Accrediting Online Tutoring — Ensuring Quality, Safety and Professional Standards
How we accredit online tutoring content
GOER provides specialist accreditation for online tutoring companies, recognising the unique nature of the tutoring industry. We ensure that tutoring services provide high-quality educational support that is safe, professional, transparent, and ethical.
- Professional standards for tutors (qualifications, experience, recruitment)
- Safeguarding standards appropriate to 1:1 and small group online learning
- Quality of teaching and learning in live and asynchronous tutoring
- Ethical and appropriate use of AI in tutoring platforms
- Transparency of marketing, pricing and service terms to parents
- Data privacy and learner protection
- Tutor training, oversight and ongoing quality assurance processes
How this differs from Online School Accreditation:
Scope
Tutoring companies deliver supplementary or targeted support, not a full school programme
Safeguarding
Focused on 1:1 and group session safeguarding, not whole-school policies.
Academic Accountability
Tutoring supports student learning goals but is not responsible for formal curriculum delivery or qualifications.
Governance
Tutoring companies are evaluated on professional practice and quality assurance, but not on full school leadership and governance structures.
Student Relationship
Online tutoring operates on a parent-initiated and often flexible basis; online schools carry responsibility for enrolled cohorts under an educational licence.
Accreditation Panelist Documentation for Tutoring Accreditation:
1. Evaluating professional standards in online tutoring
This document is an accreditation tool used by GOER to evaluate online tutoring platforms. It assesses seven key areas—from tutor qualifications and safeguarding to AI ethics and data privacy. The goal is to ensure each platform meets GOER’s standards for quality, safety, and transparency in online education
2. Evaluating quality of teaching and learning
It assesses six key aspects of instructional delivery: the quality of live sessions, asynchronous content, tutor expertise, student engagement, effective use of technology, and monitoring of student progress.
3. Evaluating safeguarding standards in online
tutoring
This document is a GOER safeguarding assessment framework tailored for online tutoring environments. It evaluates institutions across six key areas: safeguarding standards in 1:1 and small group sessions, online safety policies, tutor vetting and background checks, incident reporting and escalation, parental involvement, and data privacy.
4. Evaluating ethical AI use in online tutoring
This document is a GOER evaluation framework for ethical AI integration in online tutoring platforms. It assesses transparency, fairness, data privacy, human oversight, content ethics, and performance monitoring of AI tools.
5. Evaluating transparency in online tutoring
This document is a GOER transparency and communications assessment tool for online tutoring providers. It evaluates the clarity and honesty of key user-facing practices—covering marketing accuracy, pricing transparency, terms and conditions, tutor qualifications, information accessibility, and complaint resolution.
6. Data privacy and learner protection
This document is a GOER data protection and privacy compliance framework designed for accrediting online tutoring platforms. It evaluates how thoroughly a company handles learner data across six key domains: data collection and storage practices, consent and parental permissions, information security, third-party data sharing, compliance with data laws like GDPR, and breach response procedures.
7. Evaluating tutor training and quality assurance
This document is a GOER quality assurance framework for tutor development and oversight. It evaluates how an online tutoring provider supports its tutors across six core domains: onboarding and training, professional development, supervision, performance feedback, addressing underperformance, and continuous improvement.