New research from Tutorful, the experts in online tutoring, reveals that 86% of secondary school parents in London think that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their child’s education, with parents believing that their child is behind a whole school year (10 months), with around 14 hours a week lost on education during to the pandemic. To catch up, London parents are estimated to splash out £400 million on tutors over the next school year to pass exams.

The study also reveals that 80% of parents are currently using (or considering) using a tutor, with parents believing that 15 hours a week of tuition is needed, with parents willing to spend up to £53 an hour to help them progress and catch up on school.

Also, the majority of parents (54%) think that their child will miss out on future job opportunities and 36% think that their child won’t be offered the highest paying jobs. Science (50%), English (46%) and Maths (42%) are the top subjects that parents feel their child is the most behind on, followed by history (16%), geography (15%) and music(14%).

Looking regionally, parents of children in Liverpool, Leeds and Edinburgh think that their children are the most behind compared to other regions, with Liverpool and Leeds being 11 months behind and Edinburgh 10 months. York is the least behind with 6 months.

The pandemic has also had an impact on both parents and students mental health, with a staggering 90% of students stressed about their education, 30% of children losing confidence in their work and capabilities; and parents having lost an average of 76 hours a month in sleep.

Mark Hughes, CEO and Founder of Tutorful, comments: “August and September are the peak months for parents to search for tutors as students head back to school. Since the pandemic, we have seen a 400% increase in tutoring lessons to help with lost time on education and thanks to us offering top tutors nationally and our leading digital learning tools.

“With 2022 expected to go back to the pre-COVID examination process, the pressure is on to help children catch up. Tutorful is helping by making it easy by bringing all of the best tutors into one place. Users have access to thousands of tutors specialising in a huge range of subjects, which can easily be narrowed down based on price and availability”.