Ouseburn Tutors and Ouseburn Tuition

Personal Description:
Expert in Maths, Physics, and Electrical & Electronic Engineering modules with a knack for simplifying complex concepts and helping students 'get it.'

I have taught over 500 students at GCSE and A-Level, in addition to running after-school revision workshops and engineering clubs. Each of my students has passed with an above-average A* - C grade, with the vast majority going on to top universities in the UK and USA.

I can also create tests with full marking and written feedback for students whose main concern is improving their exam performance.

Teaching Experience:
Over 10 years of experience in teaching Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and Electronics to GCSE and A-levels, including five years of experience in teaching electrical and electronic engineering at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I have taught for all major exam boards, including AQA, Edexcel and OCR.

Tutoring Approach:
Having excellent knowledge and skills, I could identify a student's learning needs and define appropriate learning objectives to help them improve their grades, including setting tests and supporting recommendations for improvement. About 90% of my students have achieved distinction in their board exams.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I'm a 19 year old Language student from Buckinghamshire. I love to travel and explore what the world has to offer, and I believe a knowledge of foreign languages is the key that unlocks the hidden potential of the rest of the world.

Teaching Experience:
3 yrs Tutoring and Language prefect during time at The Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe.

Tutoring Approach:
As a language student myself, I am aware that there is not strict formula to success when learning a foreign language. The teaching style must be adapted to the student, and I feel I have the widespread skills and patience to find a route suitable to every candidate.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I have been working as a maths tutor since 2011 and online exclusively since 2015. During this period, I have successfully assisted students studying for their GCSE, IB and A-levels as well as their undergraduate modules. This has taken place both privately and while holding external tutoring roles in various London schools. In the online realm, I have worked with students from all over the world, those studying for UK specifications as well as undergraduates in English speaking universities or wishing to attend UK universities. Areas usually covered for undergraduates include analysis and calculus, analytic and differential geometry, financial maths, linear algebra, statistics and probability.

Regarding my tutoring method, I strive to create a well balanced relationship with pupils. I set clear targets for my students and expect them to develop throughout our sessions. Additionally, I emphasize on the suitable approach for each individual in order to have the best results possible. I further consider humour an essential part of my sessions as it creates a better learning environment, eliminates inhibitions, and promotes a more enjoyable session.

Lastly, in my lessons, I put a lot of emphasis on the background knowledge of every topic and method - dry memorising is of no use. Exams aside, analytic skills accompany students throughout their studies in various areas.

I'm very friendly and passionate with what I do. I'm enthusiastic with teaching and especially maths and I am trying to convey this feeling to my students as well. Maths is not plainly something you have to learn but something fun you could learn. Of course we all care about grades but what counts most at the end of the day is the new mindset you have acquired, upon which you can carry on building within any discipline.

On a more personal note, I am a keen yoga practitioner and a performer in contemporary dance. Philosophy is my second passion following mathematics - abstract thinking to the fullest. When time allows, I explore the intersections of philosophy with various disciplines and practices.

Teaching Experience:
Have been working as a maths tutor for pupils taking common entrance, GCSE, IGCSE, IB, A-levels and undergraduates, for the past eight years.

Below there's a selection of past and on going clients:
•Leyla: (17 yo) Home-tutoring for Maths AS-level. Focusing on C1, C2 and S1. Leyla achieved an A.
•Nicole: (18 yo) Home-tutoring for Maths A2-level. Concentrating on C3, C4 and S2. Nicole's result was a B.
•Sharan: (1st year University of Bristol, Business Studies) Exercise sheet guidance and preparation for summer exams in Maths and Statistics.
•Seb: (17 yo) Weekend home-tutoring for Maths IGCSE. Went from a predicted C to a B. Currently assisting on A level C1, C2, S1; predicted A.
•James: (17 yo) Home-tutoring for Maths A2-level, focusing on C3, C4 and S2.
•Charlotte: (1st year University of Queen Mary, Mathematical Studies) Assisted with problem sheets and exam preparation on Calculus and Probability.
•Charles: (Adult learner, involved in banking) Providing maths revision on foundations of GCSE and A level syllabus.
•Cheyne: (2nd year Birkbeck Economics) Assistance given on understanding Quantitative Technics and exam preparation.
•Tom: (1st year UCL Economics) Guidance given on problem sheets as well as exam preparation on Mathematics for Business.
•Isabella: (18 yo girl) Home tutoring from IGCSE to A-level C1,C2,C3,C4,M1,S1; managed an overall B and successfully went on to study at Surrey University

Selected testimonies:

Akash 10/01/2018
"Panos is very punctual and has an excellent style of teaching by going through content and various questions related to the content. He also goes the extra mile and sends clear and concise notes based on the content which is extremely helpful in helping you grip the content in the long term. Panos has helped me gain as high as 94% on assessments based on topics which i was failing before i had my lessons with him."

Peiwen 13/04/2018
"I like Panos` way of teaching as he guided me to get closer to the answer with great patience instead of giving me the answer. He also knows where I get stuck and he gives clear explanation to clear the confusion I have! Thank you!"

