Enhancements to the UrbanPro Partnership program

Since it's inception, the UrbanPro Partnership program, formerly known as UrbanPro Assured, has undergone numerous changes. These changes were made to improve the platform and the program to live up to it’s guiding principles of providing tutors and students with a great experience with online classes.

You can keep up with the changes made to the program on this page.

Updates in 2021

July 9, 2021

• Demo/Regular class Rating under Reviews: Reviews are important for building the Tutor better visibility on UrbanPro. It also helps Tutors get more demo sessions and in turn higher earnings students. You will now be able to spot both Demo and Regular class ratings under the Review section in your UrbanPro account. This will help you manage and understand your ratings under one single view. You can access these by logging into your UrbanPro account and clicking on Reviews.
• Average Transaction Value: We know that you are the best judge when it comes to making a decision about your class fees. However, it is important that your quotes are competitive. Going forward, we will assist you in identifying if your quotes for a particular payment are competitive enough in your particular category as charging a lower fee will affect your ranking and earnings on UrbanPro. Every time you send out a payment request to a student after a successful demo session or interaction with a student and the fee charged by you is lower than the average fee charged on the platform, you will receive a notification. 
• Payment Policy: In order to keep a track of attendance and handle respective payments smoothly, we have come up with the following  guidelines:

When a Student misses a class:

-In case of a “no show” wherein the student misses a class, the class will not be paid for. The Tutor will be notified of the same through an email and on the App as well.

-You can, however, mark attendance and claim this as a paid class by clicking on “Claim as paid class” as shown in the below image

- The Student has 5 days to either raise a dispute or allow it to be considered as a paid class. If there is no action for 5 days, the class is considered as paid.

-If the student accepts the claim, you will receive a notification and class will be marked as paid.

-If the student disputes the claim, you will receive a notification as well. Our team will research the issue and make an educated decision based on the policies. Our decision will be final and binding. The final decision will be notified to you.

When Tutor misses a Class

-Tutor has to give at least 24 hour notice to schedule a class. If a class is scheduled within 24 hours, the student must have agreed to the class time on a chat message, a call or in a live class.

-If Tutor misses a class, it may lead to lower visibility and earnings since Tutors with better attendance and reviews convert better and get ranked higher than others.

July 2, 2021

• Change in Minimum Fee for Spoken English Transactions: We had decreased the minimum fee for certain categories on June 4th, with the objective of helping Tutors convert better and offer more competitive pricing to their students. This was done to test whether we can continue our current investments with the revised fee structure. While the change worked out quite well for most categories, it’s impact on the Spoken English category was not favourable when it came to sustainability of our investments for growing the demand.

Hence, the test is being reverted to its previous status and the Minimum Fee for Spoken English will be Rs. 1200/-. Please be assured that this won’t affect your earnings if you are collecting a minimum of Rs 6000/- per student on average- since we won’t charge additional fees until the fee collection crosses Rs 6000/-.

We believe that this will allow us to continue making additional investments for getting you more students and helping more Tutors earn better every month.

Subject	Flat fee	Flat fee limit	Lifetime payment exceeding flat fee limit
Spoken English	Rs. 1200	Rs. 6000	20% - 25%

 

This link should help you understand how we calculate the ‘UrbanPro charges’ per transaction.

Note: For all other subjects and categories, the flat fee and flat fee limit remain unchanged for now.

• Improved Login Security: In our quest to make your experience with us smoother and to safeguard your details, we have added a step to platform security. Going forward, you will receive an OTP confirmation in case you wish to change the following:
• Phone number
• Email ID

Once you key in the correct OTP, your request will be processed. You will be informed of the changes and the same will be visible on your UrbanPro account. These additional steps are a precautionary measure to ensure that correct identification is done and also individual details are preserved.

