Tom

I am a current A level Biology teacher. With 23 years experience of full time teaching of only A level Biology in a top Sixth Form College, my students show marked improvement and achieve excellent results.

My department is grade 1, as were my lessons in the most recent OFSTED inspection. My classes have achieved in the top 1% of A level Biology Sixth form college classes nationally for value added results.

Very many students have achieved full marks in exam papers. Many have achieved their goal of obtaining a place to read Medicine or Dentistry.

Students that I have tutored have gone from D in the L6th exams to a A at A-level and from a C to an A*. I enjoy tutoring as it is immensely rewarding to see students achieve a thorough understanding of the theory and then apply their knowledge to questions.

Tutoring Experience

As a current teacher I am very aware of the shift in emphasis and the different skills required for the new (for 2017) specification A levels. I have an in depth knowledge of the OCR A, CIE, Eduqas, AQA, and Pre U specifications

I have recently tutored students from:

Eton College
Cheltenham Ladies College
St Swithuns'
Concord College
St. Benedicts Ealing
Wycombe Abbey
Winchester College
Whitgift School
Downe House
Oundle
UCS Hampstead
Bradfield College
Emanuel School
New English School of Kuwait
Leysin American School
King Edwards Southampton
Royal Grammar School Guildford
Reading School
Kingswood School
Eltham College
Harris Sixth Form
Barton Peveril
Alton College
Portsmouth Grammar School
Godolphins
Chesham Grammar
Cardiff Sixth Form Centre
Collingham College
Duff Miller Tutorial College
The John Lyon School

Tutoring Approach

A level Biology can be an extremely challenging subject, there is a huge body of difficult content to learn and understand.

The new style questions test understanding and application more than factual recall, many students find this a big change from what they were comfortable with at GCSE. My aim is to get students to understand why and how a biological process is occurring, rather than trying to rote learn the steps.

After a full explanation of the topic, I go through relevant past paper questions and try to coach what the question is actually asking about, how it relates to the theory and how to phrase the answer for full marks.

I am now only tutoring online. I use an HD Webcam, a graphics tablet and video conferencing with a super-fast broadband connection. I use an excellent web-conferencing program, where both parties can see and annotate notes and past papers and PowerPoints, it is an extremely effective tutoring tool.

With online tutoring I have immediate access to a huge range of exam questions, markschemes and teaching resources.

All online tutorials are recorded and shared with the student, so they can be re-viewed and used for revision.

Prior to the tutorial, I send resources - notes, videos, questions, animations and PowerPoints to go through so faster progress can be made during the lesson.

If students need additional resources or are stuck on questions I will support them by WhatsApp outside of tutoring time.

I have a very efficient online booking system so you can choose the day and time that suits you and amend if your plans change.