I don't know how many of this sort of thing there are around, but has anyone any experience of teaching through an agency of sorts? You still teach self-employed, but their website helps you find each other, but there is more than most of the places that all they give you is a very expensive advert, they actually timetable the lessons and send you the money. They chase up the customer if the customer doesn't pay, if the customer doesn't pay you still get your money from the agency and the customer owes them. Obviously I lose some of the income as a result of that arrangement rather than getting to keep everything (less taxes and other deductions, of course) but it seems worth it to shake off some of the aggro. Has anyone ever done this?

I am only at the very earliest of enquiry stages so have yet to see full T&Cs and all that kind of thing, just interested if anyone has been there done that.

I have a nasty feeling that you would just be swapping one set of aggro for another. The agency is going to make money from your work - is that really what you want...?

I would keep well away from this sort of setup.

ditto- and putting all eggs into one basket springs to mind.......at least if I have any hastle re payment, T&Cs, etc, it's only one individual customer at a time. Plus I think it could be very confusing if you have existing students of your own on different terms or rates- this came up on a recent different thread. Personally I'd find somebody else timetabling on my behalf would drive me up the wall! Different I know but I used to be in the comparable situation of hiring studio space within a music school where I had to abide by their terms and conditions. They did put a lot of work my way for a long time but it certainly didn't remove the hastle factor- I just had 2 sets of problems rather than 1!

It sounds like the worst of both worlds: you still have the big drawbacks of self-employment, no job security or sick pay, but also lose some of the freedom and independence. I want to deal with my timetabling myself, in order to offer as much flexibility as possible when either a pupil or myself has to cancel or rearrange a lesson. The detailed knowledge of which pupils find it easier or more difficult to accomodate change can't be outsourced. As for payments: if you're clear from the start about up-front payments, then I don't see what an agent can do to help.

Do any of the other agree-ers want to give reasons?

A colleague of mine teaches for a local music teaching service and seems to get on fine with it although she will give it up very soon as she is busy enough with her own private students.

Surprisingly, there isn't a clear cut agreement with the teaching service on the policy for missed or cancelled lessons, so she ends up having to make those up at a later date as this is what the students expect. The lessons are also not always scheduled weekly so it's not a regular income. Finally, the music service charge the student ?45 for registration so that all goes into their pocket.

In the area we live in, I am surprised that people would bother to use this as there are so many music teachers advertising online that there simply doesn't seem to be any need to go to a service like this that will end up costing you more but paying the teacher less (not that the student is aware of that!)

The reason I would not use this way of obtaining pupils is that it would take away some of the control you have in running your own business. I don't want an agent telling me I am not getting paid because the pupil has not paid them and then having to depend on someone else to sort it out for me when I could probably do it more effectively myself. Also what happens when you need to give an undesirable pupil the boot? Will the agent want you to stick with that pupil because they will also lose money if you no longer teach that pupil? The whole thing sounds too messy for me. Find out where they are advertising their services and advertise in the same place.

I think you would be better off tightening up your own set of T and Cs, that are tailored to your particular circumstances, rather than letting a third party control what goes on. How much aggro do you get and what are the issues? Do you honestly think dealing through an agency would remove all this? I seriously doubt it, and you would probably end up arguing with someone at the agency who wasn't even party to what went on with lessons and so on, rather than dealing directly with students and parents.

I worked through an agency in a secondary school for a while, and as pianonotes says I felt out of control. They seem often to limit to 10 lessons per term and you can't just set up extra lessons when you feel they are needed. In this sort of setup the fees are likely to be at the top end as pupils are paying not only for a teacher but also an administrative body, and this might be a deterrent to some people. However in a school setup it might work to your advantage as they will get pupils for you.

Over the years I've been telephoned by agencies offering to get me pupils, and once I even attended an interview, but I've never actually got a single pupil in this way. They gave vague hints that there was work going in my area but it didn't materialise. I think perhaps they were just building up a network of teachers ready for when they expanded (or not).

I think I'd just echo most of what's already been said.

I thought I'd add my experience of teaching through an agency - a bit of a different side of things.

I have a number of private students now, but sent my CV to an agency when I first started out and had no pupils. Currently I teach two pupils through the agency, but at once stage had four. I didn't pay anything to join the agency, and although I did receive a set of terms and conditions via email, I have never signed anything. They found the students for me, asked if I would be willing to teach them. Once I agreed, it was down to me to organise the first lesson. I then organise lessons every week with my students' parents, the agency has no part in this, and I'm not required to give a certain number of lessons per year. I invoice the agency at the end of the month for the lessons I have given and they pay me fairly promptly at the start of the next month. They are responsible for billing the parents and collecting the money, and I am certain that should they have problems with non-payers, I would not go unpaid. When I had issues with a student cancelling an hour before the lesson started, I claimed and was paid for the lessons anyway, and they dealt with the more unpleasant side of things - reminding the student of the notice period etc., terminating the lessons in one instance. I phoned them a number of times about this particular problem student and each time they were supportive and helpful, and did everything on my behalf.

The only real downside for me is that I know they charge the parents more per hour than what I would charge privately, and pay me less. (Not substantially less, but enough - I'm currently trying to find the courage to ask them to pay me more, but that's another story!)

I do feel guilty that the parents are paying over the odds for the same service, even though they would have known and agreed to the fees before signing up. However, amongst the terms and conditions I was sent at the start is that they won't tolerate teachers who try and poach the students from the agency. I wouldn't do this in any case, but I like the students that I teach and wouldn't want to lose them.

It seems that if you could just find a little more courage about asking for money then you wouldn't need an agent. Non-payers or any hassle can be sorted through your professional body (MU / etc).