 

June 4, 2021

• Changes in fee structure: According to the new structure of the transaction fee, the flat fee and the percentage of the transacted amount will still be charged. The exact fee charged will be shown in your accounts under payment details. The changes to the transaction fee are:
• The flat fee will vary from one subject to another
• The percentage of transaction fee charged for amount exceeding the flat fee limit will remain 20% to 25%
• These charges apply to all payments made by a particular student (lifetime payment per student). Which means that the flat fee is a one time deduction.

Subject	Flat fee	Flat fee limit	Lifetime payment exceeding flat fee limit
All hobby classes (except Guitar)	Rs. 600	Rs. 3000	20% - 25%
Class I - V Tuitions	Rs. 900	Rs. 4500	20% - 25%
Spoken English	Rs. 900	Rs. 4500	20% - 25%

 

Note:

1. For all other subjects, the flat fee will be Rs. 1,200 for the first Rs. 6,000 and thereafter 20% -25% of the amount exceeding Rs. 6,000. 
2. The flat fee for IELTS will be Rs. 1,500 for the first Rs. 7,500 and 20% - 25% for any amount that exceeds Rs. 7,500.

• Keep class recordings on: We have found that class recordings are very helpful to students in helping them revise what was taught. They also deliver an overall better experience to students, prompting them to continue classes with tutors. For these reasons turning off class recordings will now be considered a violation of the UrbanPro Partnership program’s guidelines. 
• The new Training Mode :In an effort to help tutors get used to demo classes we have introduced a new training mode. In this mode, you will receive one demo booking at a time. If your account is in training mode and you miss a demo, it will be considered a violation and your account will be deactivated. All new tutors on the platform will start in the training mode. Once you have successfully attended 3 consecutive demos, you will be out of the training mode and will be able to receive multiple demo requests at a time. If you are an existing tutor and miss a scheduled demo then your account will be put in training mode where you will have to accept and attend at least 1 demo to be able to come out of the training mode.

June 11, 2021

• Payment reminders for students: In an effort to help you collect payments from students, we will be sending students up to 10 reminders to complete the payments. The reminders will be sent for up to 15 days after the due date and will also contain a link that will allow the students to make the payments. The reminders will be sent:
• 3 days before the due date
• On the due date of the payment
• 1 - 15 days after the due date
• Onboarding training for tutors: To help you get familiar with the UrbanPro Partnership program we have been conducting training sessions for tutors. These are 45 minute sessions where we brief you on the Partnership program and also  give you an opportunity to ask questions you may have. So if you have questions, or just want to know how UrbanPro Partnership works, just register. You can register for these training sessions using the following link.

CTA: Register Now

 

June 18, 2021

• No link sharing restriction on chat: In order to make your interactions with students much smoother, we have removed the link sharing restriction from the chat option. Links can now be shared through chat both pre and post payment made by the student. However, we would suggest that links and content be limited to the course and any material that might help the students understand and grasp your class better. This facility will ensure an enhanced and engaging experience for both you and your students. Please ensure you DO NOT share personal contact details (phone nos, email IDs)/profile link which will result in a violation.
• Direct link to Tutor orientation courses: You can now easily access the courses on partnership programs. These courses will help you understand the program better and enable you to successfully grow and teach with UrbanPro. We definitely recommend going through this course and completing course modules so that you can use the tips and tools mentioned there to improve your rank and earnings on UrbanPro. 
• Free Live Master Class: This feature will help you promote yourself, giving your prospective students a real-time insight into how you conduct your classes and attract more paying students. This will be a 1-hour long session wherein you will be able to demonstrate a live class for your respective category.  To access this option: Login to your UrbanPro account>>Promote>>Free Master Classes

How this Works:

• Schedule a Free Master Class and UrbanPro will promote it.
• Students register for your free Master Class, giving you free traffic that will visit your profile and book 1-1 demos with you.
• Students can also buy Class packs directly from your profile in case you have created (strongly recommend).

