Tutor Agreement

This is an agreement between Sophwick and the independent tutors who use it. It follows an agency model: the tutor provides tuition to each family, and Sophwick vets, recommends, runs the platform and collects payment as the tutor's agent. Updated on 29 October 2026 so that lessons, cancellations, no-shows, disputes and the reliability record match the portal as built. It has been reviewed by a solicitor or accountant and must be checked before any tutor accepts it. It sits alongside the Platform Terms (families) and the Safeguarding Policy.

1. The parties

1. This agreement is between Veritas Gaming Ltd, trading as Sophwick, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14942374), whose registered office is at 8 Croasdale Square, Blackburn, England, BB1 1SY ("Sophwick", "we", "us"), and the tutor named in the portal who accepts it ("you").
2. It applies from 1 November 2026 and is accepted by ticking the agreement box in the Sophwick portal. We will email you a copy.

2. Definitions

1. Family means a parent or guardian and the children registered with Sophwick under the Platform Terms.
2. Student means a child you teach through Sophwick.
3. Pairing means our recommendation of you to a Family for a Student and subject, once the Family accepts it.
4. Lesson means a single online tuition session booked through the portal.
5. Portal means the logged-in area of sophwick.com.
6. Your Rate means the hourly rate you charge Families for your tuition.
7. Service Fee means Sophwick's own fee, charged to Families on top of Your Rate.
8. Delivered hours means the hours of Lessons you have completed through Sophwick, as recorded in the portal, counted by the minutes charged (so a Lesson the Student joined late counts in full). Paid late cancellations and no-shows are not delivered hours.

3. How you work with Sophwick

1. You are an independent, self-employed tutor running your own tuition business. You provide tuition to each Family under your own contract with them. Nothing in this agreement makes you an employee or worker of Sophwick, or creates a partnership.
2. Sophwick acts as your agent to make tuition contracts with Families on your behalf, arrange bookings, issue invoices and collect Your Rate from Families. Sophwick does not provide tuition.
3. You are responsible for your own income tax, National Insurance and, if it ever applies to you, VAT. You confirm that you are self-employed and will register with HMRC as such. You agree to indemnify Sophwick for any tax, National Insurance or penalty that becomes due because you did not account for it.
4. You set Your Rate within the range for your tutor type (clause 10). You can decline any Pairing (clause 7.2), and you choose which Lesson times to propose and accept.
5. You decide how to teach, including your methods, materials and lesson structure, within the subject and the Student's needs.
6. You provide your own computer, internet connection, webcam, microphone and quiet place to work, at your own cost.
7. You are free to work for others, including other tuition providers and your own private students, as long as you keep to clause 13.

4. Checks before you can teach

You cannot see or contact any Family until you have completed every check below and we have approved you in the portal.

5. Your ongoing obligations

1. You must tell us straight away, and in any case within 48 hours, if:
   1. you are arrested, charged, cautioned or convicted of any offence;
   2. you are the subject of any investigation, allegation or referral relating to children;
   3. your DBS status changes, or you are added to a barred list;
   4. your right to work in the UK changes.
2. You must keep your DBS certificate valid. If you are not on the Update Service, you must provide a new Enhanced DBS certificate at least every 3 years.
3. You must complete recognised safeguarding training before your first Lesson and refresh it at least every 3 years.
4. You must give us accurate information. Giving false information is grounds for ending this agreement immediately.

6. Safeguarding and conduct

1. You must read, follow and keep up to date with the Sophwick Safeguarding Policy, including its Tutor Code of Conduct.
2. You must report any safeguarding concern about a Student to our Designated Safeguarding Lead the same day, and call 999 if a child is in immediate danger.
3. You must communicate with Families only through the portal and in Lessons. You must never use personal phone numbers, email, social media, messaging apps or gaming platforms to contact a Student or Family, or meet a Student in person.
4. You must never record a Lesson or take screenshots of a Student.
5. You understand that Sophwick can read all portal messages and files for safeguarding and quality, and that the portal hides contact details from messages.
6. Breaking this clause may lead to immediate suspension, ending this agreement, and referral to the police, the Local Authority Designated Officer or the DBS where required.