Kiara 28/02/2018
"Very happy with Panos as a tutor, definitely one of the best decisions I have made. He makes things nice and easy to understand and this is by far the most comfortable online learning experience I`ve had. Helped me get an A* predicted for my undergraduate foundation programme!"

Anna 05/12/2017
"I am studying and require maths as part of my bachelors' degree. My tutor is quick in giving me what is needed. I want to thank him, because he goes above and beyond with his help. Our sessions are online and are very effective."

Tutoring Approach:
I`m very flexible with days and times as long as sufficient notice is given.

*With regard to my rates, they are negotiable for block booking and I also offer a free trial for online sessions.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I am Argentinian from Buenos Aires and have been living in the UK for 16 years. I have a good level of experience teaching a range of age groups and in different settings, as well as a good command of both languages.

Teaching Experience:
I have a first certificate of in English qualification from the Cambridge Board as well as a secondary school diploma in education. I have taught Spanish at the Korean Institute for two years, with students ranging from 5 year olds up to adults. I spent three years teaching Graphic Design, Aesthetics and Art History to students aged 18 and older at the University of Buenos Aires, and also offered tutoring in English classes to adults, as well as English conversation classes.

I have an MA in Art History from Birkbeck University and did several courses on painting and illustration. I've been a practising artist for 15 years.

Tutoring Approach:
I have a wide experience, having taught individuals and groups, provided structured lessons as well as less formal conversation classes and used these skills across a range of age groups.

I am an enthusiastic, hard-working person and passionate about the importance of learning different languages. I see this as the best way of extending people's worlds and ideas.

Subjects

Personal Description:
Award-winning, fully qualified teacher, Scholar (RSC), mentor and education consultant with over a decade of teaching experience helping students get into the top school and finest universities in the country.

✦✦ QUALIFICATIONS ✦✦
Masters in regenerative medicine (Distinction): Queen Mary University of London, Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Ranked 2nd in the cohort.

PGCE (Science): King's College London, Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy. Commended "Outstanding Trainee "in reports

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS): Department for Education, Result: Qualified

Awarded £29000 Teacher Training Scholarship from The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) for outstanding performance.

BEng (Honours) Chemical & Process Engineering from London South Bank University - Completed the course with a full scholarship.

✦✦ IB AND A-LEVEL RESULTS IN 2022 ✦✦
Number of students achieved their target grade: 12
The number of students who exceeded their predicted grade: 8
Target universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, LSC, Manchester, UCL, Kings, Nottingham

✦✦ GCSE RESULTS IN 2022 ✦✦
Number of students who achieved their target grade: 15
Number of students who exceeded their predicted grade: 14 (Grade changes at least 2)
Number of students who topped in their school: 5

Teaching Experience:
• Over a decade of teaching experience in teaching and working with many London schools, including grammar and private schools
• Helped thousands of students achieve their true potential to be successful
• More than 90% of all my students went to Russel group universities (Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial etc.)
• Most of my past students have achieved their qualifications from prestigious universities and worked for the top companies in the world.
• I have past students who are running successful businesses in the field of finance, accounting, medicine and research.
• I was lucky enough to be mentored by some of the best teachers from a relatively young age which helped me to train teachers and trainee teachers to be exceptional in their fields.
• I was branded "Super Tutor" by many tutoring agencies in London and the Middle east.
• I have been working with many highly privileged students from the Middle East, Asia and Russia.
• I have extensively worked with many finest tutoring agencies in London.
• I run intensive revision sessions for students in the summer to boost their performance.

Tutoring Approach:
• I believe every student is unique, including their way of learning. My success as a great teacher is because of my teaching adaptation to match students' needs and learning styles.
• I always held high expectations of my student, and I firmly believe everyone has the potential to achieve greatness, irrespective of their current state.
• I believe in each student's capacity and what they can achieve. I have always seen my past and present students break their barriers of limitations and achieve great results.
• I teach students to the optimum zone where a task is not too easy or not too hard but just right. This approach would keep the task interesting for students and is one of the critical components in my teaching success.
• I always establish mutual respect as it brings out the best in the students in my classes.
• I break down the complex ideas in science and maths into simple, manageable chunks of information, which the student later recombines to form the original complex concepts.
• During my lessons, I facilitate students to think and use logic to understand the concepts by nudging their thinking in the right direction. This caused the student to take the learning into their hand and avoid rote learning.
• I focus more on accuracy and speed during exam time by giving them exam techniques and tips. This method would boost their confidence and brings results.
• Due to my extensive experience with subjects, concepts, and exam boards, I know where students struggle the most and what mistakes they can make. This expertise allows me to address them while I teach, eliminating the chance of them occurring in the first place.
• I also monitor students regularly and give feedback to the parent/guardian in due time.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I very much enjoy tutoring pupils on a one to one and in small group situations. I am currently Head of Department in ICT and Computing. My particular strengths lie in creating Websites, Flash, Programming, Python, Binary Code and Computer Science Theory to A Level. I can also teach up to University undergraduate level and have achieved very successful results.

