Accounts of the significance of the private sector for social and educational inequalities usually focus on issues of access to and outcomes of private schools. However, there are many other ways in which the private sector is implicated in the reproduction (or interruption) of educational inequalities. One of these is the increasing use of various forms of private tutoring which parents use to support their children at key stages and transitions. As the term ‘shadow education’ implies, these practices are often hidden from official accounts of educational processes and outcomes. In the UK, in particular, relatively little is known about the distribution and impact of ‘shadow education’.

This paper explores the frequency and distribution of shadow education in Wales through data derived from longitudinal research with four cohorts of school children each at key stages of their education. Wales provides a particularly interesting context in which to explore shadow education. Unlike its much larger neighbour, England, Wales has only a very small proportion of children attending private schools and has a long-established policy commitment to public comprehensive education. Yet our data suggest there is significant involvement in shadow education which reflects geographical inequalities linked to deprivation.

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