In short: Both formats can work. A home tutor sits beside your child, but has to travel to you and is usually booked by the hour. Live online tuition saves the journey, can put your child in a small class with a teacher who knows their board, and lets you see what happens in class. The format matters less than the teacher, the class size, how progress is reported and whether you can check. Decide by your child, then test it with a trial class.
Online and home tuition, side by side
| Tutor at home | Live online tuition | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it happens | At your home, at a time the tutor can travel to you | From home, on a laptop, desktop or tablet |
| Travel | The tutor travels to you, so visits depend on their route and timetable | Nobody travels |
| Who is in the lesson | Usually one-to-one | One-to-one, or a small class, depending on the provider |
| Seeing the lesson | You can sit in the room | It depends on the provider: ask whether you can join any class without notice |
| Materials | Whatever the tutor brings, or your child’s books | A shared whiteboard and screen, plus your child’s own textbook |
| How it is priced | Usually by the hour | Often by the month: ask for the all-in monthly figure |
When home tuition may suit your child
- Your child finds it hard to focus on a screen, even with the camera on and a teacher asking questions.
- You want someone at the table, looking at the exercise book in front of your child.
- Your household has the time and the space for regular visits, and you are happy to arrange them around the tutor’s timetable.
When live online tuition may suit your child
- You would rather not plan around a tutor’s journey. Your child joins from home, with no travel either way.
- You want a teacher who knows your child’s board, CBSE or ICSE, wherever in the UAE you live.
- Your child works well alongside other children, hearing their questions and mistakes as well as their own. Our guide to small-group or one-to-one tuition covers when each suits a child.
- You want to see what happens in class, and how your child is doing, without being in the room every time.
What matters more than the format
Whichever you choose, ask the same questions. How many children are in the class, as a number? Is the teaching live, with cameras on? Will your child keep the same teacher? What are the teacher’s qualifications, and what checks have they passed? How will you see progress, and how often? What is the monthly total, and what is the notice period? Our guide nine questions to ask before you pay for online tuition sets these out, with our own answers below each one.
Safeguarding, whichever you choose
With a tutor at home, agree in advance which room lessons happen in and who will be at home, and keep contact with the tutor in a family channel you can see.
With online tuition, ask for the rules in writing. Ours are published in our child protection policy:
- Every session is monitored, every teacher is vetted, and you can join any class, one-to-one or group, at any time, without notice.
- Teachers may not contact students privately by phone, message, email or social media.
- A one-to-one class runs without a parent present only after a parent has given consent, once, during enrolment.
- Before teaching alone, every teacher passes identity, qualification and reference checks, background verification, child protection training and a supervised probation period with observed sessions. See our teachers.
What your child needs for online classes
- A device: a laptop, desktop or tablet. A phone works for most subjects, but coding needs a laptop or desktop.
- Home internet: standard UAE home broadband is plenty.
- A camera and microphone, both on in every class.
- Their school textbook. We teach against the book your child already owns, and there is nothing to buy from us.
How a live class runs explains the rhythm of each class and what you hear from us.
What it costs
Home tutors are usually quoted by the hour, and quotes vary. Our UAE tuition cost guide sets out what families report being quoted, with sources. To compare, work out the monthly total for every subject your child needs.
Our own prices are monthly and published on our fees page:
- Grades 3 to 10, Regular Online Tuitions: AED 450 a month, excl. 5% VAT, for all five core subjects, one each weekday, in a class of up to six.
- One subject, Grades 3 to 10 (Specialised Subjects): AED 500 a month in a group of three or AED 600 one-to-one, excl. 5% VAT.
- Class 11 and 12: a stream bundle of three subjects is AED 950 a month in a group of three or AED 1,250 one-to-one, excl. 5% VAT; a single subject is AED 550 a month in a group of three or AED 650 one-to-one, excl. 5% VAT.
Billing is monthly, in advance. There is no registration fee and no annual contract, and you can pause or stop with 14 days’ written notice. If the programme is not right for your child, we refund the full month’s fee when you tell us within 7 days of your child’s first paid class; see our refund policy.
Where we teach
Progmetics teaches CBSE and ICSE students in Grades 3 to 12 live online, in separate batches for each board. Classes run between 2:00 PM and 9:00 PM Gulf Standard Time (GST). There is no centre to visit, so families join from anywhere in the UAE, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.
Questions parents ask
Is online tuition as good as a tutor at home?
It can be, but the format alone does not decide it. What matters is the teacher, how much attention your child gets, and whether gaps are spotted and followed up. In a good live online class, cameras and microphones are on, children answer out loud and the teacher checks work while the class is running. Judge either option by a trial lesson and by the progress you can see after a few weeks.
Which suits a younger child better, online or home tuition?
It depends on how well your child can focus on a screen. Some younger children settle quickly in a live class with a teacher who names them and asks them questions directly; others do better with someone beside them at the table. We teach live online from Grade 3, in 55-minute classes, and a free demo class is the simplest way to find out how your child responds.
Does Progmetics offer home tuition or a tuition centre?
No. Our classes are live and online only, so there is no centre to visit and no tutor visits your home. Families anywhere in the UAE can join from home, in a slot between 2:00 PM and 9:00 PM Gulf Standard Time (GST).
Is online tuition cheaper than home tuition?
Not always, and the two are often priced differently, so compare the monthly total. Home tutors are usually quoted by the hour. Our Regular Online Tuitions plan for Grades 3 to 10 is AED 450 a month, excl. 5% VAT, for all five core subjects, one each weekday, in a class of up to six. There is no registration fee and no annual contract.
What should I ask a home tutor before we start?
Ask about their subject qualification and their experience with your child’s board, whether they teach from your child’s school textbook, how they will tell you what your child has learnt, what happens to missed or cancelled sessions, how payment and notice work, and which room the lessons will happen in. Ask an online provider the same questions.
Can my child change teacher or class time with online tuition?
With us, yes. You can change your child’s teacher or batch timing at any point, at no charge, and pause or stop with 14 days’ written notice. If the programme is not right for your child, we refund the full month’s fee when you tell us within 7 days of your child’s first paid class. Your child keeps the same subject teacher for the full academic year unless you ask us to change.
Can my child try an online class before we decide?
Yes. Book one free demo class, and a second if you need it, in any subject. Your child sits in a real, running class with real classmates, and you can watch alongside. No card details are taken.
Watch one class. Then decide.
Book a free demo class and see how a live Progmetics class runs before you commit to anything. Most families begin the Monday after their demo class.
Written by Progmetics Team. Book a free demo class to see how we work.