I argued in The Welfare State We're In that the performance of many grammar schools in Britain is boosted by heavy oversubscription for places (far higher than for most private schools), the high social class of many of the parents and private tuition. In the sense that there is a great deal of private tuition, part of 'state education' is not actually done by the state at all. It is supplied by the private market. This was very publicly the case with one of the children of the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The boy was tutored by a teacher at Westminster, one of the outstanding private schools in Britain.

Yesterday there was further evidence of the role of private tuition in state education:

In the latest poll, market researchers GfK NOP surveyed parents of children at some of England's 164 remaining grammar schools.

The survey - for the BBC - revealed 81 per cent of parents coached sons or daughters to pass the entrance test.

Half paid for private tutors and the remainder taught children themselves at home.

Those using hired help spent an average of £700 on fees - receiving 90 minutes of tuition every week.

Research by Professor Brendan Bunting, psychologist at Ulster University, has found pupils coached for nine months improved their 11-plus scores by 40 per cent.

This research referred to students getting tuition in order to get into the grammar schools. It seems highly likely that a high proportion of grammar school children also receive private tuition to help them get better results in their public exams.

The full article is here.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Education

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