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My entrance exam students have gained places at schools including St Pauls, Westminster, Radley, Stowe, Wetherby, Sussex House, Dulwich, the Harrodian, City of London, Brighton College, Winchester, Queens College, Godolphin and Latymer, Kingston Grammar, Eton, Harrow, Stowe, Charterhouse, Wellington, Alleyn’s and Tonbridge.

Below is a snapshot of my recent tutoring experience:

7+ Maths, English, VR and NVR

This student needed help preparing for a number of exams. Working alongside his school we covered gaps in his knowledge base before making sure his exam technique (especially his timing and concentration) were honed. He achieved places at Wetherby, Sussex House and Dulwich. We have since continued with lessons on a less intensive basis to keep him at the top of his classes.

11+ Maths, Science and Geography

This student struggled with maths, being in the bottom set at school he wasn’t supported or challenged. We began with identifying gaps in his basic knowledge, with consistent work he was moved up to the top set. With this boost in confidence, his work ethic improved across all subjects. We focused on his exam and interview technique in the run up to exams. He was offered a place at Westminster, his target school.

13+ Maths and Science

This student struggled with the worded questions in maths. After a short time working with him, we were able to identify this weakness and focus on improving his understanding of key words in questions. This also helped his science work. After going through the syllabus and filling in gaps in his knowledge we were able to focus on his problem with time keeping. Over a period of a year, with practice and time keeping techniques he was able to sit his exams without the worry of running out of time. He was offered places at Stowe and Charterhouse.

GCSE Maths and Science

This student had a good foundation in maths, our work focused on the more complex mathematical topics to help him answer level 8/9 questions. With science he needed more help. We made sure he understood the basic principles in chemistry and physics, before building on these to allow him to tackle more complex questions. This boosted his confidence in the sciences to such an extent that he chose to change one of his A level choices to chemistry! After working together for approximately 9 months, he achieved level 7s in his sciences and an 8 in his maths exams.

A level Biology and Chemistry

This student had large gaps in her knowledge from GCSE. Our primary focus was to address these gaps and improve her level of knowledge before shifting focus to exam questions. She found answering questions quite hard. We worked around this by breaking down questions to make them easier to tackle. We would first identify the key words, then the topic area the questions covered and then made sure she checked her answers to ensure she was hitting all the marking points and answering the question to the best of her ability. I was also able to help her with her revision techniques and timetabling. She went on to receive As in her subjects.

A level Geography

The priority for this student was to focus on her case studies for each topic and practice how to adapt her knowledge points to answer different questions. We also looked at how to improve her coursework and drifted into a little maths tuition too to help with the statistics involved. Making sure she knew how to plan larger essay questions and structure and organise her answers helped her achieve top grades in her exams after a relatively short (four months) yet intensive set of 1:1 lessons.

Pre U prep

This student was based in the Russian school system and wished to transfer over to UCL for their Pre U Chemistry course. Tuition involved teaching her the GCSE and AS chemistry and maths syllabi in the space of a year over Skype lessons. The time pressures of the examinations meant we had to ensure she had a full understanding of all topics and was practiced in quickly identifying what a question required to answer it correctly. She achieved an offer of a place at UCL to read their Pre U course in Chemistry.

GCSE Science, Maths and Geography

I homeschooled this student for chemistry, biology, physics, maths and geography. We worked around through the syllabi and wherever possible introduced the practical elements of science into our lessons. Being homeschooled we were able to adapt the syllabus to play to the student’s strengths. As a result, he was able to sit his maths a year early and achieved a level 8. We were also able complete the geography coursework elements on two days out to Box Hill and a local town centre. He achieved 7s in his sciences at the end of our two year programme.

Home Schooling – GCSE Science, Maths and Geography – Yr 11

This student had left school in the middle of year 11 after an event that resulted in an ADHD diagnosis and limited processing speeds. We worked together to initially aim for a pass at GCSE maths. Our work together revolved around working through and checking the recall of material from school and filling the gaps in knowledge that existed. It was necessary to adapt lessons according to the student’s varying concentration and also to find ways of working in short bursts, with a variety of teaching methods and resources to keep the student engaged. The student sat GCSE foundation maths and received a 5. On the back of this result, we worked to increase our time together to prepare the student for the three sciences and geography exams that would be sat as higher papers but with the same aim of achieving a pass in each. Being flexible in the planning of lessons, science practicals, and coursework assessments was necessary due to the nature of the student’s SEND needs. It was essential to keep parents and the student himself abreast of the ever-changing overall plan (treating him as an adult learner helped him find the enthusiasm to continue to work hard aside any setbacks he faced), without allowing anyone to become disheartened and lose focus or enthusiasm for the end goal. I’m very happy to have heard that the student achieved a further 3 5s in the sciences and was only 3 marks off a 5 in geography.

A level Biology – Targeting top grades for university

This student needed top grades for her university applications. Whilst doing well in her other subjects, she had trouble with biology. We first identified gaps in her knowledge, some from her GCSEs, where a change in school had resulted in topics being missed. Once we covered these gaps our focus shifted to helping her understand large processes (such as respiration, photosynthesis, the immune system) and use A1 diagrams and flow charts to outline whole chapters in one place. This helped her place the smaller facts and processes within a larger picture of the body and helped bring context to why certain processes work the way they do. This shift from wrote learning facts to understanding concepts allowed her to naturally hit all the marking points for A and A* questions. This greatly aided in her exam technique, it reduced the time she needed to understand questions and so she was able to write fuller and clearer answers for examiners. Whereas timing had been an issue before, she now had time to check her answers and return to any missed questions.

Interview techniques and Oxbridge applications

In the increasingly competitive and demanding world of school and university applications, good exam results do not always secure places. Interviewers are also seeking positive attitudes and self-starters in applicants. Having helped pick interview questions and topics for university interviews during my time at Cambridge and still being in contact with professors and university peers puts me in an ideal position to understand contemporary developments in the subjects and requirements in institutions. I am therefore able to lead practice interviews and help prepare university applications that stand out. My students have had success at universities that include, Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Durham, Warwick, Nottingham, and Bath.

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