The Tutor was designed as a replacement for the Avro 504 trainer. The prototype was fitted with the lower powered Armstrong-Siddeley Mongoose engine, but production aircraft were fitted with the Lynx engines. The Tutor entered service with the RAF in 1933 and from 1933-36, Tutors from the Central Flying School were famed for their impressive formation aerobatic displays.

Tutors were also used throughout the RAF as elementary training aircraft. The Tutor was a luxurious and well-equipped aeroplane for its time, with a tailwheel, effective brakes, seats that could be adjusted for height and rudder pedals for distance, spacious cockpits and a variable incidence tailplane. The Tutor was mainly a military aeroplane and only nineteen appeared on the civil register.