Lucy W
"Our son got into his first-choice school and Lucy was instrumental in achieving this outcome. We couldn't have asked for a better English tutor."
English 13+
11+
13 +
16+
7+/8+
English
Music
Oxbridge Applications
Academic History
MSc Gender, Rights and Human Rights: London Schools of Economics and Political Science (Distinction and Awards)
BA Musicology: University of Oxford (First Class Honours)
A Levels: Music (A*), German (A), English Literature (A)
GCSEs: English Language (A*), English Literature (A*), German (A*), French (A*), Drama (A), Music (A*), Science (A), Maths (A), Citizenship (A)
About Me
Having had more than six years’ experience teaching both children and adults, I have learned to adapt my teaching style to suit a diverse range of learning abilities and styles. I believe that successful teaching is that which is tailored to the needs, abilities and aspirations of the individual. I understand that some students are keen to make quick progress and this is very much a central part of my own agenda as a teacher. However, I make sure to not rush my students and to find a pace that suits them. I usually begin lessons with a clear explanation of what will happen in the remainder of the lesson and what we are trying to achieve regardless of age or stage; I think it is important to set clear goals in order to stay focused and for the student to feel a sense of achievement upon reaching them.
While the content of sessions is generally dictated by the demands of the exams or admissions tests, I aim to incorporate the specific interests of the student within each lesson to maintain engagement. Enjoyment encourages engagement, which is key for quick and positive progress and I therefore aim to make my lessons as enjoyable for the student as possible. Whilst I am always open to suggestions from my students, I am also a disciplined teacher; I aim to foster a strong work ethic in my students to eventually enable them to make solid progress in my absence.
I have a few methods I have used regularly. One that I have found to be effective is basic self-assessments. For example, I will ask a student “How would you rate yourself out of ten for confidence and ability with verbal reasoning letter code questions”, and then we set small aims to increase the number each time we practise. This has worked well for me in the past and students can see themselves progressing, even if just by a small amount which gives them a boost of confidence. I aim to be more flexible with English, particularly creative writing. I have taken very differing approaches with students in this department to help engage them in the subject in a way that suits them. For students who are visual learners, I will often provide a visual prompt for creative writing tasks but with others have sometimes asked them to think of their favourite book or film, pick a character and a write an entirely new story featuring that character (this is one example). One thing that binds all of the various subjects I teach is that I intend for my sessions to be primarily student-led to avoid getting into a habit whereby the student relies on me for answers or too much assistance whilst I’m there and then struggles to do work set for them on their own. To do this, when doing questions I don’t immediately correct or assist but may just ask them try another way, consider an alternative method etc. before intervening. This way the student is able to learn themselves which areas they are in need of more help with.
Recent tuition
English and Maths 7+ Preparation
I worked with this student for eight months in preparation for the 7+. The primary problem this student had was concentration. With each task we did across all subjects, we would take note of time management and exam technique. With him being so young, we turned this into a ‘beat the clock game’, which helped him to focus for longer periods of time in order to beat his previous scores and times. Additionally, to allow him free expression in our sessions, I would ask him to set his own creative writing brief (that I would check and agree to), which gave him more motivation to do his weekly writing task and to concentrate throughout the time allotted. He recently received his offer from Latymer, his first choice school.
English, Maths, Verbal Reasoning and Non Verbal Reasoning 11+
I tutored this student for an intensive period of five months in preparation for the Eton List Test, Winchester and Westminster entrance exams. This student was based in Hong Kong and English was his second language so English and Verbal Reasoning proved to be the more difficult areas for him. As we were working in his second language, I placed a lot of importance on vocabulary learning and writing. Each session he would prepare a short description such as his day, a holiday, a birthday etc. and we would ‘elevate’ the passage in the session with better vocabulary and sentence structuring. Eventually I asked him to do the ‘elevated’ passages on his own and this really improved the quality of his writing and vocabulary. He passed the Eton List Test and received offers from Winchester and Westminster.
