What is DiscoverTutor?

DiscoverTutor is a tutoring marketplace and scheduling platform that connects students with independent tutors. Students can browse tutor profiles, check real-time availability, and book sessions online. Tutors manage their schedule, accept bookings, and can optionally connect Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar so that every confirmed tutoring session syncs automatically to their calendar.

How does DiscoverTutor work?

DiscoverTutor connects students with independent tutors. Students request sessions, tutors approve them, and the platform handles scheduling, notifications, and payments. All prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD).

Who can book tutoring sessions?

Anyone with a student account can request a booking, including parents booking for their children. A tutor who wants to book sessions can add a student role to the same login from Settings.

Can I be both a student and a tutor?

Yes. From Settings, you can add a tutor role to a student account, or a student role to a tutor account, on the same login. Each role has its own first name, photo, notifications, and payment settings, and you choose which role to use on each device. Child logins cannot add a second role.

How do booking requests get approved?

After checkout, a booking request is sent to the tutor. The tutor must approve it before the session is confirmed. Requests expire if not approved within 72 hours or before the scheduled start time, whichever comes first.

What is a consultation?

Some tutors offer a consultation so you can meet before booking regular sessions. You can book one consultation with each tutor who offers them, online or at the tutor's office, for one student. Any price is shown before you book.

What meeting modes are available?

Tutors can offer sessions in three modes:

• Online: Virtual sessions conducted remotely.
• Office: In-person sessions at the tutor's location.
• Travel: In-person sessions where the tutor travels to you. Travel sessions may include a per-kilometre surcharge set by the tutor, calculated based on the distance between the tutor's base location and your address.

Each mode has its own hourly rate, set by the tutor. Available modes are shown on tutor profiles and during booking.

Can I book a session for multiple students?

Yes. Tutors choose how many students they accept for each meeting mode. When booking, add each student and pick their course, which must be one the tutor teaches. If the tutor has set a per-extra-student fee, each student beyond the first is charged that fee per hour on top of the base price. Each student with a saved profile gets their own session recap. Consultations are for one student only.

How is pricing calculated?

Session pricing is based on the tutor's hourly rate for the selected meeting mode, multiplied by the session duration. Additional costs may include:

• A travel surcharge (per km) for travel-mode sessions.
• An extra-student fee (per additional student, per hour) for group sessions.

The full price breakdown is displayed at checkout before you confirm the booking.

Do tutors offer discounts?

Many do. A tutor can offer discounts for booking ahead, for loyal students, for a first session, for leaving a rating or comment, or for a specific student. Only one discount applies to each booking, and the largest one you qualify for is used automatically. Your discount is shown at checkout.

How do recurring sessions work?

Recurring sessions are charged per session on the same timing schedule. Canceling a series stops future sessions, but past sessions remain charged.

Can we extend a session that is running?

Yes. During a live session, you or the tutor can ask for more time in 15-minute blocks, and the other person must accept. How much time is available depends on both of your next bookings. Extra time is charged at the same rate as the session.

When am I charged?

Nothing is charged at checkout. About 47 hours before a confirmed session, a temporary hold for the session amount is placed on your card, and the charge is completed about 20 minutes after the session starts. If the tutor declines or the request expires, nothing is charged.

Why is there a pending charge on my card before my session?

That is the temporary hold placed about 47 hours before the session, to make sure the session can be paid for. If the hold fails, we let you know and try again about 24 hours before the session. If no hold can be placed within 24 hours of the start time, the session is cancelled, so keep your card up to date.

What happens if a tutor declines or does not respond?

If a tutor declines or a request expires, the booking is not confirmed and no charge is captured.

What happens if my payment fails after a session?

If your payment method is declined when a session charge is due, DiscoverTutor will retry the charge automatically over the following days. You will receive an email asking you to update your payment method. Your session remains on record, and the tutor is not paid until the charge succeeds. If all retry attempts fail, the charge is marked as failed and our team may follow up.

Why can't I remove my card?

You cannot remove your payment method while you have upcoming paid sessions, an active hold, or unpaid charges. Once those are settled, you can remove it from Settings. You also need a card that has not expired to book a paid session.

Where can I find my receipts?

Receipts are available from your sessions page for sessions you paid for. Sessions that were fully refunded do not have a receipt.

Can I cancel a session?

Students can cancel confirmed bookings from the dashboard when the start time is at least 24 hours away, at no charge. Tutors may also cancel bookings before the session start time.

What if I need to cancel less than 24 hours before a session?

You can submit a late cancellation request from your sessions page. The tutor then has 12 hours to accept the request. They may apply a 50% late cancellation fee or waive the fee entirely. If the tutor doesn't respond within 12 hours, the session is automatically cancelled with a full refund.

What happens when a tutor changes or cancels a session within 48 hours?

