Comprehensive national surveys of primary schools were conducted in nine Francophone West African countries in 2014. These surveys include information on private tutoring which enables in-depth analysis to be undertaken of both the overall incidence of tutoring provision among primary school students and teachers. The main conclusion of this study is that, among this group of countries, many of the broad generalisations and received wisdom concerning private tutoring in the sub-Saharan Africa either do not hold or need to be substantially qualified.