This chapter examines the relationship between private tutoring in the preuniversity
education sector and social class dynamics in Egypt. During the last
three decades, tutoring has become an integral feature of the Egyptian education
system. Students across all social strata participate in private and group lessons at
home, larger study groups, and revision classes with ‘star teachers’ in tutoring
centres. Despite growing disparities in lifestyle, schooling experiences, and
opportunities, students’ choice of tutors and different forms of tutoring usually
follow a common logic. I argue that, while unequal access to tutoring is likely to
have a detrimental effect on equity, equality of opportunities has long been
undermined by policies of privatisation and an increasing social segregation in the
formal education sector.