Teaching Experience:
I have taught in the following curriculum areas: IT and Computer Science at KS3. KS4 and KS5. I am also qualified to teach Mathematics. I have taught in sixth form colleges and mainstream mixed schools (averaging 1600 students). My teaching has span over 20 years because for me teaching it not only job it is a passion and helping the young of today achieve academically is a wonderful outcome for me and my students. I have also managed my own IT department, where I have achieved very good GCSE and A Level results in IT and Computer Science.

Tutoring Approach:
My approach to tutoring is to set achievable smart targets and setting goals for all my students. Deliver sessions at a pace that is comfortable to my students. All of my teaching resources are inclusive, differentiated to suit all learners and where possible all students are stretched further to enhance their learning abilities and well-being. I also engage in using different teaching styles to suit each student accordingly. All students are regularly assessed and monitored to ensure that adequate progress, good attainment and all targets are being met.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I am an experienced teacher who moved back to my home in Chichester 18 months ago having spent the previous 11 years teaching in an IAPS school in Nairobi, Kenya. Before that I taught at Westbourne House Prep School for 9 years as a Year 2 class teacher. I am an enthusiastic, creative and dedicated teacher and I enjoy building up trust and loyalty with children so that they can be filled with confidence when learning. I enjoy adapting my teaching skills to suit their individual learning styles and I am particularly interested in all aspects of Literacy

Teaching Experience:
My roles have included Class teacher, Literacy Coordinator for Years 2, 3 and 4 as well as Year 3 Coordinator from 2011 - 2017. I have also taught children who speak English as a secondary, rather than their primary language. I make my maths teaching fun and I am able to help those who are having difficulty with any subject within the National curriculum as well as those who may need challenging.

Tutoring Approach:
I regard tutoring as an ideal way to encourage children to reach their potential, to help children enjoy learning so that they look forward to what they are going to learn next, to build up trust and friendship with each child and to work together with the child's parents encouraging confidence and self-esteem within the child.

Subjects

Personal Description:
PLEASE SEE 'TUTORING EXPERIENCE' BELOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THIS PAGE, THE RESULTS AND FEEDBACK

I am an Oxford graduate (English language and literature, first class), as well as a qualified English teacher, and have been tutoring since 2013. My specialism is A-level English literature.

Please get in touch for online English tuition, particularly if you are or your child is

• Preparing to take A-levels in 2026/27
• Doing coursework
• Working on the basis of continuous assessment, mocks, etc.
• Or planning to do / doing an English degree

I graduated from the University of Oxford with a double first in English language and literature, winning the prize for the best performance in English finals at Mansfield College, and the college essay prize. At school, I was awarded eleven GCSEs at A-star and three A-levels at A.

As well as tutoring, I have worked as a researcher, a copywriter, and a proofreader. I have also completed a PGCE in secondary English at the UCL Institute of Education, the highest-ranking college of education in the world ('QS World University Rankings'), during which I taught all age groups at two west London secondary schools, and received A's for my master's-level assignments. I am currently pursuing a PhD in English literature at the University of Buckingham.

As well as English tuition at any level, I can help you or your child with the following:

• Oxbridge entrance (the admissions process, practice interviews, the ELAT, etc.)
• Essay surgery - how to structure and write an essay
• How to revise - note-taking, organisation, making connections, committing to memory
• Grammar, punctuation, and style (a.k.a. 'usage and abusage')
• Speech-writing and public speaking
• Proofreading and redrafting essays
• Suggested reading and resources, including access to my library of 'TES' resources
• Creative writing
• How to annotate, analyse (and enjoy) English literature - sometimes known as 'close reading' or 'practical criticism'
• If you'd specifically like written feedback on your writing - more like a correspondence course - then I can also provide that.

In my spare time I enjoy cycling, writing, and photography.

Teaching Experience:
I have been tutoring since 2013, teaching English at all levels (including degree level), as well as A-level religious studies and classical civilisation. I have taught AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/Eduqas, and CAIE (Cambridge International), and am constantly familiarising myself with the new texts that my students are studying. I have experience helping students who have autism and ADHD. And I am interested in the role of generative AI and large language models in education, not to write students' essays for them, but as research assistants for students and teachers alike. It is of course important that students do not get the likes of ChatGPT to write their essays for them, among other reasons because they will not be able to do so in the exams. Tutoring is well placed to discourage this, since it has always been my practice to ask my students many questions about every essay they write.

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A student, June 2025: 'thank you very much for all the sessions! It has not only boosted my confidence in English literature but they really reminded me of how much I love the subject. It's always a pleasure to discuss nuance readings of the texts, and it has been a great help leading up to my exams.'

Charlotte, a parent, June 2025: 'Thank you so much for all your help and support for [L.]. We are so grateful for everything you have done with him and wish you all the best.'

