Louise

PLEASE BE AWARE that unfortunately I currently do not have availability for one to one tuition (these are charged at the higher rate of £50 per hour) but I do have evening availability in my groups these run Mondays and Wednesdays: for AQA GCSE (year 11) Monday at 5.15pm; AQA AS level (year 12) which runs Wednesday at 6.15pm. The aim of these groups is to tackle tricky topics and exam technique in preparation for their exams.

I have 29 years of teaching experience in both Further and Secondary Education, with 8 years as a Head of Biology at an independent secondary school so I have a detailed knowledge of exam specifications for both A'level Biology (AQA) and GCSEs (also AQA exam board.) I have also been a college lecturer for 19 years teaching A'level Biology, Geology and Environmental studies as well as secondary science at an outstanding FE college in Pendle. I have been a successful private tutor for 15 years with my tutees all achieving improved results. I have worked as an A'level and GCSE examiner for both AQA and OCR exam boards meaning I am skilled at enabling my students to develop improved exam techniques in both understanding and answering the questions asked. I am a believer in a student centred approach focusing on their needs and I have a lot of experience working with students with SPLDs.
I also have over 20 years working as a 6th form tutor enabling me to offer UCAS guidance and I have run a very successful premedical mentoring programme for aspiring medics, dentists and veterinarians. I can offer tuition for the UCAT and BMAT examinations as well as guidance through the application process.
As a former Biomedical Scientist and being a specialist in ecology, I have a very wide ranging and detailed knowledge of the Biological Sciences.
Please note that due to availability I am only able to offer tuition at my home or online via Teams.

Tutoring Experience

Fully qualified secondary school teacher with 29 years of teaching experience.
Eight years experience as a Head of department at a good independent school in Harrogate teaching 11-18 and where I ran a very successful pre-medical programme for aspiring medical professionals but post covid I chose to step down to focus more of my time available to work as a private tutor.
Formerly a lecturer at an FE college in Pendle teaching A'levels in Biology; Geology and Environmental Studies achieving consistently high value added scores.
7 years of experience as an examiner for both AQA and OCR at A'level and GCSE.
I am also a former health care professional having spent 6 years in the NHS and I have also worked as a consultant ecologist advising sports facilities on improving environmental management.

Tutoring Approach

I am motivated to try to encourage my students to achieve the best they can and I put them at the centre of my approach. Education should always be about what you can do and my focus is on tackling those areas a student can improve upon and support them to be able to do this. I have a wide variety of methods to enable the students to develop the confidence they need to perform at their best in the exam.

I offer two levels of tuition, one to one targeted tuition (NB charged at the higher rate of fifty pounds an hour) and groups of up to 5 students which take the form of taught classes (charged at £17.50 per hour.)
Classes will specifically target topic areas that students typically find more challenging along with generic, guided question support throughout the academic year. The focus for classes will be based upon the AQA specifications. Class participants are charged at a lower rate but as they are inclusive they therefore can not incorporate the same level of individual approach as 'one to one' tuition and are always held online via teams.

Group class times for 2023-2024 will be Monday 5.15pm for GCSE year 11 and Wednesday 5.15pm for the second year of A'level (year 13.) If you have any questions please do get in touch.