Cram your way to higher grades

Tough new entry rules for school sixth forms and increasing competition for top university places are persuading parents to shell out hundreds of pounds for Easter revision courses. There was a time when the final holiday before the exam season entailed panicking in a darkened room. These days, however, a two or three-week stint at a private tutorial college is increasingly popular, both for GCSE and A-level students.

The best-known courses are run by what used to be known as the crammers, specialising in sixth form study. But the next few weeks will also see scores of ad hoc courses springing up around the country, often in rented premises, cashing in on the growing demand for last minute help.

Gareth Thomas, director of studies at the Davies, Laing & Dick (DLD) tutorial college in west London says his numbers have expanded by a third in the last three years, and one major factor is the tendency for popular sixth forms to demand minimum GCSE grades before giving students a place. It is no longer unusual to expect at least a C from potential A-level students.

"The number of GCSE students has increased significantly," says Thomas. "There is also a big increase in the number of students wanting to do higher tier courses. It's no longer cramming to pass. It's trying to make sure you get the As. Students and parents are far more aware of the importance of exam results. And schools are far more selective about their requirements."

Crammers have long had a reputation for servicing the rich but dim. These days however, a more able range of students appears to be signing up for a final polish.

James Burnett, co-principal at Mander Portman and Woodward's (MPW) London college has noticed something similar. "The calibre of student is getting better," he says. "They're aiming higher for two reasons. A lot of schools are careful about who they will let into their sixth forms. And university entrance is becoming more competitive."

MPW has branches in London, Cambridge and Birmingham and is one of the largest and most prestigious of the private sixth forms. The Abbey Colleges in London, Birmingham, Cambridge and Manchester are important players, too. But the Easter revision market is big business for a range of institutions, with public schools such as Harrow and Millfield getting in on the act.

According to MPW, the initial growth of interest came with the publication of examination league tables in the mid 1990s, when its Easter numbers doubled. Since then GCSE has been the main growth area, along with AS level. Students have tumbled to the fact that it is easier to score well in the first half of a full A-level course, and are concentrating their time and energy on squeezing out AS marks.

Dr Norma Ball is executive secretary of the Council for Independent Further Education, which represents 24 of the tutorial colleges, and she is confident that the revision programmes work. "I sent my son to Collingham, one of our colleges, to do a language course. My boy is no linguist but he got a B at A-level French."

What, then, do they offer? Technique, technique and more technique appears to be the answer. Typically, a single subject will take up five half days of teaching in small, intensive classes. The lessons will be taught by college staff with some help from teachers at local state and private schools.

"A lot of it is simply building confidence," says James Burnett of MPW. "It is showing students that somewhere in their minds they know the stuff, and focusing that on the exams. It is also showing them what the examiners want, what they need to write and getting them to write it under exam conditions. It puts a structure to it. One of the problems for a lot of students is knowing what's important when they come to revise." MPW even tailors its revision lessons for the three different examination boards.

This expertise comes at a price, of course, typically around £300 for five half days of A-level tuition. Some of MPW's clients come from state schools, but 60-70 per cent have been privately educated. If crammers are no longer for the rich and thick, they are still favoured by the reasonably well-to-do.