Ann, a parent, June 2025: '[Z.] has thoroughly enjoyed her lessons with you and has gained so much from your guidance. We're very grateful for all the support you've given her.'

A parent, May 2025: 'Thank you so much again for everything you've done to help [G.] prepare for these exams - he has really enjoyed his sessions with you and he and we really appreciate your support'.

A parent, May 2025: '[N.] just received the below. It's an A* if the grade boundaries is same as last year. She couldn't have done it without your help. We really appreciate it.'

A parent, February 2025: '[S.] is really enjoying studying with you and has gained a lot of confidence in English. I truly appreciate the effort and dedication you put into teaching.'

A student, January 2025: 'thank you ever so much for your kindness and creative encouragement the past months. What is very special about you as a tutor is that you have never told me "what to write". Instead, you have asked me questions about my work that have led me to discover what I truly wish to write'.

Kate, a parent, December 2024: 'We're so pleased [G.] is enjoying his sessions and seems to be really motivated to read widely in between sessions, is making useful structured notes (which he didn't do before) and his confidence and awareness of what he needs to do when essay writing is really building. Thank you!!!'

Eleni, a parent, December 2024: 'I just wanted to let you know that [D.] received an offer […] today! She is super happy! […] I wanted to thank you again as [D.] found your sessions incredibly helpful and inceased her confidence during the exams process.'

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A-level results, August 2024:

'I wanted to write to say a huge thank you to you for all the help, support and inspiration you have given [E.] over the past year. You have not only given her the technical advice and support to help her make the most of her essays and exams, but more importantly you have helped her keep the love of the subject alive. I know a big part of the reason she is so excited to study English at university is because of how much she has enjoyed your conversations, and how you have helped her to consider texts in a way that the rather narrower scope of teaching at school does not allow. I am so very grateful to you and I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into her sessions - thank you so very much. […] You've been so great, and any other student/parent would be lucky to have access to your teaching.'

'I have just opened my results and am happy to confirm that I am off to Bristol this September with an A* in English! I just want to thank you again for making this possible.'

'I got an A in English, and will be going to Exeter, so mission accomplished. I wanted to thank you for all your help, not only for helping me to get what I needed, but for giving me back my confidence and enjoyment of the subject in the process.'

'Just to let you know [I.] got her results this morning and achieved an 'A' in English. We are over the moon […] Thank you again for all your help with the English, it's much appreciated.'

'thanks for your help this past academic year! Got two A*s in English and Philosophy'.

'I got a B and I was accepted into my firm university (Durham) which I am very happy! Thank you for all your help and support.'

'I was really happy to receive […] A in English Literature […] I secured a placed at my firm university. I will be studying English Literature at Durham University this September and I am very excited! Thank you so much for all of your support, I really appreciate it!'

'i got into Warwick with […] an A* in English!!!!! I am very happy :) Thank you for all your hard work, wisdom and wit over the last year or two'.

'Thank you so much for all your coaching and advice that you shared with [L.], it made such a difference to his confidence leading up to his exams. He is (as are we) delighted with his English result.'

'an A awarded in English […] so she is off to her first choice of Edinburgh University to study History of Art and English Literature.'

'Results day went well and I'm going to the university of Kent. Thank you so much again for all the time spent helping me to prepare for my exams it means a lot I'm very excited to continue my English literature journey.'

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A student, June 2024: 'Thank you so much for being the most amazing English teacher! It has been an immensely rewarding and interesting journey exploring so many books […] I have learnt so much from GCSEs to continuing with more amazing literatures in A-levels'

A student, June 2024: 'I […] wanted to say thank you for the tremendous help you have provided with the English content throughout the A level period. The resources that you provided for me were quite helpful in refining my knowledge in many areas of the syllabus so thank you very much.'

A student, May 2024: 'I've just received the results for my english coursework and wanted to thank you for all the help and feedback!!'

A parent, February 2024: 'your help has kept her love of the subject and her enthusiasm alive and I can't thank you enough for that.'

A parent, February 2024: 'You were such a huge help to [S.], we will always be very grateful to you.'

Kath, a parent, February 2024: 'We would both like to thank you for all your invaluable help, especially all the helpful feedback on the coursework essay. [S.] has definitely learnt a lot and grown in confidence, especially in her knowledge of Twelfth Night.'

A student, January 2024: 'I just wanted to let you know that I got an offer from Oxford! Thank you so much for checking over my personal statement and all the help that you have given me since GCSEs. I really enjoy our sessions every week, the discussions keep me constantly creative and thinking.'

A parent, January 2024: 'Thank you as always for all your continued help and support for [E.]. I know she gets a tremendous amount from your sessions and I'm very grateful.'

A student, January 2024: 'Just emailing to let you know I did get an offer from […] Cambridge yesterday so thank you so much for all your help! It is really appreciated and I'm really looking forward to starting my degree in October!'

A student, December 2023: 'So thank you so much again for all your help; your insights have been very useful and I have really enjoyed talking about literature with you.'

