Classgap Review Summary

Classgap is an online teacher marketplace where anyone can tutor 1v1 in 100+ subjects. The application is easy, there are no qualification, location or nationality requirements, and tutors decide their hours, what to charge and how to teach, however, there is a commission fee of 10-20% and students are hard to attract.

Classgap Pros and Cons

Pros:

• No qualifications or experience required
• Easy application process
• Tutors have autonomy over their classes, materials, pay rate and hours
• Choice of over 100 subjects to teach

Cons:

• Commission charges of up to 20%
• Must make €50 to be paid each month
• Student bookings can be hard to attract
• No teaching materials

What Is Classgap?

Classgap is an online teacher marketplace where students can search for prospective tutors from all over the globe. The company offers tutors the chance to deliver over 100 subjects in an online, 1-on-1 learning environment.

From teaching languages, coding, musical instruments, or core subjects such as mathematics and science, tutors are given the freedom to determine the service they wish to offer. There is also a more professional provision called Classgap for Enterprise, aimed at businesses requiring a more specialized training plan for their employees.

Lessons are delivered through Classgap’s dedicated online platform. This goes beyond a simple video conferencing platform, as tutors can utilize a digital whiteboard and edit documents in real time with students.

Is Classgap Legit?

Classgap is a legitimate EdTech company that was created in 2015. Along with FindTutors, it forms part of Tus Media Group which was acquired by GoStudent in 2022. Together they have served more than 3 million students worldwide, with over 600,000 through Classgap alone. This has attracted 600+ reviews on Trustpilot, providing a score of 4.6 out of 5 (at the time of writing), which reinforces their legitimacy. The company currently lists over 12,000 online teachers on its database.

How Does Classgap Work?

Classgap provides an online private tutoring portal, allowing tutors to deliver classes via an in-built virtual classroom. Once you have created a profile, you can indicate the subjects you wish to teach, your availability, and hourly rate. Classgap sign-up is possible via email or a Facebook account. 

To have a published, successful profile, it is recommended that you provide a variety of detailed information to attract potential students. This could include a video presentation, specific details of the subjects you are offering, your experience, photos, and aspects of your personality.

With your profile complete, you can be contacted by students before teaching your virtual classes through Classgap’s dedicated platform. 

Classgap Virtual Classes

Classgap classes are delivered through the company’s own virtual classroom. Here, screen-sharing is possible during video calls. You can also share presentations and documents with your students. An in-built virtual whiteboard can be used to model and clarify concepts, and a link option to share audio files, videos, and other links can supplement learning. Chat functionality is also available, allowing more avenues for communication throughout the session.

Here is another video showing more of the Classgap virtual classroom and what it offers:

How to Get Students in Classgap

Classgap recommends offering a free 20-minute trial lesson as a way of attracting new students. Tutors have the option of enabling this function or not.

Tutors may also offer a package of 5 or 10 lessons at a discounted price to encourage more bookings.

Classgap Salary Information

As is typical among teacher marketplaces, tutors set their own pay rate when creating their Classgap profile. As a guide, here are the averages that are charged for some of the more popular subjects on the platform:

Classgap Commission Charges

A common downside of teacher marketplaces is the commission fees that many charge for using their gateway to students, and Classgap is no different. They have a sliding scale which decreases the more hours that you teach there:

• ‘New’ tutors (up to 50 hours) = 20% commission fee
• ‘Professional’ tutors (51-250 hours) = 15% commission fee
• ‘Star’ tutors (over 250 hours) = 13% commission
• Students sourced externally by the tutor who book via a link = 10% commission fee

Receiving Classgap Payments

Payments are made at the end of the month by transfer to your bank or PayPal account, only once you reach a €50 threshold. Any pay earned below this amount will roll over to the next month.

Classgap Hours

Classgap tutors can set a flexible schedule, applying their own hourly rates. Essentially, students can only book when you are free. This allows the opportunity to teach during the holidays, on weekends, after work, or, potentially (but less likely), full-time. Due to the potential of receiving students from anywhere in the world, be mindful of various time zones.

