ELT Experiences

Preply is possibly one of the most popular online tutoring sites available for many around the world. I had previously shared some of the thoughts about teaching or relying too heavily on the platform. Nonetheless, there are thousands of language tutors using the site each and every day, but there are also some important updates that Preply have shared recently. These particular updates are important as they directly impact anyone using Preply to either teach or learn a language.

For those that use Preply to tutor online, whether full-time or part-time, language teachers can be discovered by potential students based upon a variety of filters: language(s) taught, location of the tutor, cost, as well as a range of factors. One factor that can be used to find a reputable tutor is the ‘Super Tutor Badge’.

The Super Tutor Badge is currently awarded to Preply Tutors over a 90-day period and tutors must achieve the following set criteria:

• You’ve taught 40 or more lessons
• You have a tutor rating of 4.8 or above
• You haven’t been absent for any lessons (trial or non-trial)
• You’ve replied to at least 90% of first messages from potential students in less than 24 hours
• You’ve encouraged at least 60% of your trial students to pay for a subscription
• You haven’t canceled or rescheduled more than 5% of trial lessons
• You haven’t canceled or rescheduled more than 20% of regular lessons

However, Preply are going to be updating the criteria from 1 August 2026 with the following:

• You’ve taught 40 or more lessons
• You have a tutor rating of 4.8 or above
• You haven’t been absent for any lessons (trial or non-trial)
• You’ve managed to convert at least 50% of your trial students to subscriptions*
• You haven’t canceled or rescheduled more than 5% of trial lessons
• You haven’t canceled or rescheduled more than 20% of regular lessons
• You’ve taught at least 80% of your trial lessons in the Preply Classroom
• You’ve messaged 80% of students within 24 hours of receiving a new message or trial booking
• You’ve messaged 80% of students within 24 hours after the trial

The final three have been added and I guess you can say that there is more that Preply Tutors have to achieve. The one redeeming point though with the update from this August is the fact that you do not have to achieve a 60-percent subscription rate, as this has been reduced to 50%.

Interestingly, Preply have also changed the wording regarding subcriptions after the trial lesson. Originally it is, “You’ve encouraged at least 60% of your trial students to pay for a subscription“ and this has been changed to “You’ve managed to convert at least 50% of your trial students to subscriptions“. Something just feels wrong with the current wording of ‘pay for a subscription’, and I am glad this is changing.

Despite the criteria being shared, there was something within the email that I had received from Preply, which does raise a question.

Within the email that I received, Preply suggest that after the trial lesson, Preply Tutors should follow up students with a message ‘sharing the next steps‘. Notice that ‘next steps’ has been placed in bold, and this raises a question.

After a class, there is usually a pop up after the trial lesson where you can share the next step with Preply students. With AI tracking the lesson, i.e. overall discussion during the lesson, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc., Preply is able to formulate a ‘next steps’ template that can be shared in the student’s chat.

My question is this: Are we required to share with students the ‘next steps’ that has been formulated and created automatically, as there is a difference between the email and the criteria on the platform?

It would be good to hear from Preply regarding this as it is still a little unclear and personally, I would like to share my own advice or next steps with the student that I have created. From time to time, I am happy to review what has been suggested but most of the time I am pleased to share my own ideas.

What are your thoughts about this update with Preply? What other changes do you think Preply should consider? Let me know in the comments.

Last Friday, I was fortunate to have the chance to visit Seoul. It’s always nice to get away from the habits of one’s place, to explore elsewhere. Yet, it was more than just a weekend to visit Seoul, I attended the KOTESOL Connections last Saturday as well as to discuss the upcoming KOTESOL International Conference for 2026. It was also the perfect opportunity to use my new camera, in the field, and to capture some pictures while attending.

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One of my previous posts I shared was more a current review about Preply as a platform and the growing concerns that I had regarding the reduced number of bookings that I had over the past number of months. However, since that honest and candid review, I received quite a lot of feedback from other tutors on the platform sharing their experiences which were rather similar in this regard.

I created a dedicated page on my website for potential students to book a trial lesson with me which gained some interest over the past few weeks and have already had a few bookings, but I have kept my Preply profile live with anything just in case.

In the video above, I shared a few thoughts about post-Preply with a scheduled lesson with a student but they never turned up. However, despite some of the challenges that I had encountered, there has been an improvement of late. In this post, I share some of my thoughts and reflections.

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Well, I don’t know about anyone else but this year has flown by, and it reached the end of the year before I knew it. Therefore, I’ve written this article sharing twenty practical and personal tips that you could consider (or not) with your teaching. I hope this gives you some inspiration into how one could approach their teaching as well as their lessons.

https://youtu.be/_-Rh2tAKfFw

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