Tara, a parent, November 2023: 'you are really helping [R.], he is becoming much more confident. Thank you so much'.

Paula, a parent, November 2023: '[M.] is always delighted with your teaching. You are asking questions no one else does. My husband and I see her grow academically after every session with you.'

Liz, a parent, October 2023: 'Thank you so much for all the work you have done with, and the kindness you have shown, [E.] to date. She really enjoys her sessions with you, and you've helped keep her enthusiasm for English very much alive. I'm so grateful.'

Kim, a parent, August 2023: 'I cannot tell you how happy we all were and your help was clearly instrumental in that. Not sure if he told you but he got 12 points above an A* and it was his best A level result!'

A student, August 2023: 'I really enjoyed our lessons and think it has really helped prepare me for the Oxford style tutorials.'

A student, August 2023: 'wanted to let you know I ended up getting an A* in English, thanks so much for all the help!'

Mark, a parent, June 2023: 'Many thanks josh for your help this year. [E.] has said to me it has really helped, you started assisting her at a time when she felt behind her class mates for the whole of the first year, having switched to English half way through term one.'

Melanie, a parent, June 2023: 'Thank you so much for all your time and effort with [T.]'s English literature. She really enjoyed your sessions together and it really boosted her confidence and inspired her to think more deeply and critically about the texts. It also confirmed that she is happy and excited to study a literature based course at degree level.'

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A-level results, August/September 2022:

'[L.] came home from university yesterday to attend her school prize giving ceremony, and this morning as she was leaving she asked me to let you know that she won a special prize in English […] Until last night, she wasn't aware of any of her awards, apart from her scholarship, so it was all a lovely surprise. Furthermore, the essays she wrote in her A level English exams have somehow found their way into her teachers' hands; they told her, with beams of pride , that the three marks dropped overall were actually in her *non exam* assessment, so 30/30 in all questions across all papers under exam conditions, something she had never achieved before. She had admitted to me in the aftermath of the exams that when she was writing her English papers she had really enjoyed the process, her thoughts flowing pretty effortlessly on to the paper. But she had also worried this stream of ideas might not be fit with the mark schemes. […] she […] wanted you to know about her prize, as she thought you'd be pleased, and she also wanted to say thanks one last time for your inspirational teaching that led to it.'

'I got AAA* for my results much higher than my predicted! particularly for english'.

'[G.] got an A star in English. And is off to Oxford. […] Thanks so much for everything - you were honestly amazing and really helped her get there'.

'[L.] got 3 a stars and an A star as well in her EPQ. Her highest marks were in English Literature ( 197/200)'.

'I achieved 4A*s in my Alevels - one being in English Literature. My teachers also let me know that I got full marks in both the exam papers'.

'[T.] smashed English Literature, A* […] she is absolutely over the moon . Thank you so much for all the work you put in with her !'

'I got a D[distinction]2!!! […] I got full marks on my PI!'

'I got an A* in English!!! Thank you so much for all of your help I wouldn't have been able to do it without you!'

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A student, January 2023: 'Just wanted to let you know I got an offer from Cambridge, thank you so so much for all your help.' And Kathryn: 'You were such a great help to [E.] in her preparation for the Cambridge application and interview and we were all delighted when she was offered a place this week. Thank you for all the support you gave her.'

Shaun, a parent, January 2023: '[E.] has found the sessions really very helpful (and has enjoyed them!)'

Guifang, a parent, December 2022: 'From what I hear from [S.], she really enjoys her discussions with you, it's really one of the highlights of her week.'

A student, November 2022: 'I'm extremely happy to tell you that I received an 8.3 for the literary review […] Thank you for explaining to me what a literary review is […] I remember whilst working on it I was so worried about my grade, but it appears I've survived.'

Deborah, a parent, September 2022: 'a huge thanks again to you for all your work with [S.]. I know he has been in touch to let you know that he got 9s in both English Language and Literature. He was over the moon - well beyond his best hopes, so thank you again for being instrumental in helping him attain those grades.'

Karen, a parent, August 2022: 'Both my girls really like your way of teaching and talking to them, they feel really listened to and respected for their opinions (as well as respecting yours obviously), so thank you :)'

Helen, a parent, July 2022: 'Thanks so much for all the help you gave [J.], he really benefitted from the sessions he had with you.'

Tara, a parent, June 2022: 'Thank you so much for all your help and patience - I think you have been brilliant for her confidence. She found English exams really very difficult before she started talking to you and it's amazing to see how much calmer (relatively speaking!) she has been going in to her A level English papers. Whatever the result, her sessions with you have definitely helped her to enjoy English again and I'm really grateful.'

A student, June 2022: 'This is incredibly insightful and thought provoking feedback. Thank you so much.'

Mei, a parent, June 2022: 'She found your lessons very helpful and always remarked to me how much you went the extra mile for her ; looking up and sending on links to whatever you'd been discussing. Much appreciated!'