The notice period is fixed when the tutor sends the request. If less than 24 hours remain and you accept the new time, you receive 10% off that session. From 24 through 48 hours, an accepted change has no adjustment. If the session is cancelled instead, you receive a discount on a future booking with that tutor: 15% when less than 24 hours remained, or 10% when 24 to 48 hours remained. It applies to your next eligible booking that has no other discount. These discounts never stack on one session, and one is restored if the booking that used it is cancelled.

What happens if my tutor doesn't show up?

If your tutor fails to appear, a "Tutor No-Show" button becomes available on your sessions page from the scheduled start time until 15 minutes after. Filing a no-show claim notifies our team and opens a 1-hour window for the tutor to appeal. If no appeal is filed, you receive a full refund automatically. Appealed claims are reviewed by our team.

Can a tutor appeal a no-show claim?

Yes. Tutors have 1 hour to submit an appeal with an explanation from their sessions page. Appeals are reviewed by the DiscoverTutor team, and both parties are notified of the outcome.

What happens if I (the student) don't show up?

If you miss a confirmed session without cancelling, the session is charged in full. There is no automatic no-show protection for students who fail to attend.

Can I manage tutoring for my children?

Yes. In Settings, choose that you are a parent and add a student profile for each child. You can book sessions for any of your children and see their recaps and homework. You can also move a recap to another child or delete it for your family. Discounts and progress are tracked separately for each child.

Can my child have their own login?

Yes. You can give a child their own login and choose what they can do, such as booking tutors they have had before, booking new tutors, or finding and booking with other students. These stay off until you turn them on, and by default a booking your child requests needs your approval. You remain responsible for everything done through their login.

Do you allow tutoring for minors?

Yes. A parent or guardian must create and manage the account for anyone under 18, and must provide appropriate supervision for sessions involving minors.

What is Find Students?

Find Students, in the Student Hub, shows other students who share a course with you. From there you can add a friend or suggest a free "Study together" session. A child with their own login needs their parent's permission to use it.

How do friends work?

Send a friend request from a student's profile in Find Students. Once they accept, you can invite each other to group sessions with a tutor. Your friends appear on your Favourites page, where you can also remove a friend. Brothers and sisters in the same family do not need to be friends to book together.

How do I book a group session with friends?

On the tutor's booking page, add your friend as a student and pick their course, which must be one the tutor teaches. Each friend's family, and your parent if your login needs approval, must accept before the request goes to the tutor. Invitations expire after 24 hours or 2 hours before the session, whichever comes first, and if anyone declines, the request stops. Group sessions with friends are one-time sessions only.

How is the price split in a group session?

Evenly per student, so a family bringing two of three students pays two thirds. Each family's own discount applies only to its own share. Each family's card has a hold for the full session price, but only its share is charged.

What happens if another family's payment fails?

Every family is notified, and the other families cover the missing share so the tutor is paid in full. If the family fixes its payment before the tutor is paid out, the families who covered for it are refunded.

What if someone cancels a group session?

If one student leaves, the session goes ahead for the others, the price is recalculated for the students still coming, and the student who left is not charged. If the last student cancels within 24 hours of the session, the tutor may charge 50% or 100% of the base price, or nothing.

What is a "Study together" session?

A free study session between students, arranged by families through the Student Hub. No tutor is involved and DiscoverTutor does not supervise these sessions, so parents decide whether and where children meet, and supervise them.

What is a session recap?

After a session, your tutor publishes a recap with a summary of what you covered and, for most paid sessions, homework questions. You can find your recaps and homework in your portfolio. In a session with several students, each student with a saved profile gets their own recap.

Who writes the homework questions?

Homework questions are generated with AI from the session and your course, then reviewed by your tutor before they are published. They can still contain mistakes, so ask your tutor if something looks wrong, and use the thumbs down to flag a bad question.

What is the Practice page?

Practice gives you extra questions for courses you have studied with a tutor, taken from a bank of AI-generated questions that tutors kept in their recaps. Access to a course opens once a paid session in that course is paid out to the tutor, usually about a day after the session, and lasts 30 days. Questions that get enough thumbs down are removed.

When can I rate my tutor?

You can rate a tutor within 48 hours after a completed, paid session (consultations excluded). After your first rating, you can rate the same tutor again after at least 30 days and 5 more sessions, up to 12 times a year. You can add a written comment of up to 500 characters with ratings above 3.5 stars.

What is Live Mode?

Live Mode is tutoring that starts now, with no booking. Tutors who are available tap Go Live, and a red target appears on their card in Search. In Search, choose "Current live tutors" under Sort by to see only those tutors. You can join a tutor Online right away, or ask to meet at their office or have them come to you.

How is a Live session billed?

By the minute, at the price shown before you join. If other students are with the same tutor, each pays the lower group price for the minutes they share, so your price can go up if others leave, never above the one-student price. Your first 90 seconds Online with a tutor are free each time they go Live. Once any time is billed, the minimum charge is $5. Time when the tutor is disconnected is never billed.

