PRIVATE tuition agencies are enjoying a boom time.

And one firm that is currently enjoying the fruits of that upturn today pointed the blame squarely at Swindon Council's Local Education Authority for failing to provide the town's schools with the resources necessary for a good standard of education.

Nichola Cowling of Headstart in Old Town currently has 25 pupils on her books and a waiting list of 30 more, after setting up her business in September 2001.

She is to move to new, expanded premises for the start of the new school year in September.

She said: "We are in a bit of a state with education in Swindon so I have had a lot of enquiries from parents of secondary school pupils.

"It is not the teachers' fault, but the education system in the town.

"I teach all pupils all the way from five years old to 14 or 15, and I am about to start taking in older pupils because of the demand.

"Parents have a bit of money aside and they think private tuition is where to spend it. We can't guarantee that pupils will get a certain mark but their confidence will improve."

Parents who Nichola comes into contact with tell her that teachers are working hard in difficult circumstances. But Swindon is one of the most poorly funded education authorities in the country the town receives thousands of pounds less per pupil in funding than most of the country.

In Tower Hamlets, in London's East End, £4,265 is spent per pupil almost £2,000 more than Swindon's £2,436. Just a few miles down the M4 in Reading, every pupil gets £300 more spent on them.

Last September, Government inspectors Ofsted humiliated Swin-don's education authority with a report that told of serious weaknesses caused by poor leadership and decision making among senior councillors and officers.

Since the report, Dr Mike Lusty, Norrie Porter and Ian Bennett, the officers running the department, have all departed, but council leader Sue Bates remains in power despite briefly handing over the reins to her Conservative rival Mike Bawden.

Private company Tribal Edu-cation is now attempting to turn the LEA around.

Miriam Robertson, of Premier Tutors, said her pupil numbers were up by more than 30 per cent in the last 18 months.

She said: "Demand used to be high from the secondary schools but now we are seeing a big increase in pupils from primary school too.

"I think it is because children are required to know more now and schools are under a lot of pressure because of Ofsted reports and SATS results putting them in league tables.

"Parents are much more aware of the standards today and if their child is a bit behind they will do everything they can to help them."

Teachers in the town believe the rise in private tuition is not a cause for concern. Andrew Nye, chairman of the Swindon Association of Primary Heads, said that having tuition could only benefit pupils.

He said: "Any child getting individual attention is going to improve from it. Teachers work hard to get parents to spend a little time each day on targeted work, which is a great help.

"If parents are in a position to pay for good quality teaching supplementary to what is in schools, it is bound to help the child."

This view is echoed by tutor Sarah Fitzgerald, 31, from Old Town, who gave up teaching in a primary school to have a family and now teaches primary age children. She said: "I currently only tutor one child but the work is there if I wanted to take more on.

"Children learn at different rates and take different things in, and if a child fails to fully get to grips with something at an early age it can make it very hard for them.

"Some children need a bit more help on certain things and more parents are turning to private tuition to get that help."

Ron Davis, who runs Ridgeway Tutorial in Wroughton with his wife Lynda, said: "We have noticed a big increase in demand because the Government has raised people's expectations of education and failed to deliver. Because people are more affluent, they are doing things themselves.

"The fact that Swindon's education service has not been giving schools the support they need possibly has something to do with it.

"The state system wants all children to be the same and the fact is they are different.

"Teachers are forced to teach to a script to get the best SATS results and it has taken the fun out of teaching."

Council spokesman Adrian Ruck said: "The Government's Ofsted inspection of the local education authority was not an inspection of our schools. Many of Swindon's schools have received excellent Ofsted reports.

"Parents may choose to pay for private tuition if they feel that their children will benefit from it. We support anything that helps children achieve their full potential, including the use of private tutors."