Private tutoring at transition points in the English education system: its nature, extent and purpose

limitations which should be acknowledged. Specifically, samples were selected from a
variety of maintained schools and demographic areas but as the schools were located mainly
in Southern England and the Midlands, the sample was not representative of the country as a
whole. Also, it is important to note that no private schools were included in the study and it
proved very difficult to recruit selective state secondary schools (grammar schools) even
though several were asked to take part. In future it would be useful to compare the extent of
private tutoring provided for students attending different types of school.

By arranging for researchers to administer the questionnaires to students in class we aimed to
reduce any concerns students may have about admitting they had a tutor if their teachers
could see their responses. Estimates that are obtained from students’ self-reports may be
unreliable as they rely on memory and accuracy in completing questionnaires and information
about current events or in the very recent past is likely to be more reliable than information
about events in the more distant past. In future it would be desirable to obtain information
from nationally representative samples of students and also from parents who would provide
more reliable sources of information on the employment of tutors and the costs of tutoring.
Longitudinal studies would also be valuable to provide reliable estimates of changes in the
extent of tutoring over time. The estimates provided in this article should provide useful
information for establishing a sampling frame for such research.

To conclude, this research indicates that a substantial proportion of students have tutoring at
some point during their time at school. Many families provide sufficient educational support
for their children especially during the primary phase of education yet some appear to be
using private tutors quite strategically to help their children make successful transitions in the

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