Increasingly second-level students in Ireland are engaging in privately paid tuition, colloquially known as grinds, provided either formally through ‘grind schools’ or informally on an individual basis. The most recent estimates suggest almost half of Leaving Certificate students engage in grinds at some point during their Leaving Certificate year (McGinnity, 2012). Engaging in supplementary learning/grinds is a growing international practice, in many systems referred to as shadow education or tutoring (Entrich, 2018; Zhan and Bray, 2017; Cole, 2017; Dongre and Tewary, 2015). ‘Since considerable participation in formal education and academic success is a taken-for-granted and dominant part of social and occupational status attainment, shadow education becomes more prevalent as an accepted and expected cultural aspect of education, now practiced even up to higher education’ (Byun, 2015). Research on the effectiveness of tutoring has delivered inconclusive and even contradictory findings – part of the reason lies in definitions and foci of the research, since private tutoring may have different formats, delivery mechanisms and intensities (Bray, 2014). Such tutoring services come in many forms (eg. one-on-one academic tutoring, cram schools, correspondence courses and internet tutoring services) – yet almost all studies so far have focused only on the effects of participation versus non-participation (Byun and Baker, 2015). Most recently, Byun and Baker suggest that ‘the few studies that have used innovative methods to address these selection issues suggest that shadow education have some positive effects on academic achievement’ (2015).

In Ireland, research has shown the strong ‘backwash’ effect of the terminal Leaving Certificate exam, with a narrowing of the range of student learning experiences and a focus among both teachers and students on ‘covering the course’ (Smyth et al., 2011). As they approach the exam, many students, especially highly ambitious young people from middle-class backgrounds, become more instrumental in their focus, equating good teaching with teaching to the test. Private education plays a particularly prominent role in this context (Smyth, Banks, 2012). Young people report curtailing sports and social activities in their final secondary school year, spending long hours on homework, study and private tutoring, resulting, especially for many girls, in high levels of reported stress prior to the exam (Hannan et al., 1996; Banks, Smyth, 2015). This paper assesses the role of private tuition in the lives of Irish secondary school students of different social backgrounds and attending different school contexts. It is guided by two central research questions:

1. What motivates Irish teenagers to engage in private tuition in advance of the terminal Leaving Certificate examination?
2. What impact does such tuition have in terms of their preparedness for the examination and for their broader wellbeing? 

This paper is based on research in 10 case-study schools in March and April 2018. Data from the Irish Department of Education and Skills was used to identify 10 mainstream second-level schools for in-depth analysis. The schools were selected on the basis of two key dimensions: social mix and gender mix. Over and above these two dimensions, schools were selected to capture a variety in terms of school size (which is known to have an impact on ability grouping), sector and location. Within each case study school, focus group interviews were undertaken with final year students from advanced and standard (higher and ordinary level) mathematics classes. In-depth interviews with school principals, guidance counsellors, and three teachers (English, Mathematics and one optional subject) were also undertaken. A small number of parents across the schools were also interviewed by telephone. All interviews were recorded, with consent, and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using NVivo, taking an inductive approach. In advance of the research, a detailed research plan was submitted to a Research Ethics Committee, to ensure the highest standards were maintained throughout the study. A key focus of the research is on the student voice - students’ own experience and perceptions of the Leaving Certificate examination. In each school, two in-depth focus group interviews were conducted with final year students, one group taking advanced mathematics, the other taking standard mathematics. These interviews focused on: • Decision-making regarding subject standard chosen; sources of information and advice used; perceived ‘risk’ in level take-up; • Exam preparation within and outside class; participation in grinds/private tuition – role and impact of such tuition; perceived readiness for the Leaving Certificate exams; • Perceived preparedness for further/higher education and the world of work. The student voice is framed by evidence from school personnel (school management, teachers and Guidance Counsellors), assessing practice and policies at the school and classroom level framing teaching and learning in the classroom and student decision-making.

The results highlight the centrality of grinds in the lives of students in their final secondary school year, across all school contexts. Students spoke about the need to have additional one-on-one support, particularly for Maths given the demands of the course.In the context of the high stakes examination system, an interesting theme was a lack of trust in the classroom teacher’s ability to teach subjects and to predict exam content. Some students reported not feeling confident in the abilities of teachers and this was their motivation for accessing grinds. Similarly, there was a consensus among many students that grinds teachers can predict exam content and provide better notes than class teachers. Many students that grinds are a necessity for doing well in certain subjects, mainly advanced Maths. However, this was also seen as central to maximising ‘points’ (examination performance) more generally, with school context differentiating student views here. Students themselves felt that the ‘grinds culture’ results in inequality among those students who can’t afford grinds and makes for an uneven playing field. The growth of shadow education internationally reflects the growing marketisation of education and the emergence of profit-driven educational services and competitiveness between schools (Lynch and Moran, 2006). While accessing private tuition enables students to ‘neutralise their disadvantaged family background’ (Entrich, 2018) in some contexts, in this study private tutoring serves to reproduce social inequality. In assessing the role of private tuition across 10 distinct school contexts in Ireland, four of which are identified as socially disadvantaged and in receipt of additional funding on that basis, this paper provides a valuable insight into the marketisation of education. It also highlights the dangers in high stakes education systems, where shadow education serves to both further reinforce social gaps in performance and opportunity and to create additional pressures for young people.

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