Marguerite, a parent, June 2022: 'Thank you so much for all you've done for [T.] in the past year . […] you are a very talented teacher.'

Monica, a parent, June 2022: 'You have been an absolutely wonderful tutor to [L.], and how time has flown since she first met you! […] Many a time she has needed someone to talk to, not so much about AO1-5, but rather about the beauty and burden of literature and life. You have always been willing to do that, and she is richer for it.'

A student, June 2022: 'Thank you for teaching me for the last year; I have enjoyed our lessons and I feel I have grown as an English student, with thanks to your teaching.'

A student, April 2022: 'I received an 8 for my essay!! I want to thank you for your tutoring on Keats and Wordsworth- I wouldn't have gotten such a grade without it!! […] I learned tons because of you.'

Ngozi, a parent, March 2022: 'Thanks for everything that you're doing for [G.] - it has been very helpful.'

A student, February 2022: 'Really, thanks so much. Was such a good and efficient service. Your feedback looks really good and I'm going to implement it today. […] Thanks again for doing this on such short notice'.

Deborah, a parent, October 2021: '[S.] said you make it really fun - he said at school his energy goes down in English lessons and with you it goes up! So that is praise indeed from a teenage boy!'

A student, August 2021: 'I got the A grade ! I'm so pleased, thank you for all the help and the essays really paid off :).'

Monica, a parent, July 2021: 'As would be expected from his first class qualifications, Josh is extremely intelligent. However, in my opinion, he has a a very particular advantage over others of a similar academic background, namely his ability to exhibit an authentic interest in the ideas his students express. He is always kind and encouraging, but without sacrificing rigour; this approach has had a hugely positive impact on my daughter when speaking, writing and reading. Furthermore, Josh has introduced her to a range of authors, poets , films and philosophical thought, thus enriching her far beyond the school curriculum. In the future, my daughter will undoubtedly look back on her time with Josh with both fondness and gratitude. I have no hesitation in recommending Josh as a tutor'.

Guifang, a parent, July 2021: 'I have know Joshua for 2 months and He has been supporting my daughter excellently through her GCSE courses, helping her to achieve a 9 in predicted grades. From this, Joshua has always been very serious with the work, needless to say, always punctual and gives detailed homework feedback. I know him to be a wonderful tutor to my daughter.'

Susan, a parent, May 2021: '[T]hank you so much for all your help with [N.] […] [N.] found your lessons extremely helpful which enabled her to enjoy and understand English in a greater depth […] it was excellent tuition . Thank you'.

Jamal, a parent, May 2021: 'Thank you Josh for all your efforts, you have greatly assisted [S.] in better understanding English Literature as whole.'

Zahed, a parent, May 2021: 'We are grateful for all your help and support. We are in no doubt that [A.] has improved a lot in English Literature under your guidance.'

A student, May 2021: 'I just got my coursework back and got an A in it. Just thought i should let you know thanks you!'

Margaret, a parent, March 2021: 'Thanks for helping [M.] to improve her English understanding. She really enjoys her lessons and chats!'

Chris, a parent, March 2021: '[R.] is benefiting immensely from your lessons and is definitely getting more confident in expressing his thoughts in writing! Thank you.'

Amanda, a parent, December 2020: 'Josh has really helped join the dots, encouraged a depth of questioning and ways to interpret and compare ideas, extracting and bringing fresh meaning to narrative styles and creative use of language. Josh has been a great support and steered [R.]'s confidence to look more thoroughly and develop a greater understanding all round. Josh has a kind, approachable style and encouraged [R.] with debating aloud and suggestions for further reading which all continue to be an invaluable help and inspire greater confidence in approaching exams and further reading in future!'

A student, December 2020: 'He helps focus my understanding and makes sure i understand the topic we are learning before moving on. Josh will make sure to ask you questions throughout the process and is always ready for your ideas even if you think it's wrong. He will set homework but makes sure to switch it up each week to make it more interesting and gives his feedback to help me understand what i need to do to improve.'

Diana, a parent, September 2020: 'Josh worked with my daughter for her A Level in English Literature. He was outstanding with his ideas and expanding her critical thinking. He went above and beyond to develop her analytical skills and as a result helped her obtain an A*. He is an absolutely lovely, gentle but dynamic and reliable tutor who has a rare ability combine his academic achievement with a natural talent for teaching. A real gem and we cannot thank him enough.'

A parent, September 2020: 'Joshua is an excellent tutor with great communication skills . He is very patient , helpful , approachable and takes time to explain everything clearly to my daughter . Joshua has been able to breakdown and explain in full detail all aspects of the A Level content.'

A student, June 2020: 'it's been great being taught by you, I've learned so many critical thinking skills in such a short space of time.'

A parent, March 2020: 'I can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for her - you've been the best English teacher she's ever had and she has loved her time with you.'

*

During my teacher training, I taught all age groups at two west London secondary schools.

While at Oxford, I was part of an 'e-mentoring' scheme to help candidates from schools without a history of Oxbridge applications.

