Private tutoring is a ‘Wild West’ - we need to bring it under control

£180,000 a year. That’s how much one family is offering a tutor to get their one-year-old to get into Eton; that’s a higher salary than the Prime Minister’s.

While this is an extreme case, the high expense of private tutoring will come as no surprise to many parents.

One in five children now spend more than 100 hours a year with a tutor outside school, with the average tutor charging £37.50 an hour.

This industry has grown predominantly due to shortfalls in the education system. Teacher shortages are getting worse, more children are dropping out and moving to homeschooling, and some children are leaving private schools due to VAT increases, which could lead to swelling numbers in the state system as a result.

As the industry grows, more despairing parents are being taken advantage of. Tutoring recommendations predominantly rely on word-of-mouth, glossy online profiles and often hourly rates are substituted for formal qualifications as a proof of skill.

Research has shown 91% of parents don’t realise tutors don’t need any qualifications, and only 7% are aware there’s no UK regulatory body overseeing the market. Too few parents realise the tutoring market is nothing more than a lawless ‘Wild West’.

A recent survey showed parents are spending an average of £1,287 a year on tutoring.

However, in our experience of interviewing candidates, we’ve found many self-professed “experts” are a waste of money.

At MyEdSpace, we check that all our candidates are fully qualified teachers and require them to re-sit an A-level exam and get close to 100% before we hire them. You’d be amazed how many candidates are unqualified or can’t even get 50% in an exam.

We’re fortunate enough to spot the shortfalls during hiring, but unfortunately that’s not always the case for parents. Many of them only realise on results day, at which point it’s too late.

It’s time for this lawless market to be brought under control. The first step is to raise awareness on what parents need to check before agreeing to hire a tutor.

An obvious place to start is to ask them whether they’re qualified teachers and what grade they got in their A-levels. 

This seems basic. Driving instructors have to pass a theory, driving ability and instructional ability test before they can give driving lessons.

And while there’s no regulation in making tutors do something similar, parents can weed out a lot of unqualified people by checking their grades.

For the parents who are in a position to be able to offer £180,000 a year for a tutor, one would hope they run a stringent hiring process to make sure they’re getting the best.

However, many parents do not know how to protect themselves from the numerous unqualified tutors out there. Asking for qualifications and grades is vital for parents to navigate this Wild West; it’s better to ask first than risk flushing thousands down the drain.