June 25, 2021

• Lock/Unlock capability for Class recordings :In order to give you more control over class recordings, we have now given you the option to lock or unlock a particular class recording. You will now be able to make a decision as to which classes need to be locked and which need to be made available to the student. You can also decide if a class recording should be unlocked for a limited period of time. Incase, a class recording is locked and a student wishes to view it. He/she will receive a notification stating “ This class recording is locked by Tutor. Please ask Tutor to unlock this class recording”. You can manage class recordings by following the below mentioned steps:

Login to UrbanPro Account>>Go to courses>> Go to content>>Scroll down to class recordings>>Beside every class conducted there will be a lock button.

 

May 7, 2021

• Changes to the fee structure: We have made some minor changes to the fee that we charge. You can see the details of the fee structure and the charges in our help section. You will be able to see the details, of the fee charged, by logging into your accounts and checking the details of the payments from students. The important changes are:

The 20% slab

• A flat fee of Rs. 1,200 for the first Rs. 6000 of the transacted amount
• For IELTS, a flat fee of Rs. 1,500 will be charged for the first Rs. 7,500
• A fee of 20% will be applicable on any amount that exceeds Rs. Rs. 6,000 or Rs. 7,500

The 25% slab

• A flat fee of Rs. 1,200 for the first Rs. 4,800 of the transacted amount
• For IELTS, a flat fee of Rs. 1,500 will be charged for the first Rs. 6,000
• A fee of 25% will be applicable on any amount that exceeds 4,800 or Rs. 6,000

 

May 14, 2021

• Class recordings are helpful - Disabling them will be a violation of our terms: We constantly seek feedback from both tutors and students. Through this feedback we have learned that students find class recordings useful since they can use them for revisions. We, therefore, request you not to stop the recording of your classes. Stopping recording of classes will lead to a suspension of your UrbanPro tutor account effective from 15th May. So, kindly support us in ensuring that we continue to improve the experience of students learning on our platform.
• Control over access to class recordings :We understand that class recordings are a great tool for students but we also recognise that you would like to have control over a student's access to the recording. That is why we will be launching a feature that will allow you to give, or restrict, your students access to your class recordings.
• UrbanPro tutor orientation videos on the mobile app: We have created a set of videos that you can use to understand the UrbanPro Partnership program better. These videos are also available on the UrbanPro for Tutors mobile app now. To watch the videos, you just need to launch the app and click on the tasks icon. We encourage you to watch all the videos as they have been made to help you understand the Partnership program better.

 

May 21, 2021

• Changes to the UrbanPro Partnership policy on violations: As a part of our constant efforts to ensure quality and fairplay we have made a few changes to the policy on violations of the UrbanPro Partnership guidelines. According to these changes, if there is a violation of the guidelines the following actions will be taken:

1st Violation: The account will be deactivated but can be self-reactivated immediately by the tutor simply by re-confirming their acceptance of the guidelines.

2nd to 5th Violations: The account will be deactivated for 7 days. Accounts can be self-reactivated immediately by the tutor by paying a fine of 2000 coins. If immediate reactivation is not chosen the account will remain deactivated for 7 days from the date of the violation. 

6th Violation: The account will be suspended permanently.

Thankfully, more than 95% of our Tutor Partners have been adhering to the policies that are required for us to continue growing the platform further. For the remaining 5%, we hope these changes will provide an easier way out of the suspension. It also removes the 30-day suspension completely. We are also investing in better product training for new Tutor Partners - so that they don’t end up getting suspended due to lack of awareness about the guidelines.

• Monthly payments also now available: You will now be able to choose your payment schedule. You can collect payments on weekly or a monthly basis. Weekly payments will be processed on every Tuesday and will consider classes completed up to Monday. Monthly payments will be processed on the last working day of the month and will be calculated based on classes completed up to the end of the previous day.

