Not so Totally Rad: the UK music tuition firm leaving pupils in the lurch and teachers in despair

Schools and parents tell of inexperienced and absent tutors, and slow refunds alongside repeated demands to pay for services never wanted or received

In April 2024, Hannah, a teacher in a Kent primary school where she is in charge of music, thought she had successfully set up weekly drum lessons for around 10 children. She had found a company to provide them: Totally Rad, based in the West Midlands.

Totally Rad Hub is one of the big players in a part of the education economy that has boomed as public funding for music in state schools has been squeezed: private companies that supply freelance instrument teachers. The company says it has a network of 200 freelance tutors providing instrument lessons to about 300 schools and 5,000 families.