Private Expectations and public schooling: the growth of private tutoring in Australia

The use of private tutoring by school-aged children in Australia is increasing and the Australian government now provides vouchers for private tutoring to students who fall below national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy. This paper analyses private tutoring in Australia and finds that although Australia ranks low on international comparisons in terms of student participation, average household expenditure on private tutoring is increasing. We observe higher levels of expenditure among wealthy households and different patterns of household expenditure on private tutoring between the two largest states. The paper discusses factors that appear to influence participation in private tutoring such as structural features of state education systems, total household income and private school fees. The quality and costeffectiveness of government funded private tutoring as an educational intervention is also discussed.