Ricky

I am a research chemist who grew up in Wanstead, London, went to school in Essex and earned a degree and doctorate at the University of Oxford. I have worked at the cutting edge of scientific research and new product development for the last 16 years in universities as well as in the chemical industry. Throughout my postgraduate studies and career I have provided tuition, coaching and training to learners ranging from GCSE students to seasoned world-class experts. Giving new knowledge and insights to over 50 students and trainees has been some of my most rewarding and enjoyable work to date and has led me to choosing to provide science and music tuition full time.

Availability: Specific times can vary week to week as I try to retain some flexibility for students` schedules. Here is my general availability:

Weekday daytimes 9am to 3pm
Weekday evenings typically 4pm - 11pm
Saturday 7am - 2pm
Sunday 8am - 8pm

Willing to travel: 10 miles

Experience: Having taught some of the keenest minds in the world at the Universities of Oxford and London and also struggling school students, (as well as struggling University students and bright-as-buttons schoolchildren!), I believe it is absolutely essential to tailor the teaching style to the requirements of the individual. Pupils have hugely varying aptitudes for different parts of a syllabus. For example some find calculations and concepts easy but have difficulty remembering (sometimes "boring") facts while others love the challenge of retaining factual information but are frightened off by the mathematical or deep philosophical aspects of science. I use a wide variety of formal well-known techniques as well as my approaches which have worked well with my students, such as quizzes, worksheets, diagrams, visualisations and real life analogies. We will also work extensively on practice questions and past examination papers. There are also some excellent internet resources for chemistry which I recommend and use. I will also set and mark homework as and when required.

I am very familiar with the Edexcel, AQA and OCR syllabuses, and I have also tailored my teaching to specialised syllabus requirements, including one student for a one-of-a-kind Science Foundation course for entry into a Midwifery degree!
I teach:
Chemistry up to and including final year Degree level
A-level Chemistry
GCSE Combined Science and also individual Chemistry, Physics, Biology

I am also a music teacher - drums and percussion, Indian Tabla!