4. Private Tuition

Prof. Sarah Holloway & Dr Helena Pimlott-Wilson

Private tuition is a burgeoning global industry and is worth an estimated £2 billion per annum in England and Wales. Sarah and Helena have explored the business advice given to people who want to set up new tuition businesses in this unregulated marketplace. They have then worked with private tutors to understand why, how and with what consequences they have moved into self-employment as tutors, and how their businesses have been changed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Tuition use in England is sharply shaped by class, race and regional divides, being highest amongst better-off, minority-ethnic and London-based children. Sarah and Helena’s current research is exploring why some parents feel compelled to pay for private tuition, and what children think about a diversity of tutoring services.