The article examines family socioeconomic determinants that stimulate students' demand for private supplementary tutoring in English in urban and rural areas. It identifies the scale disparities of tutoring demand factors between urban and rural settings. Usually private supplementary tutoring is called shadow education that parallels mainstream school education before or after school hours on extra fee basis. This study found in a 2014-2015 survey that 84.7% urban and 60.7% rural secondary students received private supplementary tutoring in English. The research employed an explanatory sequential mixed method design including quantitative and qualitative data collected from a survey and individual interview. In spite of emergence of tutoring demand, a few students could not be capable to receive private English tutoring. Family socioeconomic standpoints shake forms of students' claims for learning through tutoring. The study draws on Bourdieu's theory of capital, which is then linked with family ability for children's tutoring.