So it should not be too great a surprise to learn that tutors are especially busy in exam season, rushing to capitalise on the massive pressure to gain an offer, any offer at a Russell Group (the British equivalent of the Ivy League) university. 

Oxbridge admission has spawned an entire industry, with companies offering bespoke packages of intensive tuition and interview practice. I believe these packages to be a waste of time and money on the part of the applicant, but who am I to turn up my nose at a cool £400 for a few hours of chit-chat and the promise of a cash bonus for success? Interview preparation packages pretend to demystify the process while making it more daunting and complex in order to extract the maximum amount of cash from ambitious parents. College interviewers spend a surprisingly large amount of time in the real world: they can tell the intensively prepared from the naturally bright and engaging. 

Tuition, though, is still morally superior to other means of earning a little extra money: outfits such as Oxbridge Essays charge up to £600 to have a graduate write your dissertation for you. Private tuition is at least not outright cheating. 

The government's relentless levelling down of standards may have created, on paper, a higher level of achievement across the board. However, in reality, it has only encouraged more parents to spend money on expensive private tuition — rather than creating any kind of equality, parents are buying advantage as never before. Even some at Westminster are sensing the change, hence the announcement that one-to-one tuition in English and Maths for struggling students will form part of the curriculum by September 2010, costing £468 million. For experienced tutors, work is pouring in, and I am increasingly able to teach only those within 15 minutes of where I live, or ask students to come to my house for sessions (I provide free tea and biscuits). 

It all comes down to competition, in the end. The government's eternal promise to parents is more choice; but when that fails to materialise, they choose to pay me.