Jessica Hd

11+ Entrance Examinations

I worked with this intelligent and enthusiastic student for six months in preparation for her 11+ exams and transition into her chosen secondary school. We worked on English, Maths, Verbal and Non-verbal reasoning. She successfully gained a place at Grey Coat’s Hospital School.

Year 6 English

I supported a student during the school holidays over two years. They had recently moved from an Arab League country to Geneva, and he was learning English (not his mother tongue) at an international school, and struggling to keep up. We worked on skills that he could see a visible improvement at quickly, such as his handwriting, to boost his confidence. We were then able to work on more complex reading comprehensions, and school projects, such as powerpoint presentations on his interests.

13+ and 14+ Entrance Examinations

I worked with a Brazilian student for an academic year on his English Literature and Language, to prepare him ahead of taking various 13+ and 14+ entrance examinations. We focused on his reading comprehension and writing techniques, as well as exam practice. He was successfully placed in the school of his choice, Bryanston.

Year 9 English

I worked with a lovely Year 9 student who wanted to be prepared for her GCSE English course. We covered analytical skills required to write engaging essays on poetry and prose, as well as developed her creative writing skills. Although she was an avid reader, she struggled to convert her love of fantasy books into her own pieces of extended writing. She attained a grade 7 at GCSE.

Year 9 16+ Entrance Exam Preparation

I worked online with this bright Turkish student in Year 9-equivalent in order to assess and prepare her for 16+ entry. We worked on the correct use of English articles and verb tenses as well as looking at different types of writing for different contexts. We identified writing techniques and addressed exam questions relating to them, with reference to the mark scheme. This student has excellent vocabulary, she just needs a little extra work on exactly when to use certain phrases. She was successfully accepted into Marlborough School.

GCSE English Literature and Language (AQA)

I worked with this Year 11 student six months prior to her exams, helping her to engage more in the subject, as she was more focused on STEM subjects, but still needed high marks in English. This student had missed out on school due to illness, so we worked together online in tandem with her English lessons, building a programme that allowed extra practice outside of the classroom. I helped this student to break down challenging texts into manageable chunks, and to improve her exam technique. She attained a grade 6.

GCSE Geography (OCR)

This student wanted support in order to qualify to take the Higher level paper, rather than the Foundation level. We focused on honing skills in analysing data and drawing conclusions, and extended writing. The skills we practised included reading case studies and answering questions requiring the student to select the most relevant information with which to support their points. Our sessions involved both content learning and exam technique. This student qualified for the Higher paper and succeeded in attaining a grade 8.

AS Level History (Edexcel)

I tutored this student in exam technique. We focused on boosting her confidence by developing planning strategies to ensure that she could get all of her ideas on paper within the time available for each question. She was clearly a bright student, and was very familiar with the subject-specific knowledge required for top band answers according to the mark scheme, but she had mild dyspraxia and tended to panic during exams. I used our sessions to demystify the papers, and her ability to answer both source/interpretation and essay questions within the time limit improved considerably over the period we worked together.

IB MYP / Higher / English & Geography

I have experience tutoring IB English at both the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Higher Level (HL). I initially worked with an MYP student based in Geneva, working online to  assist him with English before expanding to Geography due to his improvement in his grades from 5 to a 6. Building on this success, I then began tutoring his sister in IB Higher Level English, helping her move from a mid-Grade 6 to a low Grade 7 within just a few months.

Oxbridge Application Advice

I provided online and in-person support for a student on how to prepare for the Cambridge History interview. We focused particularly on questions that are designed to explore how you think and how to analyse historical problems, even unfamiliar ones. We focused on removing distracting verbal tics (e.g. saying ‘um’ and ‘like’ very often), and increasing her confidence in communicating orally. She successfully gained a place to study at Cambridge.