I've been contacted by another teacher with a view to taking on a few of his students. I've just checked his prices and they are considerably higher than mine. My prices will be going up in September, but still not to the level of this teacher's. He is younger & less experienced than me, & in terms of qualifications, we're roughly on par. I'm in an area, where quite frankly, most parents don't think twice about the considerable amounts they spend on the childrens education and numerous expensive activities. One current adult pupe, pays me a little more than my rate having said I was 'too cheap'.

My new September rate will put me in the mid price range for this area. (At the moment I am at the low end).

So - Do I keep the transfer students on the rate they are used to paying, (which would be very nice but which will be higher than that paid my current pupils); or do I raise my fees to match; or do I just charge the new ones the same as everyone else ?

One of the problems with raising my fees to match is that I've already told a couple of mine about the new September fee.

Does anyone else have different rates for different students?

Whatever you decide to do for your current students, I would say that you definitely should charge your transfer students at either the same rate as their current teacher, or slightly less - not your new September rate.

The (monetary) value of your lessons is whatever the market can stand, and the transfer students are presumably happy with the rate their current teacher charges.

I just have one standard rate for everyone and that normally increases a little on 1st January each year. Don't like to make things too complicated.

I think you should charge the new pupils exactly the same as present ones. To me, charging different people different rates for the same service would come across as unprofessional, and could be divisive among parents should they find out.

Or to look at it another way: if the other teacher charged less than you, would you drop your rates for the incoming pupils? I somehow doubt it!

If you charge substantially less than the old teacher, they may wonder if you are offering an inferior service or whether you lack some experience compared to the other teacher.

Or they might just think they are getting a bargain

Unless the fee is way below the average, I'd expect the latter.

Some folk like to pay more as a sign of quality. I'm not saying it's right, but it's often the way... especially in more affluent areas if they are used to forking out an arm & leg for other services.

I think the thing I'd be very wary of is getting into a situation where some pupils are paying at one rate, and some at another. It's OK if neither are aware of this, but if they talk to each other, I fear it's only a matter of time. How would your transfer pupils react if they found your existing pupils were paying less? What would be the justification for charging them more, for what is effectively, the same service?

When looking for a new teacher I don't contact those whose rates are low. I assume that they are not good enough to command the going rate.

If I were one of the transfer students, then I would be very happy about a small drop in fees, but I would probably consider changing to a different teacher if it were a substantial drop.

That said, I understand the point about it not seeming professional to charge different rates to different pupils. In the part of the financial services sector with which I am familiar, they don't advertise their rates because they charge different rates to different clients. It is considered normal, and professional.

Sometimes I have had school students change to home lessons with me and vice versa - there is quite a difference in price, ?13.20 and ?15.00 for 30 minutes. I simply say what the price is and NO one has ever said anything about the difference, they just pay what I ask.

I would charge the new ones the price that they are used to. It's helpful to them that you are taking responsibility for their lessons. If you feel that the 'extra' money might be usefully spent on new teaching resources would that help you feel better about it?

I would charge all my students the same rate, irrespective of where they are coming from. If you hadn't known the old teacher's rate this would not have arisen. If you start having different fees for different students this could lead to prolems down the line.

I'm with Seer Green on this, I'd lose weight worrying about them possibly discussing lessons, fees etc.
I increased my fees in Aug last year and before I did I spoke with another teacher in a different area as I was unsure how much of an increase to inflict upon the parents. She told me the way she charges is outlined from the start, she charges by their level! beginners to grade 2 is a set fee, 3, 4 and 5 is another set fee and 6, 7 & 8 is another. Quite interesting I thought and actually not a bad idea.

Would any of you consider this?

That may be true, but when dealing directly with an individual it's quite different. Imagine if you lived in a larger house than your friend down the road, and found out that a plumber had charged you a higher call-out fee than your friend? Would you use that plumber again?



I don't really understand the logic behind this, unless they're also changing the lesson length to match. I don't see why teaching Grade 8 should deserve greater renumeration by the hour, or that it involves greater preparation time (except for learning accompaniments, which I consider to be part of my professional development anyway).

I had a teacher who had this sort of pricing structure.
Almost an incentive not to improve.....

Yes, and I think teaching beginners is much harder work than teaching grade 8, so if anything I would operate the system in reverse. Perhaps Grade 8 should be free !

My flute teacher increased his fees a while ago, but did it in two phases; he charged all newcomers the new fee, and kept his ongoing pupils on the original fee for a while. Then he sent a letter out to the original ones explaining that this had been the case, and adding that henceforth he would be charging the new fee for all students. I'm not sure how I would feel about paying the new rate had I had been a newcomer, but as it was, I just felt how generous it was of him to not raise it for existing students straight away.

In your situation, I think I would charge what the new students are used to paying, but bring the others in line as soon as you can. If you have only mentioned your new rate to a couple of your existing students, you could explain that in the light of recommended rates by the ISM / MU you feel obliged to revise your new rate.

Also - who decides the level? If they don't do exams - and 50% of mine don't - it would be down to me to say, "Right, so-and-so, I reckon you are grade x standard now, so your fee will be ?1 more from next week!"

The only time I have differing fees is when my regular students have received their months notice of the annual increase. Any new starters during that month pay the new fee.

I never understand charging higher grades more and to be fair, I only know one teacher that does this. In some ways, it becomes easier (and often more enjoyable) to teach higher grade students. Teaching beginners is usually the hardest but it wouldn't be fair to charge them more, would it?!

