How prevalent is tutoring in boarding schools

[barecupboards]

Is it normal? I've recently a tutor for dd 11+ exams and the tutor mentioned that they have a number of dc being tutored by them at the boarding school we're aiming for.
Was hoping to see the back of tutors asap especially when already paying £££ in fees. Sigh.

Every child I know who's at private school (even some of the top top top boarding schools in the country) has a private tutor. One private school near me charges extra if the child needs dyslexia support (which my friend's child does) - it's appalling and she'd be better off having her child in a grammar or comp school and paying a private tutor for the dyslexia support, rather than paying school fees AND a tutor. I went to private school going back a long time now, and me and my best friend were the only two kids in our class who didn't have a tutor.
It's also ultra competitive, so if your child is falling behind and the school don't think they'll make the grades, they can throw you out (this happened to my uni friend's son who was at a top school down south). It's no wonder parents pay extra for a tutor when it's either pay extra or face getting kicked out and left without a school the year before your GCSEs!
That's why most of my friend's (as are we) are now opting for the 'state plus' model - our kids go to an academy and then we 'top up' their education with an amazing tutor.

Thanks @FarmhouseLiving22 this is what I was worried about. Dd is at a private school now but we have deliberately left having a tutor until as late as possible as it's so much work for the dc

There are benefits to private school

but it's hard to decide whether it's all worth it. Boarding fees aren't what they used to be either!

Very @barecupboards , my DS attends what is considered on here as a 'big name ' boarding school and the vast majority of boys have tutors.
Some are more discreet about it than others.

My son's roommate often contacts his during Toytime' when are doing their preps.
Boys come back from holiday periods having written outstanding essays and win headmasters awards. Between this and the large donations which bring with them heads of societies we have had enough.

It has made us (and our DS ) very disillusioned with the whole boarding school experience.
We will be leaving after GCSES and hopefully my DS will go to a Grammar school, we will consider a tutor but at least I won't be paying twice.

It's been a pretty miserable expensive experience tbh.

As a balance, we know several children at the big name boarding schools and they don't have tutors.

We are likely to send our DC to one, and won't tutor to get in beyond perhaps a few sessions of interview and exam practice if their prep school can't offer it.

@Ontheredeye thanks that's exactly the scenario I'm worried about and most likely looking at a similar school to your ds. The fees are so high and I'm hoping it would be worth it but I do have thoughts it won't be.

Prep school is a well known one and has been quite underwhelming too and all of dd friends have tutors.

@AnyRandomName the problem we've had (and we have tried really hard to avoid tutors not simply because of ££ but also because so much time spent on work and not enough play!) is that as pp have said the dc magically come back mini geniuses after every holiday and so my dc falls further behind and so now we have a tutor they are swiftly catching up so I suppose it's been worth having the tutor but maybe I'm old and all seems to be so much work now. My dd gets upset when she falls behind as well and I know it's not through the schools teaching that the others have somehow already covered the syllabus for each year before they've even started it!

My DDs boarding school isn’t a big name but I don’t know a single child being tutored, my own included.

There’s a couple of things that happen at these big name schools:

1. Children are heavily tutored just to get them in. They scrape through but academically it’s not the right school for them and so the tutoring has to continue just so they can keep up. Sometimes parents are so obsessed with the “best” schools that they don’t stop and think whether or not it’s the “right” school.

2. One parent is tutoring. Other parents hear about it, think it’s needed because their child will be left behind because everyone else is doing it so sign up their child too. Not being funny but if you can afford boarding schools then you probably have the money to splurge on tutors too.

The alternative is that the school is actually really crap so begs the question, what are you actually paying for?

The only private school kids I've known to have tutors have been for something extra curricular like music.

I'm a tutor and about 50% of my pupils are at boarding schools. The other half are at private day schools 😂

Honestly having seen the standards of teaching and level of support a lot of 'top' schools offer I'd never send my own kids there even if I had the money.

@barecupboards we were in the same situation. Our prep school was underwhelming,we thought when he got into his senior school it would be different. It's worse if anything.They couldn't give a hoot about him.
When I read the website it's laughable, I don't recognize the place.

They have done very little for DS

and we have lost so much time with him. The school would be happy to keep him after GCSE but we have finally seen sense.

I would advise you to rethink.

Similar here 😂 this is enlightening reading..
I know of three staff who struggled to get good obersrervation grades and good assessment data, and disappeared to work at big name indies- one a boarding. He regularly send updates about how little teaching/prep/ marking he has to do- just long, eloquent reports on the little darlings and some extra curricular 🤷‍♀️I assumed the parents knew but preferred the facilities and networking, but reading this implies the parents genuinely think they are getting a better standard of teaching 😂

I have DC at a top “big name” private school and know lots of kids who board. I can only think of a handful who have tutors and in each case it’s because they were tutored hard to get through the entrance exam and so ended up at a school which was a poor match for their ability. It’s definitely not the norm IME!

I've had 2 DCs go through academically-selective central London prep schools and can honestly say I have never encountered widespread long-term tutoring (at prep or senior school level).