At Christ College, Brecon, I ran two series of seminars, for sixth-formers studying RS and English literature. In English we covered 'The Tempest', Gothic literature, Pat Barker's 'Regeneration', 'Jane Eyre', Wilfred Owen, and 'The Canterbury Tales'.

Tutoring Approach:
I try to combine three things that I want my students to do, which are three forms of thinking: speak about complex ideas, read high-quality material, and write essays for which they will receive detailed feedback. For obvious reasons, lessons are weighted to speaking, and homework to reading and writing.

Speaking

Pedagogy's holy grail is measuring progress, which is difficult in a classroom and impossible in a lecture. Happily, the tutorial system allows this to occur continuously and efficiently via dialogue. Can a student re-express an idea they have heard or read in their own words? If the answer is yes, they have probably understood the idea. Hence the constant questions!

As well as understanding the ideas of others, speaking is essential for students to develop their own. I love the quotation from the novelist E. M. Forster, 'How can I tell what I think till I see what I say?' We improve the quality of our ideas through the process of articulating them.

For my part, quite a lot of what I say is explaining what texts mean. This might sound obvious, but great works of literature are complex, so, to understand their meaning, one's own interpretation probably needs the support of others' prior interpretations.

I sometimes like to break the question of a text's meaning into two: What's it about? And what's it really about? Answering the first question is comprehension, a necessary first step. To answer the second question is to understand. In 'A Streetcar Named Desire', for example, Blanche goes to live with her sister in New Orleans. She expresses a strong dislike of her surroundings and is frequently associated with images of water. She declines mentally and is eventually taken away. So what's the play really about? Blanche is a Romantic idealist who is disappointed with her life but still tends to imagine things in their perfect form. The play is about the human soul conceiving of things being as good as they could be (as if cleansed by water), reaching for the conception, and failing to grasp it - shuttling back and forth, in other words, on the streetcar named desire.

One thing I frequently encourage is making the link between those oft-cited elements of a good essay, themes and quotations. These are not unrelated ingredients, they are the text itself viewed from different distances. A theme (the desire to be cleansed) is a wide shot, and a quotation ('the land of the sky blue water') is a close-up. So the student of English has to practise their ability to zoom in and out.

Another way I try to support my students' studies is by making connections between the texts they are reading, which in my experience doesn't happen that much at school. Particularly at A-level, there are often many fruitful connections between the half-dozen or so texts being studied: the Romantics were devoted to Shakespeare and Milton, the Gothic is an aspect of the Romantic, the Aesthetic Movement drew on particular strains of Romanticism, etc. When these connections get made with reference to particular writers, they are no longer just isms. They make the material deeper and easier to understand at the same time. Towards the end of their school careers, students of the humanities should be able to get the sense of taking part in 'the Great Conversation that began in the dawn of history and that continues to the present day' (Robert M. Hutchins).

Reading

I regularly give my students PDFs of high-quality secondary material pitched at their level or just above it. Explanatory notes, commentaries, and essays can help with understanding, particularly when it comes to context. (And all exam boards have assessment objectives relating to historical context.) To know that a text was written during a particular period and what characterised that period is to have a mental scaffold that does not limit movement but frees it. In studying the humanities we are studying human culture, and no one can do that without a bit of structure. It also helps when thinking about texts in relation to each other - when writing a comparative essay, for example. I like to think of honing in from context to text, e.g. Romanticism (late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) > William Blake (1757-1827) > 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' (1794) > 'The Tyger'. (What's 'The Tyger' about? There's a question!)

In my experience, knowledge acquisition operates according to the Matthew principle, named after a verse in the Gospel of Matthew: 'unto every one that hath shall be given'. In other words, the more you've got, the more you'll get. Every time you learn something about Romanticism, the greater will be your understanding of the poetry of William Blake. Your internal bookshelves expand - more connections, greater understanding. Reading secondary material is obviously 'extra', but it works to enhance students' understanding of set texts rather than crowd them out. Homer Simpson said, 'every time I learn something new, it pushes some old stuff out of my brain', and we laugh because it's not true. You can't fill up a brain, so the cliché about people's (particularly young people's) limitless potential is true. Every time you learn something new, you enrich your contextual understanding of everything else you have ever learnt. '[E]very moment is a new and shocking / Valuation of all we have been', as T. S. Eliot put it in 'East Coker'.

Writing

Speaking and reading are in a concrete way preparation for writing. If you think and make notes while speaking and reading, by the time it comes to writing an essay, the question should not be about what to say, but how to arrange the things you want to say. So annotation is an important skill. It's a bit like getting 'in the zone' for a sportsperson - students must practise getting there and staying there. I model the annotation process something like this:

Read with a pencil in your hand. What makes you underline? Something fires in your brain, so that you have a response - you spot a developing theme, you're reminded of another book, you agree or disagree, there's a word you don't know and need to look up, you like the way a sentence sounds. It could be anything. Read until you've underlined twenty words or sentences. Work out the three or four connections between the things you have to say, and you've got a paragraph plan. Work out the main thing you have to say, and you have a thesis for your essay, which, as you aim your paragraphs at it, will accumulate force.

