Parents on income support join rush to private tuition

Favoured by the middle classes and even, controversially, the Prime Minister, private tutoring has become so popular in recent years that parents on benefits have been scrimping and saving to buy lessons.

Tony Blair's reported employment of tutors from Westminster School, an elite private institution, to help his state- educated sons angered opposition MPs this week, who accused him of betraying his commitment to state education. Yet private lessons are seen by an increasing number of families as an important and necessary aid to ensure their children pass exams and succeed in later life.

Tutorial colleges have reported a massive growth in demand in recent years – and not only middle-class parents are queuing for their services. The Kip McGrath Education Centre, for example, started eight years ago with two branches, and is expected to have 50 branches open by the end of the year. It reports that parents on income support are managing to save money to give their children a booster class in maths or English.

Alan Jones, the manager of its centre in Romford, east London, which now runs three sessions for children aged six to 16 every weekday and four on Saturday, said: "About 60 per cent of them come to do a bit of catching up – and 40 per cent because [parents] want to push them on a bit."

Kip McGrath's charges are modest – £17 for a weekly session, which can include maths and English tuition. Charges can, however, vary with some London teachers charging up to £30 an hour. While the cash is a "nice little earner" for full-time teachers, many other teachers can now leave the classroom and make a living out of private and home tuition.

One independent education expert said: "I would have thought the teachers from Westminster who are tutoring Tony Blair's kids would be a rarity. There can't be many parents from the London Oratory [the state school the boys attend] who would have access to Westminster to find teachers to help them. It may be they are just as intrigued by having access to Downing Street and tea and a chat at No 10 than earning extra money to top up their salaries."

Teachers at leading independent schools such as Westminster are likely to earn around £2,000 or more than their counterparts at a state school who themselves can earn up to £30,000 a year if they reach the top of the teachers' pay scale.

According to Dr David Cornelius, of the Association of Tutoring, tutoring services have become increasingly fashionable in recent years.

"There seems to be more of a perception nowadays – that's the way I would put it – that qualifications are more important," he said. "Quite often, you'll get the grandparents setting some money aside for their grandchildren's education. If they've got £100 to spend on them, they'd rather spend it on an education and give them something that's of lasting value – rather than spend it on a pair of trainers. That's becoming more and more the case nowadays."

However, the pressure to do well in exams is not the only reason parents are seeking out private tutors. Trudie Prescott, a mother of three from Holland Park in west London whose children all go to private schools, insists she chose Dr Cornelius' service because she wants to "open doors" for her children. "My eldest daughter hated maths," she said. "It was her number one to number five hate. I wasn't interested in exam results. I just wanted to open doors and make her excited by maths."

The trick worked. Her daughter, now aged 14, is heading for top grades in maths and sciences – subjects she might have been turned off for ever without private tutoring.

Education experts believe the rush for private tuition is more a consequence of the "exam fever" that has gripped the country in the past five years since the Government embarked on its relentless push to improve standards than a sign that state education is failing.

John Bangs, assistant secretary of the National Union of Teachers, speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, pointed out there was a contradiction in the argument that said the Prime Minister had turned to private tutors because the state system was failing. After all, his two sons attend the London Oratory school, a Roman Catholic boys' school that is among the most successful in the country.

'£17 buys something of lasting value'

"THE WAY I look at it, I'd spend £17 a week on their sport or hobbies, but this buys one hour twenty minutes of education, which is of more lasting value."

That is how Karen Pardon, a mother of three, regards her decision to "do a Tony Blair" and send the younger two of her three children to the Kip McGrath Education Centre in Romford, east London, to brush up on their English and maths.

Amy, nine, "was struggling with her English and needed a little bit of help", said Ms Pardon. Craig, eight, was "messing around a bit" at school but enjoys learning in the smaller groups at the centre. Ms Pardon says she may put Amy and Craig in for the 11-plus for a nearby grammar school if their English and maths continue to improve.

'It is very difficult to teach a class of 30'

Nearly 40,000 British youngsters are switching to a Japanese method of learning maths and English. The Kumon Centre, which uses a traditional method of teaching maths whereby children learn their tables and repeat exercises until they get them right, has seen a 25 per cent increase in pupil intake in the past 18 months.

According to Sheela Bhagwnani, her seven-year-old daughter has come on "by leaps and bounds" since attending the centre in Finchley, north London. "She needed that little bit extra and the time that can be given to her at a centre like this.It is very difficult for the teachers in the state schools if they are in classes of 30. They have some very, very bright children and some who have huge problems."