Online Education Trends: 2025 Report

The way we teach and learn is evolving rapidly, driven by technology, changing student needs, and innovative teaching methods. This report explores some of the key trends shaping online education for 2025, using the valuable insights of tutors, educators, and education companies. From the rise of hybrid learning to the growing adoption of AI, the data reveals how education is becoming more flexible, personalized, and accessible.

But it’s not just about technology. This report also highlights the strategies that truly work—whether it’s leveraging digital tools to boost engagement or forging partnerships to attract new students. We created this report to serve as a roadmap to help tutors, tutoring companies, and other education professionals navigate the new challenges and opportunities facing the industry today.

Let’s dive into the data!

Section 1: Demographics

The respondents represent a diverse group of educators and industry professionals. Tutors make up the largest share, with 87% identifying as either individual or company-affiliated tutors. Most respondents teach online, with about a third conducting their teaching entirely online. 60.4% of educators are teaching hybrid classes - a mix of online and in-person.

The data also highlights a wide range of subjects taught, from core school topics to creative arts and languages, catering to students across age groups and educational levels. The majority teach secondary (54.2%) and primary (47.5%) levels, with notable representation in adult education (28.6%) and tertiary (20.6%). Pre-primary teaching was the least common (18.1%).

The most commonly taught areas were core school subjects (46.2%), STEM (30.7%), exam and test preparation (37.8%), languages (36.6%), and creative arts (18.1%). Business studies (9.2%) also had notable representation, while the remaining 5% fell into the “other” category.

Section 2: The state of online tutoring businesses

The majority of educators and companies reported significant growth over the past year. 68.5% of surveyed tutors and tutoring companies experienced growth in 2024, teaching more hours than in 2023. Of those, 20% indicated that they were teaching more than 25% more hours than the previous year. Only 10.5% indicated they were teaching fewer hours.

Looking to the future, 56.3% of respondents expect to teach more hours in 2025, while 31.5% expect to teach the same number of hours. 12.2% expect to teach fewer hours.

Lessonspace Users experienced Higher Than Average Growth

88.7% of those surveyed use the Lessonspace platform to teach online. This number is expectedly high, since many respondents came from our user base, newsletter and social media channels.

Lessonspace users were 11.6% more likely to report significant business growth than the average across all respondents. Specifically, 80.1% of Lessonspace users reported that their business grew after starting with the platform, compared to 68.5% of all respondents who reported teaching more hours compared to last year.

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Finding new students

Although only 2.9% of respondents identified finding new students as a challenge, the top strategies for attracting students were clear. Online tutoring platforms and marketplaces were the most popular, used by 48.3% of respondents, followed closely by tutoring agencies or companies at 45.8% and partnerships with schools at 42.9%. Additionally, 32% highlighted free trial sessions and personal websites or blogs as effective methods for finding students, with 30% expecting these strategies to remain successful in the future.

Section 3: Virtual Classrooms and Digital Tools

Virtual classrooms have become a cornerstone of modern education, with 81.9% of respondents reporting increased use over the past five years.

Digital tools play a key role in online education, with nearly half of educators (47.1%) reporting that they always incorporate them into their teaching. Another 32.8% use these tools most of the time, highlighting their widespread adoption. Only 2.9% of respondents do not incorporate digital tools into lessons.

Popular tools like screen sharing (73.1%), interactive whiteboards (69.3%), and live chat features (52.5%) are key to creating engaging and interactive learning environments. As digital platforms evolve, educators expect to increase their use of these technologies, with 66.4% planning to adopt them more frequently by 2025.

Benefits of Teaching Online

The data highlights the significant advantages of online teaching for both educators and students. Flexibility and convenience (41.2%) stand out as the most valued benefit, enabling educators to tailor their schedules and teach from anywhere. These findings suggest that online teaching aligns well with educators' priorities for efficiency and adaptability, while also supporting broader educational access.

