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Original poster

Fifth of state school pupils have a private tutor at GCSE level

107 replies

Unpaidviewer · 06/04/2025 13:30

From the article below in the Sunday Times. When do we accept that the education system is failing our children and what can we do about it?

Is this any different or better than children attending private school? I know i will do everything in my power for my child to get a decent education but I know some posters on the private schools threads seem to think it's immoral to give your child any kind of advantage over others.

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/gsce-a-level-private-tutoring-revision-camps-wxfmf629

Fifth of state pupils have private tutor at GCSE (and it’s not cheap)

Some have one helper per subject and there are even residential courses at £2,000 a week

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/gsce-a-level-private-tutoring-revision-camps-wxfmf629r

OP posts:
clary · 07/04/2025 13:26

noblegiraffe · 07/04/2025 12:45

Of course these swathes of primary school teachers who are tutoring three hours a night and neglecting their actual teaching job are doing it cash in hand and swindling the tax system as well. Of course they are. Hmm

Yeh I must admit I rather doubt that any FT teacher is tutoring three hours every night. You’d be shattered as you’d then have to do your two hours + of planning and assessment.

I do know a few ppl who tutor and don’t pay tax - but that’s bc they are doing max an hour a week from say Jan to May and thus it’s less than £1k so HMRC is fine with that.

Glittertwins · 07/04/2025 18:51

We had one for both DC. One for English as they’d been totally failed by an incompetent teacher in year 10 and wouldn’t had got a pass grade otherwise and got 6s. Other one had a sciences tutor as they didn’t like their teacher and struggled with them, got grade 8.

femsrad · 07/04/2025 18:58

We’ve had to get tutoring. They tend to ignore the kids that do ok because so many in the class have special needs. The teacher even admitted she didn’t really know my son because he was quiet. He just stopped asking for help because he never got any.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education Secondary education Tutoring
Mayflyoff · 08/04/2025 00:00

According to DD1's friends, there are no specialist maths teachers left at our local comp. Teaching maths is a really special skill and dropping in teachers from other subjects really doesn't cut it. I imagine most parents who can afford it will be getting a maths tutor. And I can't see how anyone would see that as immoral, just levelling the playing field with children who have the luxury of going to a school which is properly staffed.

TheaBrandt1 · 08/04/2025 02:25

Seems awfully “punching down” when some private school parents get themselves in a lather about state parents getting a tutor or getting any sort of contextualisation. Dd1 started A levels at her very decent comp but came home in tears on hearing the third of the 3 key teachers in each of her a level subjects was leaving. We would have moved her but it was too late in the term by then. She dropped a grade and I admit it was galling hearing the hand holding and support my friends Dd was getting in the same subject Dd dropped her grade in at her private school.

kanaka · 08/04/2025 10:15

TheaBrandt1 · 08/04/2025 02:25

Seems awfully “punching down” when some private school parents get themselves in a lather about state parents getting a tutor or getting any sort of contextualisation. Dd1 started A levels at her very decent comp but came home in tears on hearing the third of the 3 key teachers in each of her a level subjects was leaving. We would have moved her but it was too late in the term by then. She dropped a grade and I admit it was galling hearing the hand holding and support my friends Dd was getting in the same subject Dd dropped her grade in at her private school.

That’s not really a private vs state issue. My autistic ds was in private and he started off with 2 A level physics teachers, one of whom left and was replaced. Then both those two remaining teachers left as well. It was a really badly taught course. One of his maths teachers also left. It’s to do with specific schools, regardless of whether they are private or state. I couldn’t move him, as you say, it was too late and he’s also autistic so wouldn’t have managed.

kanaka · 08/04/2025 10:19

Mayflyoff · 08/04/2025 00:00

According to DD1's friends, there are no specialist maths teachers left at our local comp. Teaching maths is a really special skill and dropping in teachers from other subjects really doesn't cut it. I imagine most parents who can afford it will be getting a maths tutor. And I can't see how anyone would see that as immoral, just levelling the playing field with children who have the luxury of going to a school which is properly staffed.

And that luxury is not private v state necessarily. In the private school my ds attended, they didn’t have enough staff and maths was taught by 2 science teachers and a PE teacher (who really couldn’t do it). My ds is at university and is autistic - the private school is absolutely not utopia and I am thankful that he is out of there.

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