Learning doesn’t stop at the school gate.
A young person’s education should never be limited by what they can afford, who they know, or where they’re from.
Better-off families pay for tutoring. Most families can’t, and the gap between their children keeps growing.1 We give young people the same one-to-one help, online. But our Community Education Fund can only help as many families as our supporters make possible.
What we do
The National Society for Education, Mentoring and Media
Education
One-to-one online lessons with the same tutor each week, plus workshops for schools.
Mentoring
Help with options, applications, careers and work experience, from people who did it recently.
One price scale. Yours is set by what you can afford.
£25 an hour as standard. From Year 7, our Community Education Fund can bring it down to as little as £5.
- Answer a few questions
- A person checks your evidence
- We confirm your price
Your price is set by a published rule, checked by a person. We’ll tell you yours before you agree to anything. How we decide
Why £25?
- Tutor pay, £15.07
- Card fee, about 58p
- The rest: running NSEMM and our Fund
A lesson with a paid tutor costs us about £15.07 in pay (at least the Real Living Wage, plus holiday pay), plus a small card fee. What’s left helps keep NSEMM running and goes into our Fund, so families who can’t afford £25 can still have lessons.
Many families on low wages can’t afford even what a lesson costs us. That’s why the Fund exists.
Every pound you give goes on lessons for young people whose families can’t afford them.
Who pays for the Fund
- Families who pay moreFamilies who can pay the full £25 help cover lessons for those who can’t.How we decide what a family pays
- GrantsFrom trusts and foundations, including the UoNSU Cascade Fund.Partners and funders
- DonationsFrom people and businesses who give, once or monthly.Donate
Families in serious difficulty can get more help through our Full Bursary or an appeal.
We couldn’t afford a tutor. So we became one.
We’re Adrian and Socks. In 2020 we were sixth-formers in a small town in Kent, and we couldn’t pay for tutoring. So we started teaching other young people for free, with a few revision videos and a lot of late nights. Since then we’ve given young people more than 4,430 hours of tutoring and mentoring, and we still run NSEMM ourselves.
- 2020
Lockdown, in a small town in Kent. We start free tutoring, a resource hub and a few YouTube videos.
- Then
We go to university in Nottingham and bring NSEMM with us. The idea is simple: by students, for students. We don’t yet know how to set up a charity properly, so we run it as a small company that puts every penny back into lessons.
By students, for students - 2024
We get free legal advice and set NSEMM up properly as a registered charity, number 1209673.
- 2025
We run free sessions in Nottingham libraries with Nottingham City Council. They’re paused while we look for funding and volunteers.
- Today
Socks is now a qualified teacher and Adrian a graduate-entry medical student. Today we’re a registered charity with tutors and volunteers across England and Wales, and we both still run it day to day.
Our tutors
Anyone who tutors with us can choose a paid role, at the Real Living Wage or above, or volunteer. Some choose to volunteer, often because they already work or simply want to give back. Either way, they could earn more teaching privately, and they’ve chosen to teach with a charity so more young people can get this help.
What families say
“My daughter's tutor has been working with her for a few months, and has done such a fantastic job she has been put into the top set for Science, cannot recommend her services enough!”
S.O., Science (GCSE), August 2025
“We've had 3 sessions with my son's tutor so far and i'm really pleased. She is calm, methodical and curious. She builds confidence and checks understanding. I think she is going to really help my son.”
J.R., Science (GCSE), September 2023
“1st lesson with my son's tutor went really well. My son got a lot from the lesson. He said he now confident with ph titration questions.”
L.O., Science (GCSE), September 2023
“My tutor was able to help me understand the topics that I was struggling with because they explain things very well. They also helped me with exam techniques and how to get high marks.”
E.K., student, June 2023
“Our tutor is patient and kind and always manages to make lessons engaging. I would highly recommend her as a tutor.”
M.M., Special Educational Needs, July 2024
Since 2020
- 4,430+hours of tutoring and mentoring since 2020, including library sessions
- 1,011one-to-one lessons booked through our own system since May 2023
- 7,468views of our free revision videos on YouTube
Thanks to the UoNSU Cascade Fund and everyone who gives to our Fund.
Support us
Give £15, fund a lesson
A donation of about £15 pays a tutor, including holiday pay, for one hour of lessons with a young person whose family can’t afford it.
Registered charity 1209673. Accounts filed with the Charity Commission every year. Trustees, policies and filings published.
Help with the cost
Our price is set by what your family can afford, from £25 down to £5 an hour.
Sources
1. Education Policy Institute, Annual Report 2026: the GCSE disadvantage gap widened to 19.0 months in 2025. Back to text