A private tutor in Malta costs about €10 to €25 per hour for school subjects in 2026, with exam specialists at Intermediate and Advanced level charging up to about €40. This guide gives the going rates by level, how the price changes between one to one, small group and online lessons, what a school year of lessons adds up to, what the MATSEC exams themselves cost, when to book, and how to choose a tutor.
Figures were last verified in September 2026 from rates that Malta tutors and schools publish and from MATSEC’s own documents, linked at first mention. Most tutors do not publish prices, so the ranges are estimates and the rate you are quoted is the one that counts. This is general information, not professional advice, and Dapperlance accepts no responsibility for decisions based on it.
Quick answers
How much is a private tutor per hour in Malta?
About €10 to €25 an hour for primary and secondary subjects. Intermediate and Advanced level tuition runs from about €15 to €40 an hour. Details
What does tuition cost by level?
Primary about €8 to €15 an hour, SEC subjects €10 to €25, MATSEC Intermediate and Advanced €15 to €40, languages with a private tutor €15 to €35. Table
Is a group class cheaper?
Yes. A place in a weekly class of four to eight students costs well under half of a one to one hour. Online lessons are usually a few euro cheaper than in person. Formats
What does a year of lessons cost?
One subject, one lesson a week from October to May, comes to roughly €450 to €750 at private rates and less in a group. Two or three subjects in an exam year can pass €2,000. Worked examples
Do the MATSEC exams cost money?
Registering on time carries no entry fee in MATSEC’s fee schedule. Late registration costs €35 per subject, very late €70, and a revision of paper €35. Exam costs and dates
When should I book a tutor?
For the April to May exam session, have a tutor in place by January. Timetables are published in October, and the strongest exam tutors fill up months ahead. Calendar
How do I choose a tutor?
Tutoring is unregulated in Malta, so ask about the exact syllabus and level, past results at that level, and a trial lesson. Checklist
How much does a private tutor cost per hour in Malta?
In 2026, one to one tuition in Malta costs about €10 to €25 per hour for primary and secondary subjects, and about €15 to €40 per hour at Intermediate and Advanced level. Tutors in Malta rarely publish rates. Of the nine tutors listed in the Dapperlance tuition category in September 2026, most ask you to call for a price. One published rate is €20 for a 60 minute one to one lesson from a tutor covering maths, Italian, chemistry and physics from secondary school to university, with a free 20 minute introductory meeting. The ranges in this guide are estimates built around such published figures and around what Malta tutors quote, so treat them as a starting point for comparing quotes, not as a price list.
What moves the hourly rate: the level (an Advanced level specialist charges more than a Year 7 tutor), the tutor’s background (a warranted teacher with years at that exam level sits at the top of the range), whether notes and past paper corrections are included, and whether the tutor travels to you. A home visit in a different town usually adds a few euro to the hour.
What does tuition cost by level?
Primary tuition is the cheapest at about €8 to €15 an hour, SEC subjects sit at €10 to €25, and MATSEC Intermediate and Advanced subjects at €15 to €40. The table gives the estimated one to one ranges. Group classes at each level cost noticeably less per student, see the next section.
| Level | Estimated one to one rate per hour | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Primary (Years 1 to 6) | €8 to €15 | Often booked as small groups or reading support, priced per session |
| Secondary and SEC (Years 7 to 11) | €10 to €25 | Maths, Maltese, English and the sciences are the most requested |
| MATSEC Intermediate and Advanced | €15 to €40 | Estimate, rates are rarely published. Specialists in a single subject charge the most |
| Language lessons with a private tutor | €15 to €35 | Italian, Maltese for adults, French, German |
| One to one at a language school | €35 to €65 | International House Malta lists €45 to €55 per one to one General English lesson in 2026 |
| Computer skills and ICDL | About €15 per hour in small groups | TCTC Malta lists €120 for four 2 hour beginner lessons and €85 for a 3 hour ICDL module session, at most two or three students per tutor |
The language school row is there for comparison. A school charges for a classroom, a curriculum and a receipt, and its one to one rate is two to three times what an independent tutor charges for the same hour.
How does one to one, group or online tuition change the price?
