Matthew - Honiton tutor





Matthew's profile picture

Information About Matthew:


Personal Description:

I have been a full-time, specialist, one-to-one biology tutor for 34 years. I was based in Oxford, for 25 years and was widely regarded as 'Oxford's Premier Biology Tutor'. I have now moved away from Oxford to rural Devon and have been offering my services online only, nationally and worldwide, for the past nine years via the medium of Skype and 'Scribblar'. Scribblar is an interactive online whiteboard that is better than face-to-face tuition as there is zero travelling and waiting time and cost and it is more intimate and concentrated than 'in-person' tuition. I have taught online to 43 countries per date and can teach up to 55 hours per week. I have my own printed, illustrated notes for all sections of all the A-level specifications, plus the IB, and many of the GCSE specifications which I can e-mail in advance of tutorials as well as putting them up on Scribblar. I charge £80 per hour normally but offer a £10 per hour discount for tuition after 11 am and before 3 pm on weekdays.



Teaching Experience:

34 years (the last nine totally online) of one-to-one tuition in A-level, IB and GCSE biology.



Tutoring Approach:

Stick to the specification. Do ALL the past paper questions and go through them with the mark schemes. Take the exam. and get on with your life.

I like to work in a very methodical and structured fashion and not confuse effective work with hard work. The students who say at the end "yes, I learned biology - but, better still I learned how to study" are the ones with whom I know I have really succeeded.

Apart from an internet connection all that you need for tutorials is a thin A4 ring binder with a copy of the specification punched and put into the front and some coloured dividers in the back. If you are a retake student I ask you to highlight the specification (in yellow with solid highlighter if you are quite happy with the content; dotted highlighter if you are a bit unhappy with it and no highlighter if you have not done it or have forgotten it). This will tell me where to start and I can estimate to within an hour or so how many lessons will be needed to 'reteach' the syllabus.

I have board-specific, illustrated notes for all of the UK A-level specifications and IB, and for most of the GCSE specifications.
Effectively I have written a textbook for you and give you notes (to be filed in the coloured dividers) via e-mail and Scribblar (my interactive online whiteboard) to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. As I cover the specification I highlight my copy in pink so that I can monitor progress.

I have banks of past paper questions that I can e-mail to you that you can work through - these are specific to one exam. specification and contains not only the most recent AS/A2 papers and mark schemes but also the preceding many years of papers for that specification, chopped up into topic headings. So, for example, it will take an hour to 'cover' The Heart and then I'll give you the questions specifically on the heart on that board to do before the next tutorial. It is all very straightforward and actually rather less hard work than doing it in a slapdash, non-systematic fashion. The study skills that you will learn will stand you in good stead throughout life.

I can also advise on coursework/practicals.

Please note that I ONLY tutor online nowadays.



Map showing Matthew's location

Qualifications:

  • B.A./M.A. (Oxon) Zoology
  • M.Sc. Imperial College, London (with 'distinction') in Applied Entomology
  • Diploma in Tropical Agriculture, Readng University

Further Information:

Availability:  Weekdays (all times)
Types of Tutoring:   Online
References Supplied?   Yes
Current DBS/CRB Check?   Yes
Additional Languages Spoken:   French