Classgap Requirements

While no specific qualifications or teaching experience is required to become a private tutor with Classgap, you must be of legal adult age to register as a teacher on the platform. However, Classgap recommends that you are confident in providing the service you are offering, with good communication skills and relevant expertise in your subject. The company recognizes that tutors are able to learn as they go, but suggest that a foundation of knowledge should be there to deliver Classgap courses with confidence.

There are still technical requirements your equipment should meet: 

• Ability to access Classgap’s platform using a personal computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone
• An Operating System of at least Windows 7 or macOS Yosemite
• Use of the Google Chrome browser with any adblocking disabled
• Awareness of any antivirus software that might potentially block or disable the camera and audio functions
• An internet connection of at least 5MB (you can test your speed here)

How to Become a Tutor – Classgap Application Process

The Classgap application process is relatively straightforward:

1. Apply through the Classgap website:
   1. Click on the ‘Apply to be a tutor’ button found on this page
   2. Select ‘I’m a tutor’
   3. Enter your name, email address, password and phone number, or ‘Log in with Facebook’
   4. Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘Sign up’

2. Create your teaching profile: 
   1. Upload your photo and personal details 
   2. Enter details for the type of classes you wish to provide. This page will include the languages you speak, a description of your classes, the age range you wish to teach, and the option to post a video describing your services in further detail.
   3. List your subjects. Here, you can list up to two different subjects, before indicating your specialty.
   4. Present your education and experience. This includes any degrees, diplomas, certificates, and the length of time you have been teaching. 
   5. Set your availability. Choose the notice period required for bookings (from 30 minutes to 72 hours), your time zone and available hours.
   6. Set your rates and promotions. Decide your price range for individual classes, packs of 5 or 10, and the option of a 20-minute free trial.
   7. Set your visibility level and positioning for students to find you.
   8. Fill out any other details. This includes teaching materials, and any hobbies and pictures you wish to share to showcase your personality.

Once you have completed these steps, your profile will be made public and available for students to find and book through.

This video takes you through these steps, as well as showcasing some of Classgap’s classroom functionality:

Classgap Reviews – What Is It Like Working for Classgap?

The Classgap Glassdoor page gives the company a mixed score of 3.2 out of 5, with 62% willing to recommend them, though this is calculated from just 15 Classgap reviews (at the time of writing).

I have collated positive and negative comments from these reviews below. Overall there appears to be more disadvantages than advantages, with complaints regarding how payment is handled, a lack of student bookings, and technical glitches outweighing the flexibility and easy application process:

• Pros:
  • “Got into the platform easier than all the hundreds of others online. They pay efficiently, and the students are mostly very pleasant. Have to create own lessons, and own pay rate is set.”
  • “They find you students and give good communication to teachers”
  • “easy to open a profile and be approved”
• Cons:
  • “Very quiet now during their summer months. No pay for students who are a no show, and the response time, if they respond to email questions is very slow.”
  • “I worked there for a few months. I was surprised why I do lessons and I get no money. It appeared they take 100% of fee from first lesson for ‘promotional reasons’ (later 50%). Cheaters. Money making machine – for them. Caution. Do not work there.”
  • “The worst tutoring services I have ever used!! Low pay, can’t cash out until you’ve made 50 euros the pay is in euros even though I already changed my currency to USD.”
  • “Low pay, Terrible terrible tutor support/customer service, No REFUNDS to students, Can’t cash out until you have made 50 dollars”
  • “Tech is not great I have to use zoom sometimes”
  • “not much bookings available [sic], students generally stick to their tutors”
• Advice to Management:
  • “Please try and answer personal questions to teachers, there is no other way of communicating with anyone in the company other than using the platforms suggested box with queries.”
  • “Do not use people.”
  • “Please have more respect for your tutors and students”

Conclusion – Is Classgap Worth It?

While they are easy to sign up for, teacher marketplaces are notoriously difficult places to attract students due to the challenge of making one’s profile stand out above the often sizable competition. While nothing is lost from creating a profile on Classgap, considering how quick and easy the process is, you should not expect a great number of bookings unless you have a particularly rare and unique offering in an in-demand subject that you know how to successfully market. Even then, the commission fees, payment threshold and rather poor teacher reviews might mean your energies are better directed towards alternative companies.

You can apply to Classgap here.