7. Availability, recommendations and Pairings

1. Keep your availability in the portal up to date, so we can recommend you to suitable Families.
2. After a Family's assessment call, Sophwick recommends a tutor. Before we offer you to a Family, we will check with you that you are willing to take the Student on. You can decline any Pairing without giving a reason, and declining does not affect how we recommend you. A Pairing starts once the Family accepts it in the portal.
3. You may only teach subjects and key stages we have approved for you. You can remove a subject or key stage in the portal at any time, except one you are currently teaching or have been offered (talk to us first). A subject or key stage you add is reviewed by us before Families can be offered you for it.
4. We aim to share work fairly. When deciding which tutor to recommend, the main factors we consider are:
   1. fit with the Student: subject, key stage and exam board;
   2. availability at the times the Family needs;
   3. hours delivered through Sophwick, which carries the most weight;
   4. reliability over the last 90 days: late cancellations, missed Lessons and late starts (clause 9);
   5. feedback from Families;
   6. Your Rate, compared with the Family's needs and budget.
5. New tutors are given extra weight for their first few Pairings, so they have a fair chance to build delivered hours.
6. A tutor who is not approved, or whose DBS check is not current, is not recommended and cannot be booked until that is resolved.
7. You can ask to end a Pairing through the portal, giving your reason, which only Sophwick sees. While we decide, no new Lessons can be booked on that Pairing, and Lessons already booked go ahead unless we tell you otherwise.
8. We will tell you if we change these main factors.

8. Lessons and progress reports

1. After a Pairing, you or the Family can propose Lessons through the portal: a weekly slot or single Lessons, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes long, between 09:00 and 21:00 UK time, at least 12 hours ahead. The Family can only propose times within your stated availability; you may propose other times within those hours. A Lesson is booked only when the other side accepts it.
2. Lessons currently take place on Microsoft Teams. Add your Teams link to each Lesson in the portal. Only Microsoft Teams links can be added.
3. Join every Lesson on time. If the Student has not joined within 15 minutes of the start time, you can record a no-show in the portal, up to 7 days after the Lesson. If the Student then turns up, you can withdraw the no-show and mark the Lesson completed instead, as long as the Family has not disputed it.
4. Mark each Lesson completed in the portal within 7 days of it ending; after that, Sophwick records it. If the Lesson was shorter than booked, choose why:
   1. the Student joined late or left early: you are paid for the booked length;
   2. you started late or ended early: you are paid for the minutes taught, and it counts as a late start on your record;
   3. you agreed a shorter Lesson with the Family in advance: you are paid for the minutes taught.
5. The Family sees the reason and any note you add, and can dispute a Lesson recorded as the Student joining late (clause 9.6).
6. Write a short progress report for the Family within 48 hours of each completed Lesson. You can edit it until midnight UK time on the day you first send it. Do not include medical or diagnostic details in reports. Overdue reports are chased, and repeatedly late or missing reports may affect future Pairings.

9. Cancellations by you, and your reliability record

1. If you need to cancel a Lesson, cancel it in the portal as early as possible. Give at least 24 hours' notice wherever you can.
2. When you cancel or miss a Lesson, the Family is not charged and you are not paid for it. You owe the Family a replacement Lesson: propose one through the portal, unless the Family says they do not need one. The portal reminds you while a replacement is owed.
3. If you miss a Lesson, tell us through the portal ("I missed this lesson"). Sophwick confirms it and records it.
4. A Family can report that you did not attend, up to 48 hours after the Lesson was due to end, even if you have marked it completed. While we look into it, you cannot complete the Lesson or record a no-show, and it is not paid. If we confirm you did not attend, the Lesson is not paid, any delivered hours from it are removed, and a replacement is owed.
5. The portal keeps a record of your cancellations (with the notice you gave), missed Lessons and late starts. A cancellation with less than 24 hours' notice is late, unless you cancel within 1 hour of a Lesson being booked at short notice.
6. A Family can dispute a no-show you recorded, or a Lesson you recorded as the Student joining late, within 48 hours. We decide after hearing from you both: the record stands, the charge is waived (you are not paid), or the Lesson is treated as you not attending.
7. Your record over the last 90 days counts towards how we recommend tutors (clause 7.4). You can see your own counts and the dated list in the portal. If you were ill or had an emergency, tell us: we can mark an event as excused, which keeps it on your list but stops it counting.
8. Repeated late cancellations, missed Lessons or late starts may lead to fewer Pairings or to ending this agreement under clause 18.

