MORE East Lancashire teachers are turning to private tuition to supplement their income or because they are disillusioned with the profession, it is claimed.

New research found four in 10 teachers have worked as private tutors in an industry that is worth £2billion.

The proportion of pupils receiving private tuition has risen by more than a third in the past decade, something East Lancashire union chiefs warn will be made worse following prime minister Theresa May's announcement that a ban on new grammar schools will be lifted.

Educational think tank the Sutton Trust, who conducted the research, said the 'growing private tuition market is further exacerbating educational inequalities'.

They have recommended the government introduces a means-tested voucher scheme to provide tuition to children and that private tuition agencies should provide a proportion of their tuition to disadvantaged pupils for free.

But Simon Jones, Lancashire representative for the National Union of Teachers, said a voucher scheme is not the answer.

He said: "I do not think making vouchers available is the answer. Investing properly in state education is the real answer, but that is not the ideology of this government.

"They should be investing in schools, having smaller class sizes and stopping the obsession with testing.

"If the expansion of grammar schools goes ahead the private tuition market will explode."

Mr Jones said circumstances often lead to teachers having to take on extra work as tutors.

He said: "Teachers who are doing that are those that are struggling to make ends meet, perhaps because of student loan debt or high rents.

"Some teachers have had enough of the Ofsted regime in schools and have decided to teach privately instead."

John Girdley, NASUWT representative for Lancashire, said: "This is an indictment of our education system, that parents feel they need to spend this money to get their children in to schools and that teachers have to go out and do this work.

"If the grammar school proposals go through clearly the pressure that will put on some parents and children will be phenomenal.

"The way teachers' wages have fallen behind over the last six years is appalling. I can understand why they are taking on extra work.

"I feel sorry for them and sorry for the parents who feel obliged to spend that amount of money."

Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said: "Private tuition is widespread and increasingly so.

"Nearly half of teachers have tutored and a quarter of teenagers have been tutored.

"But with costs of at least £25 per session many cannot afford to benefit from this extra support, which exacerbate education inequalities."