A private study report shared by Sutton Trust has shown that at least one in every 4 students in England and Wales have access to a private tutor to help them with their secondary school studies.
More importantly, the students coming from wealthier backgrounds can afford to have a private tutor, where their poorer peers can’t do so.
The study was based on the responses by almost 3000 students of the age group between 11 and 16, with 27% responded positively having a private tutor. The same tests were conducted in 2005, where the results were 18%. A couple of years back, the result was more than 29%.
According to the 2019 study, 34% of the students having a private tutor came from a wealthy and financially strong background. There were almost 20% of the students who came from low and financially weak background.
Another category to see the difference was race. Students coming from Black, Asian, and Minority-Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds were more inclined to have a private tutor (42%) rather than the ones who were from white backgrounds (22%).
Not everyone can afford a private tutor
A concerning result was that 25% of the secondary school teachers worked as a private tutor to some students upon their parent’s insisting. The average cost of these tutoring sessions is $30 for a single session. As a result, most of the students can’t afford them.
The government and the education board should consider the situation immediately which affects the students’ results directly. Students with more one on one teacher interaction are bound to perform better than others who can’t have a private tutor.
Either the tutoring charges should be made affordable enough so that everyone can have access to it, or the school should make a small tuition group for needy students to help them either financially or academically. Another thing of concern is that if the students take classes after school hours, does that mean the schools aren’t doing their job properly?
