Start with the outcome, not the tutor
Before you compare tutors, get clear on what a good result looks like for your child. "Better at maths" is too vague to hire against. "Confident with Year 9 algebra before Methods next year" or "ready for the Year 7 scholarship exam in March" gives you something concrete to judge a tutor against, and something to measure progress toward.
Once you know the outcome, the choice gets much simpler.
The five things that actually matter
Most tutoring pages list a dozen features. In practice, five things separate a tutor who moves the needle from one who just fills an hour.
1. Subject specialisation and results. A tutor who scored a 45+ in VCE English is a different proposition from a generalist who "does English too". Ask what they studied, their ATAR or study score in the exact subject, and how recently they sat it. Online means you are not limited to whoever lives nearby, so there is no reason to settle.
2. A report after every session. This is the single biggest difference between good and average tutoring. If you get a written summary of what was covered, how your child went, and what to practise, you are no longer paying into a black box. If a tutor cannot show you an example report, that tells you something.
3. Progress you can see over time. Ask whether they track topics week to week. For VCE and selective-entry prep especially, the topic list is fixed, so progress is measurable, and a tutor who can show you the trend is worth more than one who cannot.
4. Vetting you can verify. A current Working With Children Check is the floor, not a bonus. Ask about it directly.
5. Transparent pricing. If you cannot see an hourly rate without filling in an enquiry form, the rate is usually higher than the market. You should be able to compare rates before you commit.
What matters less than you would think
Location. With online sessions, the tutor being in your suburb is irrelevant. Focus on fit and results instead.
A flashy platform. A shared whiteboard is table stakes. The tooling worth paying for is what happens around the session, reports, practice worksheets, a parent dashboard, not the video window itself.
The biggest brand. National agencies spend heavily on marketing, and you pay for it in the hourly rate. A strong independent tutor on a good platform often delivers more for less.
A simple way to compare
Line up two or three options and ask each the same short list: What did you score in this subject? Do I get a report after each session? Can I see your rate? Do you hold a current WWCC? The answers, and how readily they come, will usually make the decision for you.
If you want to see tutors with their actual rates and subjects side by side, our best online tutoring in Melbourne guide walks through the options, or you can browse the Tuterly directory with no signup required.