Market Research Links Private Tutoring To Grammar School Entry: Results from a recent education poll suggest that many parents provide their children with private tutors in an effort to boost their chances of being accepted in to a grammar school. Of 212 first year grammar school pupils who were interviewed for the poll, 72% said they had been tutored for the entrance exams. The two grammar schools were situated in South East England and thus the findings should be treated with some caution. In essence, at least on this small scale, this market research links private tutoring to grammar school entry.

Market Research Links Private Tutoring To Grammar School Entry

The results found that 67% of those interviewed had been tutored one on one, whilst a further 5% had received additional teaching as part of a small group. Of these pupils who had been tutored, 78% felt that the additional support had helped them to pass the entry exams – and only 6% continued to be tutored during their first year at grammar school.

There is concern that these findings may reveal that entry to grammar schools is not based on a ‘level playing field’ – with the children of wealthier parents having more money to spend on tutoring and extra support outside of class. The chief executive of the Grammar School Heads Association suggested the GSHA was concerned about this. There are plans to recruit a larger pupil sample from the 164 grammar schools currently operating in England.