Tutoring Opportunities
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This page is in the process of being updated ahead of the Tutor Call for Semester 1, 2026-27, which is due to open on the 4th May 2026.
Tutoring positions within the School of Social and Political Science are guaranteed hours (GH), fixed-term posts. These posts are classed with the School as Student Experience positions. This is to ensure that our current PhD students have ample opportunity to development their teaching skills during their degree.
Current PhD students are therefore prioritised before any other applicants. We have three hiring categories that are used in the recruitment and allocation process, as follows (in order of priority):
Category 1- Current UoE PhD student with an existing SPS GH tutoring contract
Category 2 - Current UoE PhD student without an existing SPS GH tutoring contract
Category 3 - External Applicant (not a current PhD student)
Anybody interested in tutoring within SPS for the 2026-27 academic year must apply via the application form signposted below, regardless of their current category.
Key things to note before applying
Please read our Guide to the Tutoring Application Form before completing your application - this covers many of our FAQs and allows you to see the whole form in advance.
When applying, you will be asked to select your hiring category. You should consider your status at the start of Semester One - September 2026 (as this may be different than your status at the time of submission). If you are unsure about which category applies, please feel free to get in touch.
Our tutor call is a competitive process and not all applicants will receive an offer of work. Applicants will be asked to provide a CV and cover letter, in addition to listing preferences for which courses you would like to tutor on.
All current PhD students must attest to having the support of your PhD supervisor, and must have completed one year of their studies, before applying to tutor.
Applicants should expect to be available for the entire duration of the semester for which they are applying to tutor. Tutors must be based in Edinburgh, or able to commute to Edinburgh, as teaching is delivered in-person and on-campus (with the exception of online courses). Additionally, marking may be required after teaching has concluded. If you do not currently have a contract to tutor with the School of Social and Political Science, you must prove your right to work in the UK.
Note: Semester dates for the 2026-27 academic year can be found here: Academic Year 2026-27
During the allocation process, the SPS Tutoring Team will work with each subject area to make allocations based on applicant preferences and relevant experience. During this process we will seek to:
Appoint applicants to courses within the subject area of their PhD
Re-allocate applicants (subject to status) who have previously tutored on a course
Allocate an average of 3-4 tutorial groups per tutor with a maximum of no more than 7 groups across the academic year.
Note: During the initial round of offers, we will seek to allocate a maximum of 3 groups to each tutor on any given course to ensure there are opportunities for as many applicants as possible to receive an offer of work.
Full-time PhD Students: The University mandates that full-time students can undertake a maximum of 396 hours of work per academic year (averaging to 9 hours per week across 44 weeks). If you hold other positions across the University or externally, those hours must also be considered when assessing your capacity to tutor. Visa restrictions may also apply.
We expect our tutors to demonstrate a good standard of transferable skills such as organisation, time management, effective communication, teamwork and working under a supervisor. Please ensure that you clearly demonstrate these skills in your Cover Letter.
For details on pay, please see the documents in the Guidance for Tutors section.
Application Details and How to Apply
- Course Vacancy List
Please use the link below to view the current vacancies available for SPS courses starting in Semester 1, 2026-27. Each course will detail its payment model, expectation of marking, and any required skills for applicants.
2025-26 Semester 2 SPS Tutor Vacancies
Please note: if you are an external applicant, you may have issues viewing this spreadsheet. To request a downloaded version of the spreadsheet, please email sps.tutoring@ed.ac.uk
- Application Form + Supporting Documents
As part of this application form you will be asked to submit one file (in Word or PDF). This should contain your CV, cover letter, and any other relevant qualifications/certificates.
You should clearly demonstrate in your cover letter evidence of your transferable skills (as listed above) as well as evidence of any specialist skills or expertise required for courses you are applying for.
If you have not previously held a tutoring contract with SPS, you will also need to complete the Appointee Information Form, and send this to spshr@exseed.ed.ac.ukAppointee Information Form (new tutors only)
You may also need to complete a right to work check - details of this will be provided in your offer email.
Privacy Statement: For information on how we use your data, how long we keep it for and if we share it with third parties, please refer to the applicant privacy notice
- Senior Tutor Role
Senior Tutor roles are available on some Year 1 and Year 2 undergraduate courses with enrolments of at least 90 students and/or teaching teams of more than 3 tutors.
Note: Not all pre-honours courses have a Senior Tutor. This is determined at the request of the Subject Area.
Role holders are expected to liaise with their Course Organiser and Course Administrator, and will be tasked with responsibilities such as providing support to other course tutors, assisting in setting up tutorials, and contributing to the administration of the assessment process.
Role holders are guaranteed hours based on the size of course. Typically, tutors would be expected to teach 3 tutorials on a course, in addition to their capacity as a Senior Tutor.
The full role description can be found here: Senior Tutor-Tutorial Coordinator 2025-26.
Applicants may express interest in being considered for a Senior Tutor position when submitting the SPS Tutoring Application.
- Recruitment Timeline
SPS Tutor Call Timeline - 2026-27