I am a freelance musician so I do about 8 hours teaching per week and also orchestral/concerts/background gigs etc....


I've just been reading throught the missed lessons post. The reason that I don't have a cancellation charge is because I like to feel that I can call pupils last min (and by that I mean night befofe not hour before) to change/cancel lessons if I get a booking through.

I try to do this as little as possible but if a well paid job comes in and I have 1 pupil that day, I have to.My pupils are all happy with this arrangement as I explain my work before they start lessons but it does mean that I don't feel I can ask for the payment if they need to change their lesson or are ill.


What do other part-time teachers do??

Hi KHT,

I am also a part time teacher, and I teach about 5 hours a week. I find I rarely need to cancel a lesson and I can usually reschedule the time if something I cannot avoid comes up. If one of my students cancels less than 24 hours' before their lesson, I will always charge.

However, my situation is slightly different to yours in that my full time job is a paid research degree and as such, is quite flexible and enables me to work primarily from home. On the other hand, some of my colleagues at the music school where I teach do a lot of performing as well as teaching, and as far as I understand it, in their termly letter to the parents/students they state that sometimes performances/gigs may mean that the lessons are cancelled. The teacher will try to reschedule and I don't believe they would still charge if the teacher could not make it.

As far as I'm concerned, as long as the parents/students are aware of your other engagements, and why you may sometimes have to cancel, then you've done your bit and having it in writing also covers your back.

Hope this helps!

Mrs M

I only teach about 5 hours a week as well - I'm studying medicine full time and can't commit to any more than this. My pupils know that I will occasionally have to move them if I have to go on-call or have important exams, etc. I give them advance warning of this though. They also know I'll accept it if they have to move their lessons, but I do need a week's notice - I can't guarantee another time for their lesson otherwise.

I don't charge for illnesses or missed lessons because of holidays, but if I am unable to teach for one week, I am often unable to give everyone a lesson so I don't charge for those either.

Hello,

I'm in a similar situation too. I teach at my pupils homes on weekends and in evenings as I currently have a full time job. This will be changing in a couple of months when I quit my this job (hooray!) to teach full time.

Up until now I have been completely flexible when it comes to my pupils changing and cancelling lessons (within a reasonable notice time of course) and I expect them to do the same for me (as my full time job sometimes requires that I work evenings and I have to cancel occasionally). I don't charge for missed lessons and I have really good relationships with all the parents and never feel like I'm taken for granted.

I know this will probably have to change when I'm relying on the money earnt from lessons to pay the bills and I hope they will all be understanding when I give out my new terms of teaching. From the conversations I've had with them about my change in circumstances I can't see this being a problem, but I'm ready for the day when I end up explaining the extra charges for lessons missed and the tone of the conversations will change...oh happy days!

it's good reading about other part-time teachers situations.

Hope this has been a help!
Amy x