‘Levelling up’ access to private tutoring in England: problem representation in government policy

Exley, Sonia ORCID: 0000-0003-4240-3070 (2025) ‘Levelling up’ access to private tutoring in England: problem representation in government policy. Journal of Education Policy. ISSN 0268-0939 (In Press)

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Abstract

Governments across the world have responded in different ways, and with different types of policy reforms, to the phenomenon of rising private spending on supplementary tutoring. Underlying such difference are diverse discourses surrounding the tutoring industry, giving rise to differing construc>ons of problems that expanding tutoring may create. In this paper I draw on Bacchi’s ‘What’s the Problem Represented to be’ framework to scru>nise how private tutoring has been problema>sed in government policy in England – most recently in the country’s Na>onal Tutoring Programme. Analysing policy documents and parliamentary discussions, I show that policy in England has since 2020 presented mass private tutoring as being a posi>ve and desirable phenomenon – the only salient ‘problem’ being that some require greater access to this tutoring. I locate such a posi>on in historical and compara>ve context, tracing its roots while also arguing that it normalises further and legi>mises the prac>ce of mass privately paid-for tutoring, with likely significant implica>ons for children, families and schools. The paper contributes to an emerging body of literature on the way that governments worldwide are reac>ng to and engaging with the growth of ‘shadow educa>on’.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	J Political Science H Social Sciences L Education
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2025 00:25
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2025 12:30
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/127480

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