10. Your Rate

1. You set Your Rate in the portal, in whole pounds, within the range for your tutor type:

2. Your tutor type depends on whether you hold Qualified Teacher Status, as confirmed during your checks. We may change these ranges by giving you at least 30 days' notice.
3. We recommend that new tutors start towards the lower end of their range. A competitive rate helps you build delivered hours, which carry the most weight when we recommend tutors (clause 7.4).
4. A change to Your Rate applies straight away to new Pairings. For an existing Pairing it applies to Lessons on or after a date 30 days later, including Lessons already booked for those dates, so the Family has notice. The portal shows both of you the new rate and the date.
5. Fees are per hour, and are paid pro rata for Lessons of other lengths.

11. Sophwick's Service Fee

1. Sophwick charges Families a Service Fee on top of Your Rate, for vetting, matching, the portal and billing. The Service Fee is Sophwick's own charge. It is not taken out of Your Rate: you receive Your Rate in full for every chargeable Lesson.
2. Families see one all-in hourly price. Their invoices show Your Rate and the Service Fee as separate lines.

12. Lessons charged, statements and payment

1. If a Family cancels less than 24 hours before a Lesson, or the Student does not attend, and the Family is charged, you are paid Your Rate for that Lesson in full.
2. If Sophwick waives the Family's charge, for bereavement or exceptional circumstances, you are not paid for that Lesson. You are told that it was waived, but not why. A Lesson the Family has disputed, or reported you did not attend, is not paid until Sophwick decides.
3. Sophwick invoices each Family twice a month, for Lessons from the 1st to the 15th and from the 16th to the end of the month, on your behalf for Your Rate and for itself for the Service Fee. A Lesson goes on an invoice once nothing can still be raised about it (usually 48 hours after it ends).
4. Sophwick collects Your Rate from the Family as your agent, through Stripe. Your share of each Lesson is held in Sophwick's Stripe account until the Family's payment has cleared and the Lesson's dispute window has closed with nothing open. It is then sent to your Stripe account within 7 days of the Family's payment, unless a dispute, a report that you did not attend, a hold, or a card chargeback applies to that Lesson. Stripe pays the balance of your Stripe account to your bank once a week. From a Lesson to your bank usually takes 2 to 4 weeks. If a Family pays an invoice outside Stripe, for example by bank transfer, Sophwick pays your share for it outside Stripe instead.
5. You are paid when the Family pays. If a Family pays late, you are paid late. If a Family does not pay, Sophwick will chase the debt on your behalf, but is not liable to pay you money it has not received.
6. The portal shows a monthly statement of your Lessons, each marked with where your share is: awaiting the Family's payment, held, sent to your Stripe account, or paid to your bank. Tell us about any error within 14 days.
7. Payments are made without deduction of tax or National Insurance. If you become registered for VAT, tell us straight away.
8. We do not pay expenses unless we agree them in writing in advance.
9. To be paid, you must set up a Stripe Express account from the Payments page in the portal. Stripe verifies your identity and holds your bank details for that account, under its own terms; Sophwick does not hold your bank details. Until your account can receive payments, your shares stay held. Sophwick may also require your account to be set up before new Lessons can be booked with you.
10. If Sophwick refunds a Family for a Lesson, or a Family's bank reverses their card payment (a chargeback), Sophwick recovers your share of that Lesson from you only where you were at fault, for example where you did not attend or the Lesson was not provided with reasonable care and skill. It may do so by not sending the share, or by taking it back from your Stripe account. Where you were not at fault, you keep your share.

