Differentiated demand for private supplementary tutoring: Patterns and implications in Hong Kong secondary education

•53.8% of Hong Kong Grade 9 students, and 71.8% in Grade 12, receive private tutoring in addition to regular classes.•Tutoring takes various forms, ranging from one-to-one to lecture-style video classes.•The tutoring is a form of privatization alongside the public provision of education.•Factors underlying the demand for tutoring can be disaggregated at the school, family and individual levels.

A growing number of students around the world receive private tutoring in academic subjects. Such tutoring is widely called shadow education because it mimics regular schooling as the school sector grows, so does the shadow; and as the curriculum in the school changes, so does the curriculum in the shadow. Private tutoring has long been a significant phenomenon in East Asia, but has not received adequate research attention.This paper focuses on private tutoring in Hong Kong. It draws on data collected through questionnaires from students in Grades 9 and 12, and analyzes the factors which shape the demand for private tutoring. The paper highlights the influence of school, family and individual factors on students’ demand, and reports on students’ declared reasons for taking private tutoring. It commences with a broad comparative picture, and concludes by showing what the Hong Kong data add to wider conceptual understanding.