Learning anxiety: in which subjects tutoring services will become more expensive
The Center for the Economics of Continuing Education of the Presidential Academy has found out that 63% of first-year students of Russian universities studied with a tutor before entering. The average cost of an academic hour of individual lessons in Russian language and math in Moscow reaches 1200-1700 rubles, depending on the purpose, but in 2025 the researchers expect the cost of tutoring services to increase. More about the tutor market - in the material "Izvestia".
How many students enter with the help of tutors
The Center for Continuing Education Economics of the Presidential Academy conducted a study (available at the disposal of "Izvestia") in 2023-2024. More than 1 thousand university students in different Russian cities took part in it.
It turned out that 63% of first-year students of Russian universities studied with tutors on an individual basis before enrollment. This figure has remained stable since the beginning of the research in 2015-2016, the RANEPA reported.
Surveys of parents show that only 35% of them believe that the school is able to prepare students to get a high score on the USE. The rest send their children to university preparatory courses or hire tutors, even "to get into a good college".
About half of students attended university preparatory courses or tutors in a group before enrollment. At the same time, for example, in the profile physics with a tutor are more often engaged individually, and in Russian language - in a group or at preparatory courses, experts note.
In addition, about a quarter of high school students in 10-11 grades purposefully change school for a stronger one.
How much do tutors cost and how much will they go up in price?
The Center for Continuing Education Economics points out with reference to data from various studies that one academic hour (45 minutes) of lessons with a tutor in Russian language and mathematics in Moscow costs 1200-1300 rubles. The price increases to 1500-1700 if the goal is preparation for the USE. At the same time, personal lessons are more expensive than remote ones, and their average cost can exceed 1700 rubles.
Researchers of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration believe that in 2025 in Moscow prices for preparation for the USE in social studies and history will increase significantly from 1500-1700 rubles to 2000 rubles per academic hour. The price of geography, chemistry and biology classes will also rise.
Maria Safonova, head of the search marketing department of "Profi.ru", in turn, expects the cost of tutoring services to increase by 5-10% per year, depending on the level of demand and competition.
- At the same time, in some cases, for example, for tutors in highly demanded subjects, such as math, Russian and foreign languages, the price increase may be up to 10-15% per year," she told Izvestia.
Arseny Filin, founder of the online school of preparation for the USE Grand Exam and the eponymous Telegram-channel about education, notes that the price increase is conditional, because after the COVID-19 pandemic parents began to use remote technologies more actively, and Muscovites began to turn to tutors from other regions more often. And in general, students have more opportunities to see different price offers.
-We cannot say that the quality of training depends unambiguously on the cost," he told Izvestia. - It is better not to focus on the price at all: if you see that a tutor is too expensive, you will 100% find a specialist cheaper, but not worse. Besides, there are now many opportunities to prepare for exams on your own, even for free.
Anatoly Zhislin, General Director of "Tutor.Ru" LLC, generally confirms Arseny Filin's opinion: there is a very wide range of prices for lessons with a tutor - a beginner can charge eight times less for a lesson than a sought-after teacher. At the same time, he expects prices to rise this year, but they are unlikely to overtake inflation.
The press service of Avito Services told Izvestia that the average cost of a lesson with a tutor in Russia starts at 650 rubles per hour. One lesson in math will cost from 600 rubles per hour, in physics, chemistry and Russian language - from 700 rubles per hour. The cost depends on the experience and qualifications of the teacher.
Tatyana Klyachko, Director of the Center for the Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy , calls the reason for the rise in prices not only inflation, but also the general increase in nervousness of families of university entrants this year: someone fears that a fourth compulsory USE will be introduced, someone expects the cost of education in universities to rise, and someone is simply in a hurry to ensure the child's admission to university at the last minute.
Comparable to higher education
Researchers of the Presidential Academy note that parents of children who claim the highest possible USE score, as a rule, hire tutors for all three exams, which are necessary for admission to the chosen university. Thus, for Moscow, the maximum costs for one subject for individual face-to-face lessons can reach an average of 200-250 thousand rubles, and for all three subjects - about 600-750 thousand rubles.
Anatoly Zhislin believes that these amounts reflect the reality, but with all reservations he estimates the "average hospital" costs as half as much.