Flexibility and Convenience: This emerged as the most significant benefit, with 41.2% of respondents selecting it. Educators value the ability to teach from anywhere and accommodate their schedules.
Saved Time: Chosen by 13% of respondents, time savings is a major advantage of online teaching, especially when commuting is eliminated.
Work-life balance: Approximately 11.8% of respondents highlighted how online teaching improves their Work-life balance.
Other Benefits:
- Improved outcomes for students (6.3%)
- More cost-effective (6.7%)
- Accessibility ( makes education more accessible to diverse learners, including those in remote areas or with special needs) (5.5%)

Teaching Online Saves Time

Time-saving is the second-most widely reported benefit of teaching online, with 45.1% of educators reporting that they save more than five hours per week, and an additional 23.1% saving over ten hours weekly. Moderate time savings of one to two hours were noted by 10.9% of respondents, while only 7.7% indicated no time savings at all. These figures highlight the efficiency of online teaching, which eliminates commuting time and streamlines administrative tasks, allowing educators to focus more on instruction and improving their overall work-life balance.

Virtual Classrooms Improve Student Engagement

This shift towards increased online education has positively influenced student engagement, as 77.3% observed improvements, including 37.8% who noted significant gains. These findings underscore the growing reliance on virtual environments to deliver flexible, interactive, and effective learning experiences.

Section 4: The Future of Education and Emerging Technologies

Technological advancements are set to make their mark in online education in 2025: 41.1% of respondents predict an increase in the adoption and integration of AI, making it the clear frontrunner. This was followed by a notable 17.3% predicting a rise in online teaching, reflecting the continued shift toward virtual learning environments. General advancements in technology were also highlighted by 7.9% of respondents. Other changes, such as increased accessibility (2.3%) and the use of AR/VR (2.8%), received smaller but noteworthy mentions. Additionally, concerns about reductions in funding (2.8%), changes in teaching models and methods (4.2%), and policy shifts (2.3%) suggest a broader awareness of structural challenges in education. Interestingly, 5.1% of respondents believed there would be no significant changes, underscoring varying perspectives on the pace of transformation in the sector.

Artificial Intelligence is Set to Make Waves in Education in 2025

The predicted rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in education is a complex issue. Respondents highlighted AI's potential to enable personalized learning paths, with intelligent platforms analyzing students' data to recommend tailored resources, lessons, and exercises.

AI-powered tools are anticipated to enhance learning efficiency while supporting diverse learning styles. Teachers also expect to benefit from AI-driven lesson planning, automated grading, and real-time insights into student performance, enabling more targeted interventions.

However, while the integration of AI promises greater innovation, flexibility, accessibility, and inclusivity, concerns about misuse, such as AI-facilitated plagiarism, reflect the need for thoughtful implementation to maximize its benefits in education.

Recommended: Take our free AI in Education Course

Hybrid Learning is Forecast to be the Dominant Format

The responses indicate that hybrid learning is expected to dominate education over the next decade, with a significant 59.7% of respondents identifying it as the most likely dominant format. This reflects a growing preference for a flexible model that combines the benefits of in-person instruction with the accessibility of online education.

Fully online learning is predicted to be the second most common format, with 16.4% of respondents expecting its prevalence, emphasizing the continued shift toward virtual education. Experiential learning, such as project-based activities and internships, follows at 11.8%, suggesting an ongoing emphasis on hands-on, practical skills development.

Meanwhile, self-paced, competency-based learning (5.5%) and fully in-person learning (5%) received comparatively fewer votes, indicating a move away from traditional models toward more flexible and integrated approaches to learning.

Teaching Methods and Pedagogy Will Evolve The Most

Respondents overwhelmingly identified teaching methods and pedagogy (48.7%) as the area most likely to change in the face of emerging technologies. It is more important than ever to adjust the way we teach to work with new technologies and innovations like AI-powered personalization, gamified learning, and adaptive teaching tools. Meanwhile, 20.2% highlighted classroom environments as the most likely to change, noting a shift between physical and virtual spaces as hybrid and fully online models become more mainstream. Finally, 13.9% pointed to changes in curriculum content and subjects taught, with emerging technologies enabling a greater focus on future-ready skills like coding, digital literacy, and critical thinking.

