The Tutor Guide | Spires Help Center

Welcome to Spires

What is Spires? How does it work?

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

House Rules for Tutors

Tutors who use Spires must abide by the following rules

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How To Use The Tutor Guide

How to get the answers to your questions

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Getting Help from the Spires Team

How to use the Blue Button

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How Spires Works

Your Tutor Profile

What makes a good profile?

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Jobs Board and Bidding

How bidding works

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Communicating and File Sharing

Everything built-in - Phone and Video calls, Chat, Email, File Sharing and Whiteboards

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

The phone calling system

The same technology as Uber.

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Scheduling Classes

How to schedule classes and charge for offline work

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Having Classes

Spires uses Zoom. It's powerful and robust.

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Payments

How to receive and manage payments for your classes

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Signing Up

Becoming a Spires Tutor

If you want to join Spires you will need to submit an application and attend an interview

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Who we are Looking for

Relevant skills and qualifications and which countries you can apply from

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Was my Application Successful?

You will always be notified by email

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Tutoring a Subject we do not Offer

The subject I want to teach is not listed

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Spires Interview

Preparing for your Interview

What we are looking for in a successful interview

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Starting your Spires Interview

How to get into your interview

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How To Tutor Online

How to Tutor online

The essential tools

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to Improve Your Internet

What to do if you have Wi-Fi issues, internet problems or slow speeds

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Using an Online Whiteboard and Digital Pen

Bitpaper and a wacom will improve the delivery of your classes

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

The Spires Whiteboard - How to create and access whiteboards

Our whiteboard is a fully integrated version of Bitpaper and free to use

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to Use Bitpaper

Bitpaper is the best online whiteboard, built by tutors for tutors. Read our article to learn about the different features it has to offer

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Money, Tax and Employment

Tutor Rates and Commission

Set your own hourly rates

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Tax and Employment Status

All tutors on Spires are Self-employed, tutors do not work for Spires nor are they contracted to Spires

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

The Tutor Scorecard

Hours Per Client

Why it's so important and how to improve it

Written by Nicholas Green
Updated over a week ago

Hire to Bid Ratio

Why it's so important and how to improve it

Written by Nicholas Green
Updated over a week ago

Bid Pricing

Why is so important and how to improve

Written by Nicholas Green
Updated over a week ago

Bid Speed

Why it's important and how to improve it

Written by Nicholas Green
Updated over a week ago

Response Times

Why it's important and how to improve it

Written by Nicholas Green
Updated over a week ago

Troubleshooting

The Student Guide - Answers to questions from students

The student guide is has videos and articles to explain how Spires works, and answer common questions, all from the student's point of view

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Cheating, Plagiarism and Unethical Jobs

Contract cheating, academic misconduct, plagiarism and how to report it

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

The classroom is not opening

What to do when the classroom does not open

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

A student missed a class

If your student does not turn up you can still charge them

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Missing classes as a tutor

Mistakes happen but repeat offenders will be removed from Spires

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Cancelling or rescheduling a class

How to cancel a class as a tutor

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

What does "enable low risk permission" mean?

When you get an error using the phone calling system, you will need to book a free meeting instead

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

FAQs - Profile & Jobs

Students contacting tutors directly

Spires does not bid for you, instead you can be contacted directly by a student who searches the website

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

(OLD) How to get an Enhanced DBS Check

For DBS applications made through Capita before 10/02/22

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

What is the Tutor Scorecard?

Your bidding and job performance on Spires relative to other tutors

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to Use Bid Templates

What are bid templates and how to use them

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to get an Enhanced DBS Check

You can apply through our partnership with The Tutor's Association

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated today

What is a Background Check?

Where to get one and when you need one

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

The My Jobs section of Spires

My Jobs is a record of the previous students you have placed bids on and what the outcome was in each case

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to use Spires with your own clients

Supercharge your online tutoring using our platform

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How can I change the price of a job?

To change the rate or the price you initially bid, follow the instructions in the guide

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

FAQs - Classes & Scheduling

How do I offer a free meeting?

Using the the schedule class button

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

What is an Offline Class?

How to bill for work that you do outside of the Spires Classroom

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How does the Spires calendar work?

The calendar function on Spires can be used to schedule, rearrange and cancel classes

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How can I add classes to my own calendar?

Classes booked on Spires can be added to your personal Google, iCal or other suitable calendar

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to find your past classes and recordings

Your past classes area contains information on your previous classes and the recordings for them

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Can I charge more than the agreed upon time?

Overcharging is one of the biggest sources of complaints on Spires

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Spires' terms for cancelling classes

Our cancellation policy for students and how to charge for cancelled classes

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

FAQs - Payments

Refer students to Spires and earn 100

The students will get 25 in credit too

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How different currencies are handled on Spires

Spires asks tutors to set their price in the students native currency

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to add your bank account

Add your bank through our built in Stripe portal

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

What does "payment failed" mean?

If the payment has failed then we have not been able to charge the student's card

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How do I refund the student?

It is very easy to refund a student within 48 hours of a lesson

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Why haven't I been paid yet?

This article explains all the issues and questions about payments to tutors

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Stripe/Bank Transfer issues

What to do if your payments are not working or you are having trouble uploading documents

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

Charging for cancellations

If your students cancels on you with less than 24 hours notice you can charge them

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

FAQ's - Account and Settings

An overview of the Settings tab

The account tab is where you can change the settings on your account and edit your profile

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How do I change my account settings?

How to change your name, email, password and phone call settings

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How to change your time zone

Your time zone can be changed from your settings tab

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How can I control what emails I receive?

The notifications section of your account tab can be used to control what emails you receive

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago

How do I delete or close my account?

Your account can be deleted or closed, read the article to find out how

Written by Shahid Lakha
Updated over a week ago