How can we help?

You answer five or six short questions — none of which test you — about who the lessons are for, the CAPS subject and grade you need, whether you want lessons online or in person, and which topics you're least confident about. We then rank tutors approved to teach that subject at that grade, putting the ones strongest on the topics you flagged first. We show you your best-fit matches; you pick.

Yes — the diagnostic and matching are completely free, with no card required. You only pay per lesson, at the rate each tutor sets, and you'll see the exact price before you book. There's no subscription and no lock-in.

Both. For online lessons, you and your tutor hop on a video call — they'll share a link (Zoom, Google Meet, whatever works for them) once your booking's confirmed. You can also have in-person lessons where a tutor near you offers them. You choose when you book.

Book a different tutor whenever you like. Your progress comes with you; lessons you've already booked follow the normal cancellation rules.

Yes. A parent or guardian with a confirmed link sees the learner's lessons, marks, progress and spending, and can book or change lessons for them. If the learner is under 18, the lessons they book wait for the parent to approve and pay. Here's how linking works →

You're charged securely per lesson in Rand through Paystack. UpMark holds the payment and releases the tutor's share once the lesson is confirmed by you, or automatically 72 hours after a lesson whose attendance code was entered, or 7 days after a lesson that nobody confirms and nobody reports a problem with. You have 48 hours after a lesson to report a problem — if a lesson doesn't happen, report it in that time and we hold the payment while we look. Confirming a lesson pays your tutor straight away. It can take a few working days to reach their bank account, longer over weekends and public holidays. Anyone on your side of the booking — the learner or a parent — can confirm. Only confirm once you're happy: after that, a problem you report is reviewed, but the payment can't be taken back.

You're charged when you book — for weekly lessons, one to two days before each lesson — and UpMark holds the payment. During the lesson the learner reads out an attendance code and the tutor enters it. The tutor is paid when you confirm the lesson, or automatically 72 hours after it; with no code and no problem reported, 7 days after it. You have 48 hours after a lesson to report a problem. If a lesson doesn't go ahead, you're refunded to the card you paid with — Paystack usually takes a few working days.

Because we hold the payment until after the lesson, a lesson that doesn't happen isn't paid out — as long as it's reported within 48 hours. Most cancellations are refunded in full, and a cancellation less than 12 hours before the lesson is refunded at 60% — the tutor keeps 40% for a slot they can no longer fill. Refunds go back through Paystack to the card you paid with. If something goes wrong with a completed lesson, raise a problem within 48 hours of the lesson and an administrator will review it.

The payment is final — it isn't refunded. It can take a few working days to reach your tutor's bank account, longer over weekends and public holidays.

You can cancel any time before the lesson starts. More than 24 hours' notice is a full refund. Between 12 and 24 hours is also a full refund, and we'll offer you a reschedule first. Under 12 hours we offer the reschedule first too — if you'd rather cancel, 60% comes back and your tutor keeps 40% for the time they held open. Any travel fee is always returned in full. Moving a lesson is itself free and never charged on its own. If your tutor cancels a lesson before it happens, you're refunded in full, automatically. If a lesson had already happened, your tutor can't cancel it for a refund — we'll hold it for an administrator to review instead. If your tutor doesn't turn up, report it on the lesson within 48 hours of the lesson and an administrator will review it — we can't detect that on our own.

Rescheduling doesn't reset your cancellation notice. If you reschedule a lesson and then cancel it, the cancellation fee is worked out from whichever notice period is shorter — the original lesson time or the new one, so a late cancellation can't be reclassified as an early one just by moving the lesson first. It never affects a lesson you go ahead with, and if both your original lesson time and your new lesson time are more than 12 hours away when you cancel, nothing changes for you — a fee only applies if one of the two falls inside the late-cancellation window.

Every tutor passes ID verification, and we check their academic qualifications, before they can take a single lesson. We confirm a South African ID, and we check they are qualified in the subject they want to teach — by a distinction at matric, a teaching qualification, a degree, or university modules in the field. What qualifies a tutor.

We ask every tutor about a SAPS police clearance certificate, and we show you exactly where each one stands — whether we have verified one, whether they have given us one we are still checking, whether they have told us they are obtaining one, or whether they have told us they are not. You will see it on their profile, in search results, and again before you confirm a booking.

We do not require a clearance, so a tutor without one can still teach, including in person. Most tutors won’t have one — it costs money and can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to get. We show you where each tutor stands and you decide: for an in-person lesson you’re welcome to ask a tutor about it directly, or pick one with a verified certificate if that’s what you’d prefer. If you book an in-person lesson with a tutor who does not have one, we will ask you to confirm you have seen that.

Every application is checked by a person. A distinction or a teaching qualification is approved once we’ve checked your document; a degree or university modules are read by a person. If we need anything else from you, we ask rather than leaving you waiting.

UpMark holds the lesson fee from the moment the student pays. Once the lesson is confirmed, your share is released for payout to the bank account on your profile — no invoicing and no chasing parents. During the lesson you enter the attendance code your student reads out. Your share is then released when the student or their parent confirms the lesson, or automatically 72 hours after it; without the code it waits 7 days. Either way, a problem reported within 48 hours holds it for review. You need your payout details saved before anything can be paid out.

UpMark's fee depends on how much you teach. It starts at 15% and drops to 12% at four confirmed hours a week, and 11% at nine — averaged over the last four weeks. Once you have taught 10 lessons, a rating above 4.0★ takes up to two more points off, so the fee can fall as low as 9%.

That fee covers secure ZAR payments, matching you with the right students, scheduling and support. There is no sign-up cost and no monthly fee.

You can see your current fee, and exactly what the next band needs, on your Earnings page.

Always. You set your own hourly rate and you choose your hours. Bookings come straight in, or turn on booking approval to accept each one. Teach a couple of evenings a week or full days through exam season; there's no minimum.