I've known precisely one child who was heavily tutored throughout prep school, and this was regarded as massively OTT by other parents. I've known a small number of other children who were tutored for short periods for entrance exams, or who had a specialist tutor for fun to extend them in a subject they enjoyed or that wasn't taught at school. There may be some independent schools where long-term tutoring across the board is endemic, but it really isn't the case in all of them.

My own DC were never tutored and both achieved places in academically selective senior schools. What's the point of paying school fees and then paying again for tutors?

If you have to tutor your child at a 'top' boarding school, then there's something wrong. Honestly, why aren't the teachers providing the support the kids need? I would be really embarrassed if I was a teacher in a top boarding school and my teaching was so inadequate children needed extra help. There's no excuse for it there. The classes are small, they don't have the behavioural problems you might have in a comprehensive. The children LIVE there. Teachers really should be able to provide enough support, and if they kids will benefit from extra lessons then how are they not already providing it? Also (just going to keep ranting here), I work in comprehensive, and we're currently sorting out which Year 11 students we're targeting for small group tuition to help their grades. Is this not happening in the 'top' boarding school?

(No, probably not. I have been seriously underwhelmed by standards in some of the 'top' schools I've come across. Doubt some of the top boarding schools would be considered 'top' by ofsted)

You're spot on@barecupboards , I wish someone had taken my blinkers off. My DS attended a well known boys boarding school and he was one of the few who didn't have a tutor.

Often it's just during the holidays, which are very long. Sometimes they are on a retainer and boys can contact them during term time. The headmasters awards made me laugh @Ontheredeye 😂😂.

We moved to a state school after GCSES, best of luck with that @Ontheredeye . The teaching was in a different league. It was great to be finished with all the other nonsense also.

@Wishiwasatsoftplay This does not surprise at all. My DS was amazed by the standard of teaching across the board at his state 6th form.
They got him to the LSE , brilliant in my opinion.

Surely these expensive boarding schools should be better at teaching so children don’t need tutors. At DS’s northern grammar school 70% of GCSE results this year we’re 7-9 and a third of A level results were A* and that’s for free! You can’t get much better than that.

I don't know any child at our prep school being tutored.
All of my friends had tutors to get their kids into grammar school - some have flown and some are struggling in bottom set.
So I wouldn't say tutoring is private school specific. A friend of mine with kids at an Ofsted outstanding primary they are all being tutored...

@barecupboards
Most teachers teach well. Never had my DDs tutored at boarding school. A few were but they were at the less talented end of the cohort. The school wasn’t super selective. Most issues arise from parents being over demanding. Success comes in a variety of guises but some parents are terrified of Dc not going to the top universities.

m@barecupboards I really would not tutor. Aim for the best school within DCs capabilities. Not above. In fact choose a school with great value added. Being in top 1/3 is always a better feeling than being bottom 1/10.

There is an extraordinary amount of tutoring in the private sector. At the big brand schools it is for children to get in to the top sets, and the mediocre ones it is more likely to be because the teaching is rather average or for extra SEN support.
I think State Plus is a better model - good state school and then money put towards bespoke extras and one to one support. Better for Uni entry too.

Agreed state plus is a good idea. However our nearest secondary is truly rubbish - our friend in yr8 has had no science teacher this year or last, maths and English very poor so a tutor for both and PE dire..

@Fudgeball123 yes I think it works when there is a good enough state school but hopefully once Truss and co are gone there will be better funding of state schools and more contextual detail for uni offers and then your local secondary will be more appealing.

soweneo my child is in year 8 and the school finishes in year 11 so I don't think I have time to rely on regime change..

I also think there is more to being at a boarding school than results. You would be mad to spend all that money for nothing extra above the state plus model. I didn’t want DC being in a car driven round to their interests. They gained a lot from doing what they wanted within school. The best schools can be inspiring. They have speakers, connections and so much going on. A bright engaged child gets a lot. Also don’t forget well off people will do the “plus” anyway but not necessarily bogging the Dc down with tutoring. It’s not necessary. Far better to do plenty at school and enjoy the holidays. Makes for less anxious Dc too!

I think that would be achievable if I didn't have a dc that gets upset that they were doing well in the term before and then their cohort come back after term already knowing everything and they then feel behind.

If I had a laid back dc that wasn't so worried about not being 'at the top' then I would feel better about it. Unless perhaps the answer is to not send dd to a selective school she might then be the top at a non selective school. I do worry that results are becoming more important than ever as well though, which is a massive shame. Gone are the days when personality counted in so many interviews!

I don’t think it’s the norm to tutor throughout private school at secondary level either though I can only speak for London selective private schools.

Almost everyone is tutored for the entrance exams (sometimes for years beforehand) but once they’ve gotten in the tutoring generally stops.

Usually the schools themselves pick up on when a child is struggling in a particular subject and provide the extra support themselves rather than the parents paying for an outside tutor. I haven’t really heard of anyone tutoring to make sure their child is ahead of the rest of their year group but am sure it happens occasionally.

Being asked to leave if you’re not meeting the expected standard is not unknown though but this would usually be after the school has tried to help with additional support first. But things are maybe different at some schools?

I do know of tutored grammar school pupils where I live. They were tutored like mad to get the place and turn cannot keep up. A childhood of tutoring??? Awful.

Many boarding parents don’t see tutoring as particularly important. Their Dc board for all sorts of reasons!