MyEdSpace vs Preply: Live teaching vs tutoring marketplace

Preply and MyEdSpace both offer online learning, but they're built around very different ideas about what online education should look like.

Preply is best known as a global marketplace for 1-to-1 language tutoring, with secondary coverage of academic subjects like Maths and the Sciences. Students browse a directory of freelance tutors who set their own rates, book individual lessons, and arrange a schedule that suits them.

MyEdSpace, on the other hand, employs the UK's top English, Maths and Science teachers with years of experience and a proven track record of improving student outcomes to deliver interactive, live group lessons. Students follow a structured weekly timetable from Year 5 all the way through to their A-levels.

To help you compare the two and decide which would work best for you or your family, here's a side-by-side look at what each offers.

Comparing Preply and MyEdSpace online courses

While those are the headlines, here's a detailed look at what Preply and MyEdSpace offer.

What is Preply?

Preply is an online tutoring marketplace, founded in 2012, that connects students with freelance tutors for 1-to-1 lessons.

Although it covers more than 100 subjects, including school subjects like Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Economics, Preply is primarily a language learning platform, with English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and Mandarin among its most-booked subjects.

Students browse a directory of tutors and filter by price, availability, country, native language and specialism. Each tutor profile includes verified reviews, an intro video and a self-written bio. After booking a 25- or 50-minute trial lesson in Preply's virtual classroom, students can either continue with that tutor or try a different one.

Because Preply is a marketplace, there's no central curriculum. Tutors set their own rates, typically between £8 and £40+ per 50-minute lesson, with experienced UK-based subject tutors often at the higher end - and bring their own teaching materials. Lessons are 1-to-1 and booked individually, so there's no fixed timetable or group classroom environment.

It's also worth noting that tutor quality varies. Anyone can apply to teach, and while Preply does run identity and background checks, there is no requirement for tutors to be qualified teachers or to have UK exam board experience. For academic subjects like GCSE Maths or A-level Sciences, that means parents need to do their own due diligence on the tutor before committing.

What is MyEdSpace?

MyEdSpace offers two live lessons per subject, per week, delivered by the UK's top English, Maths and Science teachers - with daytime and evening timetables catering for home-educated and school-educated children alike.

We offer courses covering the full UK curriculum from Year 5, all the way through to Year 13, including the 11+, SATs, GCSEs and A-levels. Plus, we offer expert-led preparatory courses dedicated to the 11+ exam, GCSE Exam Masterclasses, A-level Exam Masterclasses and the UCAT. Live teaching is also available during school holidays through our Summer Schools and Easter Revision Courses.

MyEdSpace lessons are all live and take place online, accessed from a bespoke student dashboard. Students don't use cameras or microphones, creating the best possible learning environment - one that's focused, distraction-free and free from judgement. Learning alongside peers also encourages more questions and collaboration, boosting confidence, engagement and energy levels.

The results our students achieve speak for themselves. In 2025 for example, three times more MyEdSpace students achieved GCSE grade 9 than the national average and almost three-quarters of our A-level students achieved B or above (73%) - nationally it was slightly over half (55%).

All MyEdSpace content is created by expert teachers and former examiners - not algorithms, and not freelance tutors working without oversight. And all live lessons are recorded and made available to re-watch at any time, so students never miss out and can go back to any topic whenever they want.

Finally, MyEdSpace's comprehensive library of exam-board specific resources, study notes, step-by-step explanation videos and practice questions across GCSEs and A-levels is completely free.

Which is better; Preply or MyEdSpace?

Which is better for each individual child depends on their own needs and learning style.

What we can say is that the two platforms are designed to do quite different things.

Preply is built for learners who want to find a 1-to-1 tutor for a specific goal, most commonly language learning, and who are happy to manage their own schedule, vet their own tutor and pay per lesson.

MyEdSpace offers structured, curriculum-led teaching from real expert UK teachers from Year 5 right through to GCSE and A-levels with the live lessons, guidance and accountability that come with a genuine classroom environment, all for a predictable monthly cost.

Every student is different, and what works best for one may not be the best for another. Parents and carers are best placed to decide which approach suits their family's needs. But, if your child is working towards UK exams and you want expert, live teaching at a fraction of private tutor costs, MyEdSpace is built exactly for that.

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