‘Will you tutor a 3-year-old?’: Inside 11+ arms race fuelled by private school VAT

With sharpened pencils in sweaty palms, tens of thousands of grammar school hopefuls will from this month take the often-dreaded 11-plus test – answering questions that will decide their educational future. But for many of those children, the test is just the finale of a years-long undertaking of tutoring, practice papers and mock exams to ensure they secure a school place alongside the brightest pupils. Competition for grammar school places has always been fierce, with a booming industry of private tutors employed by parents able to afford costs that often amount to around £1,000. Shorts However, tutors now say the grammar schools arms race has reached a whole new level – as Labour’s VAT raid on private schools pushes more middle-class parents into the scramble for places. And as competition hots up – demands are getting wilder: from requests to tutor three-year-olds, parents facing four year waiting lists and one youngster being pulled out of school for a 12-month tutoring bootcamp. ‘I’ve had requests to tutor three year old children’ Vanessa Kushner, a teacher and tutor of 30 years, has seen and heard it all. Parents asking her to “guarantee” their children will get into the most competitive schools, giving their children tutoring sessions as early as 6am and as late as 9pm, and even running virtual classes beamed into holiday destinations around the world. “I’ve had parents of children aged three to seven all the time asking me to tutor,” she said. “I tell them that I think it’s far too young.” Even parents “who say they’re not competitive” are arranging for their children to take hours of mock exams and practice papers in the months leading up to the real thing. But it is hard not to be competitive if you are putting up your child for a place at “the most prestigious grammar school”, she said. Vanessa Kushner, a tutor of 30 years, said parents of children as young as three are asking her to start preparing them for the 11-plus test Some parents even make clear they want their children to score 100 per cent in the test – despite them already scoring marks over 90 per cent, which would easily get them a grammar school spot. Tutors fear the increasing competition – and the anxiety it is causing among parents – is also filtering down to their children. Kushner said a very capable boy she tutored came to her with a stammer and would wet himself. She suspected this could have been linked to pressure he felt to perform well in the exam – either under his own steam or coming from his parents. ‘There is far more competition now’ Lucy Spencer, director of tutoring firm Education Boutique in Slough, said she even knew of one family who had taken their child out of mainstream education to put them into a homeschool bootcamp with private tutors for a year. Their specific intention was to get their child into a grammar school. Slough is one of 35 areas in the country that has selective schools. Others include Kent, Buckinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Essex, Greater Manchester and Greater London. Tutors said they have had to encourage parents to take a more holistic approach and mix hard work with letting youngsters “just be a child”. Sometimes, taking a stress-free approach can often yield the best results, they said. Demand for Kushner’s services is already so high in London that there are children on her waiting list who are currently in nursery – as she refuses to begin tutoring until Year Four. This means they will be waiting four or five years to begin tutoring. She said the process has always been competitive, but has gone into overdrive in recent years. “It’s really changed. 30 years ago, if you tutored a child, they would get into a grammar school if they were relatively bright,” Kushner said. “But now parents really want the grammar schools. There is far more competition and parents are trying to teach children from a much younger age, whether that’s tutoring or doing it themselves.” In Slough, Spencer said the number of children sitting the 11 plus for the Slough Consortium – which oversees four elite grammar schools – has increased in the past five years. But the number of grammar school places has largely stayed the same. VAT raid drives private-school parents to grammars A key driver behind the rise in competition has been the Labour government’s VAT raid on private schools, tutors said. Spencer said she had “absolutely” noticed a “subsection of parents” who are moving away from private schools in favour of the grammar route. In January last year, fee-paying schools were no longer exempt from charging 20 per cent VAT on their fees, with costs passed on to parents. In Slough, parents are in proximity to some of the top independent schools in the country, including Harrow and Eton. However, the town also has some of the best-performing grammar schools – without the £20,000-per-term cost. Helena Sait, known as the 11+ Super Tutor, said she has noticed the same trend in Kent. “From conversations with parents, I do think grammar schools have become an even more attractive option for some families who might previously have considered private education. “When you are looking at the cost of private-school fees increasing, a grammar school can offer a highly academic environment without those fees, so naturally parents are keen to explore that route.” Kushner added: “Years ago, some people that were kind of in the middle, perhaps would have gone for the private school, they’re not doing that now. I do think they’re putting more focus on the grammar schools because of the worry.”