Section 5: Challenges in Online Education

Online education has transformed the way students and educators interact, and while the outcomes have been largely positive as shown in the previous section, it does present new challenges. The top five reported challenges reveal common themes, such as maintaining focus (14.7%) and engagement (14.3%), managing technical (12.6%) and network issues (13%), and ensuring effective supervision (8%). Additionally, a range of less frequently mentioned challenges provides insight into the diverse experiences of online tutors and the evolving nature of this educational landscape.

1. Focus (14.7%)

The top challenge identified by respondents was focus. Students are easily distracted during online classes, which the respondents attributed to the absence of physical supervision and the prevalence of distractions both in their physical environments (e.g. family, noise) and online (e.g. games, social media).

The educators shared a number of strategies that have been effective in improving focus, including:

Breaking lessons into smaller, engaging segments with interactive activities like polls, quizzes, or group discussions;
Frequently checking in with students and asking targeted questions to maintain attention; and
Personalizing teaching sessions to students' interests to enhance focus.

2. Engagement (14.3%)

Engagement was often mentioned alongside focus, indicating the challenges often go hand-in-hand, also sharing similar solutions. 14.3% of respondents mentioned issues such as limited interaction when compared to in-person teaching, as well as difficulty in maintaining student motivation and participation.

Some of the effective solutions shared included:

Using gamification techniques (e.g., badges and milestones) and multimedia resources like videos and animations;
Incorporating live interactions such as real-time voting, group projects, and online discussions; and
Regularly providing feedback and support to ensure students stay motivated.

3. Network Issues (13.0%)

Predictably, network issues were a major challenge in online education. Educators were largely able to circumvent this by using backup connections and using reliable platforms. However, student connectivity is a tougher challenge since there is a limit to what educators can do to solve the problem. Unstable internet connectivity leads to video/audio lags, disconnections, and interruptions in teaching.

Some effective solutions that respondents had tried included:

Preparing backup options like recorded lessons for when students struggle to connect; and
Having a secondary internet connection such as a mobile hotspot for emergencies.

4. Technical Issues (12.6%)

Technical proficiency has become a core competency for online tutors. For tutoring companies and tutors, investing in user-friendly platforms and training can significantly reduce these challenges, allowing tutors to focus on teaching rather than troubleshooting.

Many tutors also run into challenges when it comes to technical proficiency and literacy of students and their parents.

Some of the strategies that were effective in overcoming these challenges include:

Teachers proactively learning platform functionalities through tutorials and training sessions;
Advocating for reliable platforms like Lessonspace to minimize disruptions; and
Providing troubleshooting guidance for students and parents.

5. Supervision (8.0%)

Educators identified the lack of supervision as a key challenge. In face-to-face classes, students can be easily observed, assessed, and monitored. Online, it’s not always as easy to tell if the students are following the lesson and behaving appropriately. This makes it hard to monitor progress.

Educators had some success overcoming this challenge by:

Keeping videos on during sessions;
Encouraging students to share their work (e.g. sending pictures of assignments);
Enhancing student accountability through regular assessments; and
Using interactive tools like an onlne whiteboard to encourage participation and progress.

Challenges Reported by Smaller Percentages of Respondents

While the top five challenges dominated the responses, a variety of additional concerns emerged from smaller groups of respondents. These include:

Access (4.6%): Some students lack access to devices or reliable internet, making it difficult for them to participate in online learning. Solutions mentioned include providing non-digital resources and leveraging open educational resources (OERs).
Getting Students (3.4%): Tutors noted challenges in attracting new students, despite leveraging social media or other marketing efforts to grow their client base.
Parent Communication (2.5%): Establishing trust with parents and helping them navigate online tools was a recurring theme, with some tutors scheduling regular reviews or sharing updates about their children’s progress.
Screen Time and Fatigue (1.7%): Prolonged screen exposure was highlighted as a challenge for both tutors and students, with strategies like incorporating breaks and including various activities to mitigate fatigue.
Work-Life Balance (0.8%): A small number of tutors reported struggling to manage their workload and personal life, emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries and maintaining a strict schedule.