A place in a weekly group class is the cheapest way to get regular tuition, a one to one lesson is the most expensive, and online sits a little below in person. Many Malta tutors run set weekly classes for each year group, usually 1.5 to 2 hours long, in groups of anywhere from four to about eight students, and price them per session or per month rather than per hour. Per student, a group session typically works out at less than half of a one to one hour, because the tutor’s hour is shared.
| Format | What you pay for | Usually fits when |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly group class | A fixed slot, the tutor’s notes, steady practice with peers | Ongoing support through the year, a student who works well alongside others |
| One to one, at the tutor’s premises | The tutor’s full attention, lessons that move at your child’s pace | The months before an exam, a specific weak area, a student who has fallen behind |
| One to one, at your home | The same, plus the tutor’s travel time | Younger children, families with no way to travel to the tutor |
| Online one to one | The lesson without the travel, often a few euro cheaper | Secondary and post secondary students, anyone in Gozo, subjects that work on a shared screen |
Online tuition has become normal for secondary and post secondary subjects, and several Malta tutors now teach only online. Younger children tend to focus better in the room with the tutor. Ask which format the tutor recommends for the level before asking the price.
What does a year of private lessons cost?
One subject, one lesson a week from October to May, costs roughly €450 to €750 at one to one rates and about €200 to €400 in a group class. These are estimates built from the hourly ranges above and a school year of about 30 teaching weeks. Exam years cost more because students add subjects and lessons.
| Scenario | Estimated cost for the school year |
|---|---|
| Primary, one weekly group session for maths or English | €250 to €400 |
| One SEC subject, one private hour a week | €450 to €750 |
| One SEC subject, one weekly group class | €200 to €400 |
| Three SEC subjects in Year 11, weekly private lessons, extra sessions from March | €1,800 to €2,800 |
| One Advanced level subject, one private hour a week | €700 to €1,200 |
Two things reduce the total. Booking a block of lessons up front sometimes earns a small discount, and a group class for the subjects where your child is holding steady, with private hours reserved for the one that is slipping, costs far less than private lessons across the board.
What do the MATSEC exams themselves cost?
Registering for SEC, Intermediate or Advanced examinations on time carries no entry fee in MATSEC’s schedule. The charges start when you register late. The MATSEC Examination Fees document, which applies from the 2026 sessions onwards, lists a late registration fee of €35 per subject, a very late registration fee of €70 per subject, and €35 for a revision of paper at SEC level. Fees are not refundable.
The registration windows matter as much as the fees. For the main 2026 session, MATSEC’s session notices opened SEC registrations from 27 October to 7 November 2025, accepted late registrations on 12 and 13 November with the fee, and very late registrations from 1 December in some subjects only, closing without notice. Expect the same shape for the 2027 session: an October to November window, one year before the exam. An e-ID is needed to register, per the Candidate’s Guidebook 2026.
Two details for families new to the system. School candidates sit SEC Paper II only, while private candidates sit both Paper I and Paper II, and anyone resitting a subject registers as a private candidate. Past papers from 2012 onwards are free to download on the MATSEC site, which is where a good tutor starts.
When should you book a tutor?
For the main exam session, have a tutor in place by January at the latest. For steady support through the year, book in September or October, when weekly class slots are allocated. The calendar below is the 2026 main session as MATSEC published it. The 2027 dates will differ by a few days, and the timetable comes out in October.
| When | What happens | What it means for tuition |
|---|---|---|
| October | MATSEC publishes the timetable for the following spring. SEC registration opens late October and closes early November | Weekly classes for the year are filling. Best time to secure a slot |
| January | Second school term begins | Last sensible moment to start exam preparation with a specialist |
| 17 March to 11 June 2026 | Orals, practicals and other components | Language and science students need those components rehearsed by March |
| 23 April to 30 May 2026 | Written papers, main session | Most tutors switch to past paper work from Easter |
| Mid July | Results published | Supplementary session applications open a few days later, 20 to 24 July in 2026 |
| September | SEC supplementary session, limited to Mathematics, Maltese, English Language and one science, for candidates who sat in the main session | A short, intensive block of tuition in August is the usual approach |
The Matriculation second session in August and September is a separate session in its own right, unlike the SEC supplementary, so Intermediate and Advanced level students who want a second attempt have that route too.