13. Families introduced by Sophwick

1. While this agreement is in force, and for 12 months after it ends, you must not, directly or indirectly, offer or provide tuition to any Family or Student you were introduced to through Sophwick, other than through Sophwick.
2. You must not encourage any Family to leave Sophwick or to contact you outside the portal.
3. If you break this clause, you agree to pay Sophwick a fee of £100 for each Family concerned, which reflects our cost of finding, checking and matching that Family. This does not limit any other remedy we have.
4. This clause also protects children, because tuition arranged outside Sophwick is not covered by our safeguarding checks, records or policies.

14. Confidentiality and data protection

1. You must keep confidential all information about Families, Students and Sophwick's business that you learn through Sophwick, during this agreement and after it ends.
2. When you handle personal information about Families and Students, you do so only on Sophwick's instructions and only to provide the tuition. You must:
   1. keep it within the portal, and not copy, download or store it elsewhere;
   2. not share it with anyone except Sophwick, unless the law requires it or our Safeguarding Policy says so;
   3. tell us within 24 hours if you think any of it has been lost, seen by someone who should not see it, or misused.
3. We handle your personal information as set out in our Tutor Privacy Notice.

15. Teaching materials

1. You keep ownership of teaching materials you created before or outside your work with Sophwick. You give Sophwick and the Families you teach a free licence to use any of your materials you share through the portal, for the Students' learning.
2. Sophwick's materials, including Sophwick Academy resources, branding and the portal, remain Sophwick's. You may use them only for teaching Sophwick Students.
3. You must not share any material you do not have the right to share, such as copyrighted past papers or textbooks beyond what the law allows.

16. Insurance

1. You provide tuition to Families under your own contracts and are responsible for your own liabilities. Sophwick strongly recommends that you hold professional indemnity insurance for your tuition work, with cover of at least £1,000,000 and covering online tutoring, including students outside the UK. Sophwick does not check whether you hold it.

17. Responsibility

1. You are responsible to each Family for the tuition you provide, its quality, and your own conduct.
2. If a Family complains about a Lesson, Sophwick will look into it with you. Where a Lesson was not provided with reasonable care and skill, Sophwick may repeat or refund it for the Family under the Platform Terms, and you will not be paid for that Lesson (or must repay it if already paid).
3. You agree to compensate Sophwick for any loss, claim or cost we suffer because you seriously break this agreement, act dishonestly or negligently, or break clauses 6, 13 or 14.
4. Nothing in this agreement limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.
5. Apart from clause 17.4, Sophwick's total liability to you is limited to the amount of Your Rate collected for you in the 12 months before the claim arose.

18. Suspension and ending this agreement

1. Either of us can end this agreement by giving 14 days' notice through the portal or by email. During the notice period you must complete or properly hand over any Lessons already booked, unless we agree otherwise.
2. We can suspend you from all Lessons and portal access immediately, without it being a finding of wrongdoing, while we look into any safeguarding concern, allegation or serious complaint. While you are suspended, or your DBS check is not current, no new Lessons can be booked with you, we may cancel your booked Lessons (you are not paid for them, and they do not count against your record), and Families are told only that you are not taking bookings. You can still mark Lessons you have already taught as completed within 7 days.
3. We can end this agreement immediately if you seriously or repeatedly break it, including clauses 4, 5, 6, 13 and 14, if you lose your DBS clearance or right to work, or if we reasonably need to for safeguarding reasons.
4. When the agreement ends, Sophwick will still collect Your Rate for Lessons delivered, and paid late cancellations, up to the end date, and pay you under clause 12 as Families pay. Clauses 3.3, 13, 14 and 17 continue after it ends.
5. Where the law requires it, we will refer you to the DBS if we remove you from work with children because you harmed, or posed a risk of harm to, a child.

19. Changes to this agreement

1. We may change this agreement, for example to reflect changes in the law, our services or the portal. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any change through the portal. If you do not accept it, you can end this agreement under clause 18.1 before the change takes effect.

20. General

1. This agreement, the Safeguarding Policy and the Tutor Privacy Notice are the whole agreement between us about your work with Sophwick.
2. You may not transfer this agreement or ask someone else to teach in your place. Families rely on the checks we have made on you personally.
3. If a court decides that any part of this agreement is unenforceable, the rest still applies.
4. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later.
5. Nobody else has a right to enforce this agreement.
6. This agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.

This document is effective from 1 November 2026