How Medly Compares to Private Tutoring
From £24.99/month, Medly provides personalised AI tutoring across all major GCSE, A-Level and IB subjects — a fraction of the cost of weekly private tutoring.
How Medly Compares to Private Tutoring
16 Apr 2026
What private tutoring actually costs
The Sutton Trust, one of the UK's leading educational charities, published research in 2019 on the cost and prevalence of private tutoring in England and Wales. They found that private tutors charge approximately:
- £24 per hour on average across England and Wales (excluding agency commission)
- £27 per hour in London
Rates vary significantly by subject, experience and location, and many tutors charge considerably more, particularly for A-Level, IB and specialist subjects.
Putting that in context
Using the Sutton Trust's £24/hour figure, a student receiving one private tutoring session per week (one hour per session) would pay roughly:
£24 per hour x 4 sessions per month = approximately £96 per month
That covers one subject only. Most GCSE students take nine or ten subjects. Most A-Level students take three or four. Private tutoring across even a few subjects quickly runs into hundreds of pounds a month.
Medly provides unlimited, personalised AI tutoring across all major subjects for:
| Medly plan | Monthly cost |
|---|---|
| Yearly Plan | £16/month |
| Monthly Plan | £24.99/month |
That works out at roughly 74 to 83% less than weekly private tutoring for a single subject, and Medly covers all of them.
What you get
Medly is not a flashcard app or a question bank. It is a personalised AI tutor that adapts to how each student learns. That includes:
- Exam-style questions mapped to your specific exam board and specification
- Instant AI marking that follows official mark schemes, not just keyword matching
- Detailed feedback explaining where marks were gained or lost and how to improve
- A conversational AI tutor available 24/7 that guides students to answers rather than giving them away
- Learn Mode that integrates structured lessons directly into the practice experience
- Full mock exams with proper timing, marking and grade boundaries
All of this is included in a single subscription, across all your subjects. There is no per-subject or per-hour charge.
The comparison
| Private tutoring | Medly | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Approximately £96/month for one subject (1 session/wk) | From £16/month for all subjects |
| Availability | Scheduled sessions | 24/7 |
| Subjects | Usually one per tutor | All major GCSE, A-Level and IB subjects |
| Exam board alignment | Depends on the tutor | Built into every question and mark scheme |
| Feedback | Verbal, in real time | Written, instant, tied to specific mark schemes |
Private tutoring has clear strengths, human connection, accountability, the ability to read a student's body language. We are not suggesting that Medly replaces every aspect of what a good tutor does. But for the core work of practising exam-style questions, receiving detailed feedback and improving, Medly delivers that at a fraction of the cost.
Source
Sutton Trust (September 2019). Four in ten teachers have been private tutors. Read the research →