We have a few good localish state schools which get very good results (over half the children attain Level 5 by Year 6).
The headteacher of one of the schools has told my friend (with a dd in Yr 3) that one third of all the pupils there (and at the other local schools) are tutored in at least one, if not more, subjects, from Year 3 onwards, with the numbers steadily increasing up the school. This information was given in response to a concern that her dds weren't progressing to the best of their ability and she couldn't see where they would "catch up".
I guess that I concluded that at least some children would be getting tutored in Years 5 & 6 (the neighbouring borough has 11+) but have to say that I'm shocked at the proportion (and the implication that if you wanted your child to do well then this is what you had to do). I was aware when looking round one of the other schools that again a third of the pupils were being tutored in Year 5 & 6 (again the head was upfront about this at the open day) but I hadn't realised how young this started - I had assumed that it was more about exam practice rather than actually teaching them fractions etc.
The schools are in a relatively middle class area so we're talking about parents who can afford it on the whole, but how normal is this? Or is it just one of the facets of a London education these days?