A lot of learning (and life) is about noticing connections, so getting into the habit of doing so is something like learning how to learn. If a student has developed this habit, they shouldn't really have to think 'What shall I write?' in front of a blank sheet of paper or screen. The content of the essay will be a sort of emanation of prior thinking.

When it comes to giving students feedback, I keep in mind one of the best incites I heard early in my PGCE: attend to your students' writing as you would a piece of literature. This way, the marking progress becomes analogous to the writing process. What are all the things that could make this essay better? And is there a connection between them, i.e. what's the main thing this student needs to focus on? (I usually give feedback using comments and 'track changes' in Microsoft Word.)

Why study English?

It has been said that 'If you can think, and speak, and write, you are absolutely deadly', and I think that's right. Learning how to construct and articulate good arguments is learning how to impose ideas on the world. To the extent that English is about feelings, it is about their articulation, and there is a great deal to learn about how feelings have been and can be articulated. Moreover, because English is the medium of instruction in all other subjects, command of it confers a freedom to range through the history of ideas and discriminate between reliable and unreliable, including online. Language is a prerequisite for thought - doing English properly is learning how to think better.

Subjects

Personal Description:
I have a University degree in Film Studies with Film Production and I enjoy making films in my spare time. I have had one of my short films shown at the BFI cinema in London as well as in Fact in Liverpool City Centre.

Teaching Experience:
I have taught small subject groups at both Alevel and University degree level. The peers that I tutored got high grades within their work and strive to learn more and do better.

Tutoring Approach:
I like to open a project with multiple solutions or approaches and discuss which is the option that stands out most. Then develop and evolve this choice into a more substantial solution. I find that using visual aids, such as power points really help, as well as using video examples where necessary. I believe that engaging open discussions about the subject at hand also helps flesh out more opinions or even conserns that an individual may have.

Subjects

Personal Description:
Hello! I have a Honours degree in German and French from Oxford University. I also have a post graduate teaching qualification in German and French, so I am familiar with the demands of the curriculum and exam work.

I have also lived and worked in Germany, so I speak native-level German and am great German language and culture enthusiast. I hope that our lessons will make you feel like that too, as well as giving you the knowledge to speak, listen, read and write with confidence.

I am happy to take advice from you about how you would like to spend your tutorial time, or I can advise you on how best to reach your goal. You can also let me know if you wish to consolidate tutorials with some homework .

Teaching Experience:
I have a post graduate teaching qualification in German and French from UCL's Institute of Education and I taught in several secondary schools up to GCSE as part of my teacher training.

I have tutored students at all stages of secondary school up to GCSE, and have tutored adults who wanted to brush up on their German.

Tutoring Approach:
I enjoy teaching one to one and providing a learner with the extra edge that can provide. I like to build on a student's knowledge and language confidence by reviewing what has been learned in class and identifying any gaps in understanding. I like to teach in the target language when it helps student confidence.

For students who want to go that bit further, or who may be considering a language A level, I encourage them to watch and discuss films and programmes in the target language, and read some great literature as part of their language learning experience.

Subjects

Personal Description:
My name is Laura, I live in Reading, England. I really enjoy helping people improve their English- it is so important to communicate well and I would like to help you do this with English lessons.

Outside of work I enjoy the outdoors- walking my dog, sailing or swimming in the sea :)

Teaching Experience:
I have taught English as a foreign language for over 20 years- in language schools, abroad and on-line. I have worked with professionals who want to develop their career, refugees and asylum seekers who are settling in the UK and anyone who is keen to improve their English.

I used to be a physiotherapist in the NHS, so if you work in healthcare I can especially help with medical English.

Tutoring Approach:
We can do lessons on-line or in person if you live in the Reading area. Setting goals will help you get the most out of the lessons- you may want to pass an exam, apply for a job or improve your everyday language. We can have fun lessons to help you achieve these goals. I will set homework to help you learn inbetween lessons and achieve your goals more effectively. During lessons we can use videos, online articles, games and much more to keep the lesson interesting and fun.

Subjects

Personal Description:
A chemistry graduate with experience as a Teacher, Examiner and Head of Department. Teaching online Science kS3, Combined or separate sciences GCSE, Chemistry GCSE, Chemistry A level. I love teaching as much as I love the subject, so I feel privileged to help students reach their full potential.
I also now offer group lessons where lessons are charged at £20 with a maximum of 4 students

Teaching Experience:
Having worked with a range of pupils, I can offer support to build confidence, motivation, skills and techniques. The goal is to listen to the student and respond to their individual needs

Tutoring Approach:
In recent years I have identified underperforming students and mentored them to understand and overcome their barriers to success. I can help to raise confidence by adapting to individual needs and share techniques to improve knowledge, understanding and exam technique. Working as an e examiner has helped me to pass on those all important tips to students once they fully grasp the content

Subjects