How to choose a tutor in Malta
Private tuition is unregulated in Malta: no licence, registration or warrant is needed to tutor, so nobody checks a tutor’s credentials for you. The Education Ministry announced in 2011 that it would regulate private lessons and nothing followed, as a 2024 column in The Malta Independent noted. Ask the questions yourself before you commit. The ones that separate a good match from an expensive one:
- Which exact syllabus and level do you teach? A tutor who knows the current MATSEC syllabus for your child’s level, including the school based assessment component, is worth more than a generalist with a longer CV.
- What are your results at this level? Ask for grades or references from past students at the same level. A warranted teacher is a good sign. Familiarity with the current paper is a better one.
- What is included? Notes, past paper corrections between lessons, and a message channel for quick questions are worth money. Some tutors include them, others charge.
- Can we have a trial lesson? Many tutors offer one free or at a reduced rate. Use it to see whether the tutor explains, or just re-teaches the school lesson.
- What happens if we miss a lesson? Cancellation terms vary. A charge for a late cancellation is normal, since that hour is the tutor’s income, so know the rule before the first missed week.
Independent tutor, tuition centre or agency?
An independent tutor is usually the cheapest and the most flexible, a tuition centre gives you set classes and a premises, and an agency does the matching for you at a price that includes its fee. All three exist in Malta and each fits a different family.
Independent tutors make up most of the market: a teacher or graduate teaching from home, from small premises or online, often specialising in one or two subjects. Biology Malta in Birkirkara is the single subject model, one tutor teaching SEC, Intermediate and Advanced biology, described on its site as a warranted educator tutoring privately since 2007. Tuition centres run timetabled classes for each year group, which suits families who want a fixed weekly slot. Agencies such as Trusted Tutors, also in Birkirkara, match students with tutors from a pool of over 200 across some 150 subjects, online, in person or at home in Malta and Gozo, which saves the search when you need an unusual subject or several tutors at once. Agencies do not publish rates either, so ask what the hourly price includes.
The private tuition category on Dapperlance lists all three kinds side by side, with the subjects, levels and towns each one covers, and messaging a tutor there is free. Language tutors are under language lessons and instrument teachers under music lessons.
Mistakes to avoid
- Starting after the timetable is out. The exam timetable appears in October and the panic starts in March. The good specialists are full by then. Book in autumn, or by January at the latest.
- Choosing on the hourly rate alone. A €15 hour with no notes and no corrections can cost more per grade than a €25 hour that includes both. Compare what is included.
- Private lessons for every subject. Group classes for the subjects that are holding, private hours for the one that is slipping. The difference over a year is several hundred euro.
- A generalist for a specialised MATSEC subject. Advanced level chemistry or pure mathematics needs someone who teaches that paper every year.
- Missing the registration window. The exam entry is free on time and €35 or €70 per subject late. Put the October to November window in the calendar the year before the exam.
- No homework between lessons. Most of the improvement happens in the practice the tutor sets. One hour a week with nothing in between rarely moves a grade.
Frequently asked questions
How much do private lessons cost in Malta per month?
One weekly private hour at €15 to €25 comes to about €60 to €100 a month per subject. A weekly group class is usually €30 to €60 a month. Both are estimates, since most tutors quote per lesson or per term rather than per month.
Are online tutors cheaper in Malta?
Usually by a few euro an hour, because the tutor saves travel time and premises. Online lessons work well for secondary and post secondary subjects and are often the only practical option for students in Gozo who want a specific specialist.
Do I need a tutor for SEC exams?
Not necessarily. A student who is keeping up in class and doing past papers may not need one. Tuition helps most when a subject has slipped, when the school based assessment component is unclear, or in the final months before the session.
How many lessons a week do exam students take?
One lesson a week per subject is the usual rhythm through the year. Many families step up to two or three sessions a week for the weakest subject from Easter to the exam.
Is there a licence or register for private tutors in Malta?
No. Private tuition is unregulated in Malta, with no licence or register for tutors, so ask about qualifications, the syllabus the tutor covers and past results at your child’s level. A teaching warrant is a good sign but not a requirement.
Reminder: prices in this guide are estimates as of September 2026. Tutors set their own rates, so confirm the price, what it includes and the cancellation rule before the first lesson, and check MATSEC’s own site for the current registration dates and fees. More guides to hiring and freelancing in Malta are on the guides page.
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