across. You must complete a new application to be part of it.
How does it work?
Teachers accepted onto the platform will have the tools to create a first class profile using text, images and video. This profile will be presented to students looking for lessons in person and also online.
Students will contact you via a button on the website. You’ll be provided with the students name, the instrument or service they require, together with a short descriptive message. Teachers can use the chat system to arrive at the arrangements for lessons.
The teacher creates lessons in our easy-to-use booking system. The student confirms and pays for their tuition via their student profile. Teachers are paid for all lessons taught in one, simple monthly payment.
Why the move away from a simple directory?
By running the new site for the best part of a year, we identified 3 problems that needed addressing before we launched the new MusicTeachers.co.uk
Quality We are proud to work with professional teachers. Just like you! We want to make sure that you benefit from the enquiries the site generates. After all, we can only shout about the need for quality and professionalism in music education, if we are offering it consistently. All teachers listed on MusicTeachers.co.uk will meet a standard of musicianship (undergraduate level or equivalent), experience as a private music teacher, and experience working as a musician.
Safety The display of your personal information will be replaced with a simple contact form. Now more than ever, we have a responsibility to keep you and your information safe. This past year, we’ve learnt that this responsibility must extend to the families who use the site too. New standards of vetting for all teachers are now in place, including ID verification, enhanced DBS, PVG or Access NI certification and the submission of references.
Student Experience We ran the previous site for over 12 months. On a daily basis, we received reports from frustrated students. They told us how difficult it can be to find a teacher on the former MusicTeachers.co.uk. It was not uncommon for them to contact 10 teachers and get nothing but wrong numbers, or no response at all. A listing on the new MusicTeachers.co.uk means the high volume of traffic the site generates is concentrated on fewer teachers. That means more enquiries and more regular students for the teachers we work with.
What does the service look like for teachers
Have the Fees collected for you no more chasing payments! And for the student, paying for music lessons is as fast and convenient as buying their next music book from an online store.
Notifications and reminders sent to your students reducing your communication time.
Free access to the OnlineClassRoom purpose built space for online music teaching. Full technical support when you need it.
High ranking in Google searches be on the first page of Google organic search results, virtually anywhere in the country.
Professional profile high quality images and design, the option to verify qualifications is coming soon!
Optimised design for smartphones manage your teaching ‘on the go’.
Personal marketing talk to us about social media campaigns.
Experienced and fast acting support when you need it and zero interference when you don’t.
Be kept safe we will not disclose your personal information and have a range of tools to help limit the need to use your personal information when teaching.
In exchange for these services, we charge a fee. It’s called a platform fee. and is applied on a lesson by lesson basis. You can see how much it is. You can decide how much of it you will pay and how much you will pass to the student. Note that platform fees can be included as expenses on your tax return.
Platform Fees Explained
We’re here to grow your practice. We’re absolutely confident that the new platform will help you do just that. In fact if we don’t do this, you won’t pay a single penny for using the service. Instead, as students find you via your profile and you book the lessons through the system, a platform fee is applied to each lesson. This means you only pay for what you use.
The pricing model is quite simple: The more lessons a student buys at a time, the lower the price and thus platform fee. This model is made to encourage students to commit to more lessons early on because we believe that this benefits both student and teacher in the long run.
The students choose from a range of options when purchasing lessons with you and they are always presented with the lowest cost solution first.
Buy more, pay less. When students buy blocks of lessons they pay a lower rate per lesson. The discount is covered by a reduction in platform fees - your set fee is always secured.
Blocks can be paid in instalments and refunds are available for unused lessons.
The refund policy serves as consumer protection for the students and it has proven to make them more willing to try something new - e.g. lessons with you.
What' the next step for you?
To begin your application to join the new platform, you can get started here
Do you have comments or questions? Need help? Want to check the pricing model against your current rates? Email us with two dates/times you are available and let's have a chat.