Jason

I began my working life as a criminal defence Barrister and practised for 15 years until I decided to change careers in 2009. From then to September 2022 I was a full time teacher of English language and literature, and also tutored in my spare time. I have now stopped teaching and am concentrating on full-time tutoring. I am also a GCSE Level examiner for AQA so have valuable experience of precisely what the examining board requires to achieve success. I have also extensive experience with Pearson/Edexcel iGCSE. I should add that the skills assessed across all exam boards are exactly the same for the sensible and obvious reasons that there must be consistency across all national candidates.

I enjoy helping students fulfil their potential or even exceed what they believe they are capable of. I am friendly, approachable, encouraging and will always go the extra mile for my students.

Tutoring Experience

Until September’22 I was an English teacher at an independent girls school in Bucks teaching from KS2 (including 11+) up to A level. I previously worked at state school in West London for a number of years, teaching English Literature and Language from Key Stage 3 up to A Level.

The vast majority of students I have taught have gone on to succeed in the subject, and many exam year students have exceeded their predictions. Some of my students also have special educational needs, such as dyslexia.

Tutoring Approach

My approach depends entirely upon the individual student's needs and the purpose of the tuition. If tuition is needed to ensure a good exam result then the focus would be upon developing the required skills and knowledge base. If there are specific weaknesses that the student feels need addressing, then work would focus around those to a greater extent. If it is background subject knowledge and confidence-building that is needed, then work would be more generalised and less geared around exam board requirements. A level students tend to need help with specific essays or essay writing, usually having problems with structuring and including content. Often they find it hard to transition from the more rigid GCSE style of essay to a faster, more free flowing and discursive style. I now only offer sessions via zoom. I have found that this is just as effective as face-to-face tuition and insights can be even more efficient, given that documents can be shared on the screen and can be worked on collaboratively. This is something that is not easily done with face-to-face tuition. I have tutees who were initially wary about this, but have since found that zoom sessions to be hugely productive and as effective as in-person sessions.