Aleksandra

I am a PhD candidate in English at the University of Cambridge, where I have for the past almost four years also provided instruction and dissertation supervision to undergraduate students, as well as assessed applicant entrance examinations. Privately, I offer individually tailored tuition, as well as aid with critical, analytical, reading and writing skills.

As my work is cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural, I can offer individually tailored lessons within a number of subjects in the arts and humanities (up to MA level within my areas of specialism, which are in English literature and language, and up to BA level otherwise), along with aid with critical reading, analysis, and writing skills (up to MA level). Prior to my PhD, I completed an MPhil in English also at Cambridge (with Distinction) and a BA Hons in comparative European literatures, linguistics and languages at Utrecht University (summa cum laude, equivalent to Double First Class with Distinction), which also included internships at the Universities of Sheffield and Heidelberg, where I worked on archives in English, German and Dutch. Ever since, in addition to literary and linguistic studies, I have regularly also crossed into art, history, politics, philosophy, and related areas, including as part of editorial roles at The Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art, Edinburgh University Press and Amsterdam University Press.

Apart from subject- and skills-based instruction, I can also offer assistance with applications and preparation for entrance examinations and interviews. Apart from having assessed and moderated entrance examinations and interviews at Cambridge, I have also had the entirety of my own studies (including PhD, MPhil, BA Hons, and several internships and exchanges) fully funded through a selection of competitive academic scholarships (among those I have taken up are awards from the Cambridge Trust, Le Bas Fund, Utrecht Fund, and others). As such, I have a good comprehension of what it tends to take to be offered a place, and the funds to take it up, at an assortment of competitive institutions from both the tutor and the student perspective.

Tutoring Experience

I have experience tutoring both through university and at earlier secondary school stages (at levels including MPhil/MLitt/MA, BLitt/BA, IB/EB/A-Level, IGCSE/GCSE, and comparable educational stages).

Over the course of the past almost four years, I have provided instruction and dissertation supervision to a number of first- through to final-year undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge (predominantly in English Studies, but also extending into Comparative Studies), as well as assessed and moderated applicant entrance examinations and interviews (especially the CELAT and CMLAT). Outside of the Cambridge supervision system, I have at the same time also taught and assessed independent adult, postgraduate, undergraduate and secondary school students through independent initiatives such as the Cambridge Continued Education Courses, Summer Schools, Friends of Youth, Sutton Trust and others, as well as privately through platforms like this one (including both First Tutors: Academic and First Tutors: Languages).

For those interested in advanced university-level instruction, my specialism is in English language, literature, and related cultural, social and political contexts of the modern and contemporary periods (that is, 1830–Present), so I can teach within these areas up to especially advanced levels (including for MA and BA dissertations). For those interested in less specialised university-level instruction, or earlier stages of education, I can also offer assistance with additional periods of English (including 1500–1830, having, after all, been educated in all of these before pursuing a postgraduate specialism), aspects of Germanic and Slavonic Studies (especially 1830–Present, but including 1500–1830, having studied comparatively before and at times in the midst of pursuing a postgraduate specialism), as well as within political, social and cultural studies, philosophy, history, and philosophy and history of art (all potentially up to BA level, depending on the particular course). Because academic skills are so transferable across the humanities, and because I have a background that has always been cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary, over the years, I have been able to assist students in lots of diverse disciplines (including those studying for degrees that do not immediately seem particularly related to my own, such as Philosophy, Politics and Economics or International Relations).

I have particular experience imparting and improving students' critical, analytical, reading and writing skills, all of which can be transferred across subjects and be of aid with extended pieces of coursework, assignments and examinations alike. I assist regularly both at and outside of Cambridge with a wide variety of academic, critical and creative pieces of coursework and independent research (including the occasional PhD dissertation; numerous academic manuscripts, editorial and publishing briefs; MA dissertations and papers; BA dissertations, papers, portfolios and assignments; A-Level EPQs; IB EEs; NEAs; and more). I am also perhaps more capable than most tutors (having, at this point, been educated across four countries, with their four separate educational systems) of assisting students from educational backgrounds outside the UK in adapting to the UK context.

For those interested in but unsure of whether I might be able to assist with their particular topic or circumstances, I encourage you to reach out, as I am always happy to lay out the details of my experience, education and approaches as they would apply to your particular context. Ultimately, it is critical that a tutor and a student make for a good fit — and a detailed conversation is always useful in ensuring this is the case!

Tutoring Approach

I am aware of students' different personal and educational backgrounds and learning profiles, and ultimately aim to structure my lessons around each individual. Therefore, if a student is able to provide previous or current syllabi, express particular interests, or articulate particular difficulties (whether due to a lack of experience, confidence, or a learning profile that has traditionally been marginalised by schools and universities), this can be especially useful for me to know. From there, I aim to structure my lessons so that they are not only individually tailored, but also especially interactive (drawing much from the Cambridge supervision system I am used to working within) — so as to allow the student to actively develop and entrench knowledge, understanding, and transferable academic skills.

I am especially capable of improving students' critical and analytical capabilities, and ensuring they can effectively read, analyse, research and write about texts in the arts and humanities, from literature and language to political and social studies. I would suggest that this is easiest accomplished, in most cases, through carefully guided practice — by, first, leading the student through how to approach texts (both in session and, if desired, in materials designed for the student to take away after the session and keep referring to while applying their skills in future) and, second, regularly providing them with detailed comments and annotations on their independent pieces of work, which can then also be further discussed, explained and adapted in session (as well as through successive drafts, edits and annotations of either the same assignment or else additional, increasingly complex assignments).

I am available for appointments online and in person in Cambridge (depending on location). I can work very flexible hours around my schedule (from early mornings until late evenings on a number of days throughout the weekdays and weekends), and am also open to inquiries from those who require a more unconventional approach (whether last-minute appointments, late-night availabilities, or other unconventional circumstances often arising from abrupt and imminent deadlines). I accept bookings upon confirmation of payment (which ought to be completed within no more than 24 hours after a time and a place for the appointment have been agreed upon in order for the booking to be held and, in the case of last-minute appointments, always also in advance of the appointment). I can accommodate all cancellations made with sufficient notice with up to a full refund of tuition fees (with a 100% refund when cancellations are made no later than 48 hours in advance of a lesson, and with a 50% refund when cancellations are made no later than 24 hours in advance of a lesson).