A genuine passion for helping learners is key and something that we feel is at the heart of NEC.

Here at NEC we love nothing more than helping students of all ages and backgrounds achieve their academic goals, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without our wonderful team of incredible distance learning tutors.

Why become an NEC tutor?

If you caught our previous post (link to post), you would already have an idea of what’s involved within a distance learning or online tutor role. Much like other dedicated tutors, our NEC tutors are committed to helping their students reach their highest potential and meet their individual academic goals. 

As NEC promote lifelong learning, this means every student is unique and a tutor can be supporting students of different ages, backgrounds, skill sets and stages of their life. So, if the idea of helping a range of students reach new goals sounds like a dream come true, becoming an NEC tutor could be the perfect role for you.

“Working with NEC as a tutor has been an absolute delight! The flexibility offered in terms of hours and online teaching is fantastic, allowing me to balance work with other commitments. It is a pleasure working with all the fabulous students I support, each bringing their unique perspectives and enthusiasm to the table. 

What’s more, NEC’s commitment to diversity ensures that I engage with a wide range of learners, enriching my experience as an educator. 

One of the best parts of working with NEC is the incredibly supportive team. They offer wisdom, a helping hand, and a genuine sense of value, making me feel appreciated and empowered in my role as a tutor. It’s truly a privilege to be part of such a positive and uplifting community!” – Steph Williams, A level and GCSE Sociology and Psychology, and Pastoral Tutor

What do NEC tutors do?

As you can imagine, everyday is different when you are an NEC tutor, however what you can expect to be doing within your role may include:

• Welcoming each student to their course with a encouraging Welcome Message
• Marking assignments and giving robust and comprehensive feedback 
• Answering students’ questions on the learning platform
• Contributing exciting topics to course forums for interest and discussion
• Supporting students’ UCAS applications with predicted grades, references and reviews of personal statements
• Delivering 1-1 online tutorials 
• Working with NEC to produce Masterclass tutorials for groups of students

“Tutoring with NEC has been a highly rewarding experience for me, primarily because of three key aspects: flexibility, autonomy, and the clarity of processes.

Firstly, the flexibility offered by NEC is exceptional. Being able to set my own schedule allows me to balance tutoring with other commitments seamlessly. 

Secondly, the autonomy and levels of trust to just get on with the work is excellent.

Lastly, the clear and streamlined processes established by NEC make the administrative aspects of tutoring straightforward and hassle-free. 

Additionally, the support and responsiveness of the team at NEC cannot go unmentioned. Whenever issues arise or I need assistance, I know I can count on the team to provide guidance and solutions promptly. This supportive environment not only facilitates a smooth tutoring experience but also fosters a sense of community and belonging among the tutors.

These aspects combined make tutoring with NEC a fulfilling and enjoyable experience. I believe that potential tutors looking for a rewarding teaching opportunity will find NEC to be an excellent choice.” –  Nina Szewczak, CMI Tutor

What skills do you need as an NEC tutor?

When looking to join the team here at NEC, we ask for the following requirements to become an NEC tutor:

• A relevant degree or equivalent qualification in the subject area(s)
• A teaching qualification
• Experience of teaching or tutoring younger learners (14-18) and young adults (18-25) and an understanding of and empathy for the different challenges they may face with online learning
• Significant experience of the courses for which services are to be provided
• excellent written and oral communication skills, including evidence of ability to Give constructive feedback
• Good ICT skills and a willingness to use different technologies, e.g. Moodle, webinar software and web-based communication tools, and new technologies as they emerge
• A commitment to Equal Opportunities and a belief in lifelong learning
• Knowledge of Safeguarding and Prevent duties.
• The ability to deliver 1-1 online tutorials if requested
• Experience or understanding of the mental health challenges that many students disclose including anxiety, ADHD and ASD

It’s also advantageous should you have previous experience as an examiner working for awarding bodies and/or experience working within the distance learning sector.

What’s it like working as an NEC tutor?

It would be easy for us to say that working for NEC is a great opportunity where you will become part of a friendly team of dedicated individuals, but for more insight into the everyday life of an NEC tutor, we thought it was best for our tutors to answer the question themselves.

“The best thing about tutoring for NEC is the colleagues and the teams in all departments. Their support is second to none, much more efficient, closer and friendlier than in all my previous physical jobs. Also, unlike in my previous jobs, management knows what’s going on in all departments and listens to you”. – Delia Moreno, Spanish A level Tutor

“For tutors it is another way in which the passion for their subjects can be further developed and practised through interaction with students, by making students aware of various sources of subject information, and through such things as writing for the Discussion Forum.

The vast majority of students really appreciate the support that they get including the feedback returned with assignments and this appreciation can be a strong motivator for tutors.

It’s very satisfying to be able to help students of different ages from a wide variety of backgrounds and with different experiences of education and of life in general.

The NEC provides good, effective support for tutors while at the same time assuming the high degree of professionalism practised by those tutors.

A degree of flexibility in responding to students’ submissions to a greater extent than might be found by those facing the demands of employment elsewhere.

Full involvement in subject development work such as when specifications change or when the NEC wishes to introduce new ways of presenting subjects to potential students.

Even for those receiving other forms of income, the NEC role may provide a welcome additional source of remuneration.

Working from home appeals to an increasing number of people.” – Roy Bowden, A level Economics Tutor

How to apply to be an NEC tutor

We are always looking for new talented and passionate people to join our team. 

Currently we are particularly looking for tutors within the following subjects:

• Functional Skills English
• IGCSE History
• IGCSE Business
• GCSE Astronomy
• GCSE Maths
• English Language A level
• Spanish A level
• French A level
• IGCSE Computer Science
• IGCSE French 

If you have expertise in other areas to the subjects listed, don’t hesitate from getting in touch, keeping an eye on social media or looking at our Join the Team page. We would love to hear from you and welcome applications. We look forward to you joining our team!