Researchers continue that if an applicant aims at enrolling in Moscow's top universities, the costs increase even more. And Tatyana Klyachko points out that some parents start preparing their child to enter a university with tutors almost from the fifth grade. In this case, the total cost of preparation for the USE by the time of graduation can reach 3 million rubles, which is "comparable to the cost of tuition at a fee-paying department of a good university".
Taking into account the spread of prices for tutoring across the country in the regions of Russia for a year in one subject can still run up a significant amount: 70-140 thousand rubles, depending on the subject, the researchers say.
Irina Abankina, a professor at the Institute of Education of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, calls the figures quoted by the Presidential Academy convincing, as recent studies by the Higher School of Economics showed similar data: preparation for admission to prestigious universities in each subject corresponds to a year of study at the university.
Is the number of tutors growing
Boris Ilyukhin, a senior researcher at the Center for Continuing Education Economics of the IPEI Presidential Academy, notes that sociological surveys show a tendency to increase the number of offers from tutors. According to him, tutors are not always school teachers - they are already loaded on 1.5-2 rates. Usually they are young people who "do not see their development within the school".
Irina Abankina notes that the growth in the supply of services is especially noticeable with the development of online platforms, which have become an attractive segment for combining work at school and in the tutoring sector.
- "We conducted a study together with Foxford and SkyEng, which showed that this has become a very serious alternative to school employment. According to our data, it's safe to say that at least 30% of school teachers combine jobs. And among young people, there are many who go completely into the tutoring field," she said.
Platforms confirm these conclusions: for example, the press service of "Avito Services" indicates that in January 2025 the number of ads from tutors compared to January last year increased by 14%, especially from teachers of computer science (+87%), social studies (+83%) and history (+47%). Profi.ru reports that the demand for tutors increased by 5% from 2022 to 2023 and by 8% from 2023 to 2024. Anatoly Zhislin from Tutor.Ru notes that a significant increase in the number of tutor offers occurs in the second half of January, and the peak value is reached in September. At the same time, we can speak of an "undoubted growth" of offers for the year as a whole.
What is the place of tutoring in education
Irina Abankina notes that Russia has a rather large share of "shadow education". This term was introduced by Professor Mark Bray of the University of Hong Kong, meaning not gray employment, but exactly the "shadow" that school education "casts" in terms of finance and economics. According to his research, in South Korea the costs of "shadow education" are almost comparable to the costs of official school education, and in Finland, where tutoring is discouraged and even suppressed, there is no such shadow at all. In Russia, according to Abankina, this shadow is no less than 30% of the total costs of school education, and the share is gradually approaching 50%.
The fact is that in Russia, the school does a good job of preparing for the USE at an average level, minimizing the cases when students do not pass the Unified State Exam at all. But there are practically no subjects where the average score in the country as a whole exceeds 60, she says.
Nevertheless, not everyone is ready to consider tutoring as a full-fledged part of the modern educational process. Vilena Lizyaeva, a math teacher at the 20th Lyceum in Ulyanovsk and a teacher at the Alye Parusa Center for Gifted Children, points to "unequal conditions for students," since access to additional knowledge depends on the family's financial resources, and that "resorting to tutors can undermine students' motivation," creating "dependence on outside help" and reducing responsibility for their own education.
Angelina Ryabina, director of the Astrakhan Linguistic Gymnasium, believes that tutoring can be dangerous, especially if inexperienced first-year student teachers are involved. She also points out the possibility of staff shortage due to teachers leaving for tutoring. Alexei Panfilov, acting principal of Orekhovo-Zuyevo's School No. 4, believes that "tutoring is a part of our education, but a part that distorts the educational reality.
The state has not yet formed an attitude towards tutors. Arseny Filin says that he personally asked this question to the representatives of Rosobornadzor, but did not get an unambiguous answer.
-I was a little upset about it, because there are attacks on tutors who allegedly "suck money from children and parents" and "create inequality ," he said. - But now, thanks to the USE, it is easier than ever to prepare for exams without tutors. It all depends on the child's motivation. Moreover, tutoring is not some kind of "bribe". It is a closing of the needs of parents, teachers and children.
And Mikhail Lebedev, deputy director of middle and high schools "New Look", is sure that in education individual requests for tutoring "have always been and will always be, as will be the variety of programs of study in universities, including with a certain set of entrance tests". At the same time, according to him, there is no unambiguous connection "tutoring - quality university education", because there are quite a lot of opportunities for in-depth study of subjects both in and out of school.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
