Supplementary Tutoring for Compulsory Education Students in China: Status and Trends

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the current status of, and developmental trends affecting, the participation in supplementary tutoring by compulsory education students in China. Design/Approach/Methods Based on the data from the China Family Panel Study (CFPS) conducted by the Peking University Institute of Social Science Survey in 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016, the paper uses the method of multilevel linear model to comprehensively analyze problems involving a multilevel data structure. Findings The paper finds that the proportion of compulsory education students participating in supplementary tutoring (and the expenditure on such tutoring) increased annually before declining in 2016. Students with higher socioeconomic status, higher school quality, and better academic performance have a higher tutoring participation rate and also spend more on tutoring. Students in China's three northeastern provinces and eastern coastal areas have higher participation rates in tutoring and higher tutoring expenditures. Originality/Value Supplementary tutoring in China already has its own developmental patterns and trends; however, few scholars have empirically studied the developmental patterns and trends of supplementary tutoring in compulsory education based on longitudinal survey data.