English, Maths, VR and NVR 11+
My student and I worked together for a year and half. He was naturally very academic but struggled with testing and confidence significantly. After six months of tutoring, his scores were in the top percentile every time. At this point, I decided to place more focus on other areas such as debating, research and presentations and first-person creative writing to build his confidence as I always knew the interview would be his biggest challenge. In the end he went confidently into his interviews and received offers from St Paul’s, Westminster, UCS and Forest School with an academic scholarship.
13+ English
I did a relatively short, intensive period of tutoring (two months) with this student who was planning on relocating and had therefore very limited time to prepare for his entrance exams. Having attended a state school previously, he was entirely unfamiliar with the entrance exams. This student was a good writer but struggled significantly with information retrieval and textual analysis, in part because of the unfamiliar vocabulary. I asked my student to prepare short stories for each session including at least then new vocab words I had set him. This helped enormously with the comprehension work. He received a place at his first choice school, Tonbridge Grammar School.
A-level Music and Oxford Interview Preparation
I worked with this student for six months in preparation for her A-level music exam. Whilst she was confident with some aspects of the exam, she struggled to organise her time, balance the difference modules and was unsure of how to develop her listening and analytical skills. She was under significant pressure as she had received an offer from Oxford that required her to achieve an A*. I explained to her from the beginning that to develop her aural and analytical skills, she must commit to doing the daily exercises I set her as this is an acquired skill. Her listening improved exponentially and the listening component of the exam ended up being one of the strongest. She achieved the A* and went onto St John’s College, Oxford.
For entrance exams students, I have successfully prepared candidates for entry into Westminster, Eton, Winchester, Latymer Upper, City of London (boys), Cheltenham Ladies College, Brighton College and more.
Hobbies
My main interest outside of work at the moment is my research. I am currently co-authoring with a team for a SAGE social sciences book. I primarily read and research in the fields of sociology and international human rights. I really enjoy this research because it aligns with my social engagements in activism and human rights work. Aside from academic reading, I really enjoy reading novels and recently started creative writing!
My longest-term hobby is the piano. I started learning when I was 9 and attended a music school full-time from 11-18. This was originally a career path for me but I decided during university that I would like to go into other professional fields. I really enjoy the piano because it is such a versatile instrument and allows me to dip in and out of any genre, ensemble and style. My favourite works to play are romantic/modern Russian works as these are the most technically challenging (and I enjoy the challenge). I also enjoy arranging music for vocal groups and orchestras, particularly rewriting modern piano works for symphonic orchestra. This is a huge task and I enjoy the challenge of coordinating such large performance forces and blending instrument timbres together.
Lastly, I really enjoy travel. So far I have managed four continents and over 20 countries. I particularly enjoyed South East Asia where I stayed for several months and was able to take quite a few cooking classes! Additionally, travel is a hobby that goes hand-in-hand with music – I have enjoyed involving myself in different musical cultures in each place I have travelled.
Testimonials
“Lucy is an incredible tutor and mentor and I’ll be forever grateful that she came into our lives. Her fast-paced, flexible, firm and down-to-earth style really worked for us. We started working with her about 3 years ago for 11 plus exams, and she got both my boys into City of London School for boys. More than that they absolutely loved learning with her, she built their knowledge and their confidence. We also did a few hours of interview prep and she is an incredible coach, really helping them see things they’ve done as achievements and how to be engaging and interesting in conversations. Would highly recommend Lucy and I know we’ll be returning to her many times over the next few years.”
11+ Preparation
“Lucy provided intensive preparation for our son’s 13+ English exam at a very selective school after relocation meant time was limited. She quickly understood the brief, identified ways to stretch and develop our son and was focused, positive and outcome-focused. She provided clear feedback after each session which summarised work covered, his progress and next steps/homework. She developed excellent rapport with him and he really enjoyed the sessions – not only could he see how much he was learning, he also enjoyed the process. He particularly enjoyed the additional tasks given to learn vocabulary and enjoyed extending his knowledge and using them across his other subjects (and whenever possible!) at school. This was noted by his school teacher who praised his interesting use of language. Ultimately, our son got into his first-choice school and Lucy was instrumental in achieving this outcome. We couldn’t have asked for a better English tutor. We’d have no hesitation in recommending her.”
English 13+ Preparation
