7th December 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
One of the most common requests for tuition is for help preparing for common entrance exams. This has now joined GCSE and A’ Level requests as one of the most popular subjects for tuition. Tens of thousands of families in the UK have hired private tutors to help with 11 and 13+ exams. However, some schools are now considering plans to make exams “tutor proof”, due to concerns that the wrong children are winning places at selective schools.
At some selective schools there are as many as 13 applicants for every place, and a recent survey found that over half the students who take entrance exams now receive some form of coaching to help them do well. Schools are reporting that they are finding some students struggle to cope with the work once they have won the place. Head teachers have complained that this is the result of intensive coaching for exams, which allows students to pass but does not prepare them for on-going work at the school.
Schools looking to overhaul their entrance procedure are considering having interviews with applicants rather than solely relying on exam results. Schools are also considering changing their test papers and preventing their sale, to ensure that students cannot use past papers to learn the likely style of questions off by heart.