More than one in five teenagers at state secondary schools in England and Wales have had a private tutor to help them with their schoolwork, a survey has found. The figure rises to nearly half of pupils in London.

Growing numbers of parents are turning to tutors to improve their children's grades, the survey of 2,199 11- to 16-year-olds revealed.

Some 22% of those polled for education charity the Sutton Trust had been helped by a private tutor since they started school, compared with 18% in a 2005 poll.

In London, 43% of pupils have had a home tutor, compared with 36% in 2005. Pupils in south-east England are the next most likely to have had a tutor, with 28% saying they had. Those least likely to have had outside help were in Yorkshire and the Humber, where only 11% had used tutors.

The Sutton Trust, which commissioned the Ipsos Mori poll, said the growth in private tutors widened the gap between what the poorest and richest children might achieve at school.

Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the trust, believes; "The fact that approaching half the children in London have received private tuition reflects the relative affluence of the capital, increased competition for school places and, perhaps, some parental concerns over the quality of their children's schooling”.