I think I would be inclined to charge the new students immediately the rate that you are planning to charge your current students in September and then by September everyone will be on the same rate.

As it seems the other teacher has recommended you, your new students will feel they are getting a good deal rather than inferior teaching.

I agree with what others have said about the earlier grades being more difficult to teach and more prep being required.

My children's piano teacher used to alter the lesson length as you went up the grades, as she said there was more to cover in each lesson as the difficulty increased. We paid the same hourly rate, but of course ended up paying more for a longer lesson. I can't quite remember the details, but I think grades 1-3 were 30 mins, grades 4-5 were 40 mins and grades 6-8 were 50 mins. Something like that anyway. She did do theory as part of the lessons up to grade 5, so that the children had a good knowledge and didn't have to cram for grade 5 theory as often happens.

I also agree with others that it would be seen to be unfair if you start charging different rates for different students. Decide on your rate for September and charge everyone the same.

Thank you everyone.

I have to admit I'm still scratching my head a little over this one. There doesn't seem to be one general consensus about how to proceed. I guess that's the joy of a general forum. It's a bit like thinking out loud.

I do have a few weeks to think this one over some more. I know I don't like the idea of a two tier system...but that's as far I've got.

I suppose I look at it like this:

You have existing pupils who pay at one rate.
You are about to take on new pupils who currently pay another teacher a higher rate: what is the justification for continuing to charge a higher rate than your current pupils?

Well - I won't be.

What I do to bring everyone into line though..and when, has still to be thought through some more.

What is the difference in ?s per hour between your old and new students? If it's just a few pounds, then you could do an increase in September to meet at a middle point.

That's sort of where I'm heading at the moment. Surprisingly accomodating those who take an hour long lesson will be easier than those taking half an hour.

I charge a straight 50% of the hourly rate for a half hour lesson. The other teacher charges not far off double what I charge for the half hour. His half hour rate is 2/3rds of his hourly rate. (Most of my students have half hour lessons). If I lived elsewhere with a different 'sort of clientele', I might find this a little more straightforward.

I think the best way forward here is not to tie yourself in too many knots about it. Impose a rise for your current students to a fee that seems reasonable to you, and charge everyone the same. I've never heard of anyone else charging 2/3 of an hour for half an hour - that seems a bit steep to me (and it sounds like this teacher is on the expensive side anyway). Don't change your pricing structure just because your potential new students are used to something else - they will be your students in future, and you have to feel comfortable about what you are doing. If some are put off by your 'low' prices, then it's their loss, surely?

If you take 2/3rds of his rate for half an hour, ie the proportion of his hourly rate that you would charge for a half hour, is that anywhere near the increased price you are thinking of for half an hour?

I'll see if I can explain....these figures are probably way out, but the proportions are the same, I think..

Say he charges ?30 for an hour, ?20 for half an hour. With your pricing structure, that would be ?15 for half an hour (half the hourly rate)

You say you charge roughly half what he charges for half an hour, say ?10 (?20 per hour.)

If you were to meet in the middle of the two figures and charge ?12.50 per half hour, would that work for you? I think it is perfectly reasonable to explain to your new students that you have a different pricing structure to their previous teacher and leave them to draw their own conclusions.

I used to have students on 3 different rates, and then there were 3 lengths of lesson times available, so invoicing was a bit fiddly but not impossible. As of September 2011 I put everyone onto the same rates, with 9 months notice. Invoicing is definitely easier but still takes a while to do!

These are the following charging schemes I have come across -

* A piano teacher I know charges any student the same rate forever, regardless of grade, but new students come on at a slightly higher rate.

* I know of a teacher who charges different rates for different types of students - the case I heard of was students one rate, other teachers a different rate as that was for professional development rather than personal learning.

* I know of another teacher who charges full-time students one rate (meaning people who do not have a day job because they are students, not full time students of theirs) and professionals (people with a day job) another rate.

* I think mine charges different students different rates. I do not know which, if any, of the above algorithms she follows, but I am happy that my lessons represent good value for money; if I wasn't happy with that I would find another teacher.

* In South East Asia where I grew up, it was understood that as you progressed through the grades, fees would increase by a set amount (most teachers gave you a schedule of all their charges per grade) but that lesson length would also increase correspondingly. This was identical to private tutoring rates for any subject - mathematics tuition for primary school children would cost much less than A-level mathematics tuition.

(I mention the last point not to suggest that the same method should be followed in this country, but so that if anyone mentions this is how their teacher charges, to highlight the possibility that that poster might not be from this conutry. )

Another option is to place the incoming students at a rate which is slightly above what you are charging the others and justify that to anyone who asks why on the basis that you have to get to know all these incoming pupils and maybe teach from different material and make up things your pupils know, which is extra work, but state that unless there are major changes in national taxes (for example) then when you next put up your rates for everyone you will hold these new students at the current level so everyone evens out soon. Say e.g. you were charging ?10, the other teacher charges ?15. You bring in these new students at ?12.50, but when your fees go up for everyone from ?10 to ?12.50 the new pupils stay at ?12.50 then next time everyone goes up to ?13.75 together, etc. This is what companies do when they have to take on staff at all different rates, the ones on higher salaries get slower pay rises than those who have a long way to go. Of course, they have to keep the differences in the case of buyouts and transfers and thing, you have the option.