Why is there a hold on my card for a Live session?

Before you join, we hold enough on your card for one hour at the one-student price. You pay only for the time you use, and the rest is released a few minutes after you finish. If a session runs long, a second hold is placed, so you may see two lines on your statement for one session. You need a saved card to join, and a card cannot be removed while a Live session is still being billed.

How do Office and Travel work in Live Mode?

You send a request and the tutor has five minutes to answer. For Office, billing starts when the tutor accepts, and there are no free seconds. For Travel, the tutor tells you how long the trip will take, and billing starts when you confirm they are with you. Travel has a minimum the tutor sets (15 to 60 minutes): once the tutor sets off, you pay at least that much, even if you cancel or are not there. If the tutor is more than 10 minutes late, you can cancel for free. Either of you can end the session at any time.

Can my child use Live Mode?

A child signed in with their own login can only join Live sessions Online, and only after you turn on Live tutoring for them in Settings, along with permission to work with that tutor. Your saved card is used. Office and Travel can only be requested by you, from your own account.

What happens after a Live session?

The session appears in Past Sessions with your time, what you paid and a receipt. There is no recap or homework for Live sessions. You can rate the tutor within 48 hours of a Live session you paid for, once per session and not more than once every 30 days for the same tutor. If your tutor was not there for an Office or Travel session, tap "My tutor is not here" and we review it before anything is charged.

How do I tutor in Live Mode?

Set your Live prices in Settings under Live Mode, then tap Go Live at the bottom of Search, My Students, Needs Attention, and choose what you offer and for how long. Only one of Online, Office and Travel is used at a time. For Office and Travel your device must share its location once when you go Live, and for Office you must be at your office. Students see your office address only while you offer Office. You are paid 90% of the tutoring amount a day after each session, and Live earnings are included in your totals and income reports. If you disconnect from the Online room for more than three minutes, your students are released and are not billed for that time.

What does it take to become searchable as a tutor?

Complete onboarding, verify your email and phone number, finish Stripe setup so you can receive payouts, add availability, and enable at least one meeting mode (online, office, or travel) with a rate that is free or at least $20 per hour. Connecting Google or Outlook Calendar is optional. Only active tutors appear in search results.

How do tutors get paid?

Tutors are paid through Stripe Connect. For eligible sessions, fees are 10%, 13%, or 15% when the tutor questionnaire is complete, depending on whether both the academic summary and homework, the summary alone, or neither is submitted on time. An incomplete questionnaire adds 5 percentage points. Homework counts only when the tutoring part of the session charge, not counting travel, is at least $20. For consultations, the fee depends only on the questionnaire.

When do I receive my payout?

Payouts start once the recap deadline for the session has closed, generally 24 hours after the session ends, when the final fee is known. Bank deposit timing then depends on Stripe and your bank, usually 2 to 5 business days.

When is my session recap due?

Submit the academic summary, and homework when it counts, within 24 hours after the session ends to get the lowest fee. If AI homework generation fails because of a system error, the homework deadline moves to 24 hours after the failure if that is later. In a session with several students, every required recap must be on time.

What is the Police Information Check badge?

You can upload a Police Information Check to DiscoverTutor. Only you and our team can see the document. Once our team approves it, your profile shows a badge with the police service and the date of the check.

Can I block a student?

Yes. You can block a student, or block an email address or phone number from Settings. A blocked account cannot find you in search, view your profile, or book with you.

Does DiscoverTutor handle my taxes?

No. You are responsible for reporting your income and for any GST/HST. Your earnings and income reports on DiscoverTutor can help, but they are not tax advice.

Can I offer personal training?

Yes. Tutors can turn on Personal Training, with its own rates, session length, and availability. It has its own terms, and clients accept a session waiver before their first personal training session.

What information is shared between students and tutors?

Tutor profiles are public. Tutors only ever see a student's first name. After a booking is confirmed, both sides see the session details needed to complete the session, including the tutor's office address for office sessions.

Can tutors hide their photo?

Yes. Tutors can blur their photos for visitors who are not signed in. Signed-in users still see them.

How do I block another family?

Open the family's profile in the Student Hub and block them. Blocking hides both families from each other, ends any friendship, and cancels pending and upcoming study sessions between you.

How do I control notifications?

In Settings, choose which updates you get by email, push notification, and text message. Text messages are optional, and you can reply STOP to unsubscribe. Promotional messages are only sent if you opt in.

How do I delete my account?

Go to Settings and choose to permanently delete your account. You can do this once your pending and upcoming bookings are resolved, past sessions are paid, payouts are complete, any no-show claim is closed, and 24 hours have passed since your last session. If your login has both a student and a tutor role, you can delete just one of them.

How can I contact support?

Use the contact form on our website and we will follow up with you.