 

May 28, 2021

• Book a training session: We have launched live training sessions for you where our representatives will connect with you over video conferences to help you with your doubts. The session will be 45 min long and will contain a short presentation on the Partnership program. After the presentation, we will have a Q&A session. Please feel free to book a session with us using the link mentioned below. Book Session. Note: Please ensure that you complete the tutor orientation videos before attending the videos.
• Lock class recordings: We understand that class recordings are a great tool for students but we also recognise that you would like to have control over a student's access to the recording. That is why we will be launching a feature that will allow you to give, or restrict, your students access to your class recordings. Note: This option is currently only available on the UrbanPro website.

April 9, 2021

• iOS UrbanPro for Tutors app is here: We have launched the UrbanPro for Tutors app for iOS on the Apple App Store. That means all of you out there waiting for the iPhone version of the UrbanPro for Tutors app can now download and start using it on your Apple devices too. You can get the app by clicking on the link below. Download Now
• Take the UrbanPro Partnership course: We have created a short course for you and it’s designed to help you become familiar with the UrbanPro Partnership program. It contains a series of videos covering various aspects of the program and how they work. The course will only take less than an hour of your time to complete and can be finished in your own time. You can access it from the tasks notification, on the top right hand side of the screen, when you log into your UrbanPro account. 

April 16, 2021

• Create your own intro video: Intro videos are one of the most effective tools in showcasing your talent and achievements to potential students. They are shown on your UrbanPro profile and let students and parents get an idea of what your skills, expertise and capabilities are. In our latest update, we have made it very easy for you to record and upload your intro videos. This new feature will allow you to record your video from your mobile, use a script to ensure you cover all the relevant information and add a nice background music to your video.

You can access this feature by following these steps:

1. Log into your UrbanPro account from the app
2. Click on the 3 lines at the top left hand corner of your screen
3. Click on Profile
4. Click on Profile Information
5. Click on Intro Video & Gallery
6. Click on Intro Video
7. Click on Record Intro Video

Please note, you will need to update the UrbanPro for Tutors app for this feature to work.

To know more about this feature please read this article we have written on what it is and how to use it.

*This feature is only available on the UrbanPro for Tutors mobile app. If you don’t have it, please download and install it right away.

• 5 students per demo: To make demo classes more efficient, we have reduced the maximum number of students allowed to attend a demo. Now you will be able to host a maximum of 5 students per demo instead of 10. This means that you can have anywhere between 1 to 5 students attend a demo class at a time. Please visit your demo availability and ensure that it is set between 1 and 5 students per demo class.

April 30, 2021

• Launching classes is now easier: We have made launching a class easier. Now you won’t have to worry about entering the host key and taking over as the host. You can directly launch classes. Class recording will also start automatically so that students are able to review the lessons you teach them.
• Changes to the fee structure: We have made some minor changes to the fee that we charge. You can see the details of the fee structure and the charges in our help section. You will be able to see the details of the fee charged by logging into your accounts and checking the payments from students. The important changes are as follows:
• A flat fee of Rs. 1,200 will be charged for the first Rs. 4,800 to 6000 
• For IELTS, a flat fee of Rs. 1,500 will be charged for the first Rs. 6,000 to 7,500
• A fee of 20% to 25% will be applicable on any amount that exceeds Rs. 4,800, Rs. 6,000 or Rs. 7,500

March 12, 2021

• Calendar pop-up added to the enquiry: Instead of going to the calendar to see demo classes you took, you can now just click on the date and time shown in the enquiry and see the details of the class in an instant.

5 March

Demos bookings will depend on coin balance 

Students will still be able to book demos with you even if you don’t have a sufficient coin balance. However, you will not be able to book demos with students. 

Sharing documents over chat becomes easier

As you know, you can share files with your students while chatting with them on UrbanPro. We have now made sharing of files even simpler. Now, all you have to do is to drag and drop the file you want to share, in the chat window.