These issues, while affecting fewer tutors, highlight important nuances in the broader online teaching landscape.

How Challenges Will Evolve

When asked how challenges are predicted to evolve over the coming year, a few clear trends emerged:

Technology & AI (26.3%): Many responses focused on technological adaptation and AI integration. Examples include concerns about AI features for plagiarism detection and general technology application in education.
Teaching Quality (5.8%): Responses highlighted the importance of personalized teaching and maintaining educational standards in an online environment.
Student Engagement (5.8%): A significant concern was keeping students focused and engaged during online learning.
Security & Integrity (5.4%): Responses emphasized concerns about plagiarism detection and technical security issues.
Accessibility (5.0%): Issues around access to online courses and digital equity were mentioned.
Other (61.4%): A large portion of responses contained unique perspectives or general comments that didn't fit into the main categories, indicating a wide variety of challenges and opinions.

Each category reveals specific concerns about the future of online education, with technology and AI-related challenges being the most frequently mentioned specific category. The high percentage in the "Other" category suggests a wide diversity of perspectives and concerns about online education's future challenges.

Deeper Dive: How to Improve Student Outcomes

The data indicates that educators are trying many varied strategies for improving student outcomes in virtual settings. By far the most effective strategy was the general use of digital tools (37.4%). Of the digital tools used, online whiteboards (9.2%) and online classrooms (5%) were the most-mentioned, followed by games (3.8%), and keeping videos on (3.4%). Interaction and interactive activities (10.1%) were also significant, followed by personalisation at 6.3%.

Interestingly, 50,4% of responses fit into the “other” category, indicating that tutors and teachers are trying a huge variety of effective techniques, strategies, and tools. Reading between the lines, it is clear that adapting your techniques for the particular students, subjects, and style of teaching is most effective. It’s also worth noting that 3.4% of respondents indicated that nothing they had tried was effective to improve engagement.

Impact of Virtual Learning Environments on Student Engagement

The shift to virtual learning environments has had a generally positive effect on student engagement. A significant 37.8% of respondents reported a substantial improvement in engagement since the adoption of virtual learning tools. Additionally, 77.3% noted some level of improvement, indicating a broad positive trend. Only 5.9% of respondents observed a decrease in engagement, highlighting that, for the majority, virtual learning has enhanced interactivity and participation.

Recommendations For Success in 2025

This report highlights key strategies and trends shaping the future of online teaching. These insights can provide a roadmap for educators, tutors, and tutoring companies to succeed in 2025. The following recommendations summarize the most impactful takeaways to help you stay ahead as the education industry evolves.

Adopt Digital Tools for Engagement: With nearly half of respondents always using digital tools, and interactive whiteboards and screen sharing among the most effective, it is essential to invest in reliable and interactive tools, like Lessonspace. These tools not only enhance engagement but also foster better learning outcomes in virtual settings.
Leverage Multiple Channels to Attract Students: Online platforms (48.3%), tutoring agencies (45.8%), and school partnerships (42.9%) are the most effective ways to find students. Diversify your student acquisition strategies to maximize reach, and consider offering free trial sessions or maintaining a personal website to further boost visibility and credibility.
Embrace Hybrid Learning Models: Hybrid learning, combining in-person and virtual elements, is expected to dominate education in the next decade. It offers flexibility while retaining the benefits of face-to-face instruction. Align your teaching strategies to cater to this trend and invest in tools that support hybrid formats.
Prepare for the Integration of AI in Education: With 41.1% predicting increased adoption of AI, educators should embrace tools that enable personalized learning, automated grading, and adaptive assessments. However, careful implementation is key to avoiding challenges like misuse or over-reliance on technology.
Address Key Challenges in Online Education: Focus and engagement remain top challenges, alongside technical and network issues. Strategies like using gamification, breaking lessons into smaller segments, and proactively troubleshooting technical barriers can help overcome these obstacles. Prioritize creating interactive and distraction-free learning environments to maintain student motivation.
Focus on Personalization: With personalized learning approaches cited as an effective strategy, educators should prioritize tailoring lessons to individual student needs.

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Online Education Trends for 2025