Richard

Hi there,

My name is Richard and I`m an actor and a writer with a love of literature. Before completing my masters in performing arts at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, I studied English at the University of Leeds, graduating with a 1st in 2014. As such, I have an excellent insight into how English is taught in the education system at a variety of levels, and an impeccable track record of high achievement in examinations in English.

However, I also have a genuine enthusiasm for the subject above and beyond passing examinations - something I feel I can share with new tutees, inspiring them to learn not just to get the grade they`re aiming for, but for the sake of learning and acquiring new knowledge along the way. Examinations may be a matter of jumping through hoops, but learning is not and, in my experience, a comprehensive knowledge of the subject always serves the student better than cutting corners or only learning what you think might come up.

Availability: Due to the current lockdown, I currently have lots more availability, and am therefore offering online lessons during the day instead of evenings as usual. If you are interested in maintaining your child`s education while schools are closed irrespective of any exams they may otherwise have been studying for, I would be happy to provide this service.

Willing to travel: Home Only

Experience: While at university, I volunteered as a classroom assistant during my holidays to teach at Shapwick Prep School, a special needs school catering primarily for children with dyslexia, but also for a wide range of learning difficulties. By providing one-to-one tuition in reading and writing with these children, I learnt that intelligence is not necessarily a matter of academic achievement, and that even the most challenged student can achieve great personal successes if they are willing to put the work in.

Since graduating from drama school in 2016, I have worked as a private English tutor one-to-one with a range of students at both GCSE and A Level. As such, I`m well versed in the syllabuses for both qualifications, and have helped a number of students achieve their desires grades in coursework and examinations.

My approach to tutoring is one of self-empowerment - setting tasks to motivate the student so that they come to realise that they already possess the skills to bring about their own success (it`s really only a matter of them realising this). While familiarising oneself with exam format and practising doing mock papers under exam conditions in the run up to an exam are helpful, this should not be the sole focus of preparing for an exam. Instead, I advocate breaking the subject down into topics (based on both what has been taught in the curriculum and on what has come up on papers in previous years) and tackling each of these in turn, revising each unit thoroughly before testing this knowledge in the context of a mock exam. That way the student develops not only a thorough working knowledge of the subject, but is also able to select aspects of that knowledge and apply these appropriately when confronted with a question in an exam.

In other words, the key to passing an exam lies in the student`s ability to summon and manipulate a considerable body of knowledge under pressure. There`s no easy short cut to this - you`ve just got to learn the subject inside out. And who knows - you might even find yourself enjoying it the more you learn!

Recent testimonial: `I doubt I would have achieved my desired grade without all of your excellent help and commitment to helping me, thank you so much.`