February 2021

26 Feb

Updates to coin deductions

As you know, we deduct coins only for valid connections made between tutors and students over a call, a message or a demo. However, all of them resulted in an equal number of coins getting deducted. Since demos have a higher probability of conversion, henceforth, these will result in additional coin deduction. We believe this will help us sustain the growth of the platform and deliver a better experience for you with additional investments in product and demand. Please go through the details of the new coin deduction policy below carefully.

1. No coins will be refunded if the students miss the demos
2. If the student cancels the demo booking within 1 hour, 1X coins will be refunded. (1X means the charge will be equal to the coins charged for a connection between student and tutor)
3. Coins will be deducted when a call to a student is made or a message sent by the tutor is read
4. After the call/message, if the student or the tutor books a demo, additional 1X coins will be deducted
5. If the student/tutor directly books a demo, without a call or message, then 2X coins will be deducted (2X means the charge will be equal to twice the coins charged for a connection between student and tutor)
6. If the tutor directly sends a payment link, and no coins were deducted earlier, then 1X coins will be deducted 
7. All deductions will be shown while tutors are scheduling demos

Demos can’t be booked if the account has insufficient coins 

If you do not maintain a sufficient coin balance in your account then neither you nor the students will be able to book demos with you. You will also see a message that will inform you if your coin balance is insufficient while booking a demo.

19 Feb

Share links to external websites

Some of you told us that you were not able to share links to official websites for students to visit. Well, after this update you won’t have to worry about that anymore. We have begun making it possible for you to share links to official websites like:

1. tcyonline.com
2. ieltstest.com
3. Ielts-exam.net

No more confusion with closed enquiries

To reduce confusion about an enquiry’s status, we have created a completely new tab where you’ll be able to see all closed enquiries. These will be the enquiries that you didn’t respond to and have now been closed.

13 Feb

Reschedule missed demos directly from the calendar

If you had a demo scheduled and you didn’t conduct it, you will get a popup when you go to the calendar allowing you to reschedule that demo to a more convenient time. If you choose to reschedule the demo you will be able to pick the right time once you click on the Reschedule button. 

Reschedule upcoming demos directly from the calendar

If you have a demo booked with a student, you will also be able to reschedule it from the calendar. For upcoming demos, you will also have the option to cancel it from this popup, provided it is cancelled at least 4 hours in advance.

Auto response is back!

You can set up automatic responses to enquiries from the UrbanPro Partnership program too. This will allow you to respond to student enquiries even while you are away. Please note, for auto-response, coins will be deducted the moment the automatic response is sent.

5 Feb

Schedule classes for entire batches

You will now be able to schedule classes for an entire batch of students at a time. To use this facility, all you have to do is add students to a particular batch. Then, while you are scheduling a class, instead of typing a students name, just enter the name of the batch. This will schedule a class for all the students in that batch for your chosen date and time. You also be able to add other students to this class if you wish to. Once scheduled, all students in the class will be notified via messages, emails and notifications, about the upcoming classes.

Chat with the batch

We have made changes to the chat option as well. Now you can send a message to an entire batch. Once sent, all students in that batch will be able to see your message and respond to it. This is designed to help make communication with your students easier.

Updates on students

If a student has a demo scheduled with you and he/she starts classes with another tutor, you will now be notified of the same. Should a student start classes with another tutor, any demos booked by them with you will also be cancelled. 

 

27 January

No attachments sent through Zoom chat
We will no longer support attachments being sent to students via the chat option in Zoom. This support will be withdrawn by the 29th of January. If you wish to send students attachments, you can use the chat option available in the UrbanPro Platform.

Apply to become a Top Tutor
Once you meet the requirements, you can apply to become a Top Tutor for the categories that you are eligible for. When you click on the Apply button, if you meet the criteria, you will instantly be upgraded to a top tutor and enjoy benefits like Account Managers and greater search visibility on UrbanPro. You can read more about it here.

Refer & Earn
Whenever you refer a student to UrbanPro and they make their first payment for classes, you will get a referral bonus of Rs. 500. The student you referred will also get a one-time discount of Rs. 500. To refer a student, simply click here.

15 January

Chat with the right student
Using the in-built chat feature on the UrbanPro platform has been made easier because you can now search for any of your students you want to chat with. No more scrolling through lists of students to find the right one.

Intro videos are now specific to categories
If you teach Spoken English, it doesn’t help much if your intro videos talk about other subjects you teach. To solve this problem, you can now upload a unique intro video for each category you teach. All you have to do is go to Profile>> Profile Information>> Gallery>> Intro Video. Then choose a video to upload and select the categories you want to show for.

Updates in 2020

December 25

Apply to become a Top Tutor

You will now be able to apply to become a Top Tutor yourself if you meet the minimum criteria for it. You will need to have:

• A good intro video
• A minimum of 5 reviews
• A minimum of 1,200 coins in your account

If you meet the criteria you can ask to be switched to a Top Tutor. Once you apply, someone from our team will get in touch with you and guide you through the rest of the process.

December 18

Send payment requests directly after the demo is completed

Now, instead of going to the demo tab or the contacted tab etc., you will be able to send a payment link to students the moment you finish the demo class. This has been done to help make the conversion process more streamlined.

Need alert before approval

As you wait for your account to be approved, after having applied for the UrbanPro Partnership program, you will still be able to see the requirements students raise.

Tutors can offer certificates of participation

Your students may want validation for completing classes with you. Well now, you can offer them a certificate of participation that they can download once they have completed classes with you. Having a certificate available adds more value to their experience studying with you.

December 4

Attending demos is crucial 

Demos are central to making the student and tutor experiences as great as can be. Therefore, we have focused more on them now. Since our objective is an excellent experience for both tutors and students, going forward:

• If students miss the demo

We realise that your time is precious. That is why you will be compensated with 2X the coins that were spent If all the students miss the demo class.

• If you miss the demo class
• You will be charged 2X the coins for every student, whose demo you miss
• Your account will automatically be suspended if you have missed 20% of the demos in the last 7 days (based on the number of students in each demo).
• The first suspension will be for 7 days. On the second instance, your account will be suspended for 30 days. Any further violations and your account will be suspended permanently.

Reschedule demos to a convenient time

To make rescheduling of demos easier, and convenient, we have updated our platform to allow you to reschedule a demo to any time of your choosing. You no longer have to reschedule it only using the demo availability times.

November 6

Payment details added under Demo tab

Now you can see the details of payments made by students bu clicking on the Payments option under the demo tab.

November 27

Tutors can book demos at any time

Earlier, if you wanted to book a demo for a student, you had to use the slots you had already set up in the demo availability. Now you’ll be able to book demos with students at any time other than the demo availability times also as long as they don’t overlap with existing demo slots.

Share files through UrbanPro Chat

UrbanPro chat now supports attachments. This will allow you to share files with students with ease.

October 23

Tutor Partner introduced

This is when UrbanPro Assured changed in the UrbanPro Partnership program. With this change, there were two levels of membership created in the program, Tutor Partners and Top Tutors.

Student Payment summary added

With this feature a new feature, we have added the option for tutors to see the details of payments received from students via UrbanPro. It shows details of payments which are pending, made or scheduled for the future. (student payment details 1 & 2 image)

October 16th

Student feedback feature launched 

Using this feature the students can provide feedback about the Demo classes they attended and what they felt about them. This is a crucial step in ensuring that students also receive the experience they are looking for from tutors.

Native Zoom integration

Up until now, to be able to launch and conduct classes on UrbanPro, Zoom software needed to be installed on the tutors’ mobile devices, laptops or PCs. With this update, the need for installing Zoom’s software has been eliminated and classes will work even if you don’t have Zoom installed on your machine.

October 9th 

Hindi classes shifted to UrbanPro Partnership

100% of the demand for Hindi classes was shifted to the UrbanPro Partnership program meaning that only tutors who are a part of the program will be able to respond to enquires for Hindi classes.