Matthew

I'm passionate about mathematics and physics and I love teaching them. While I understand that students and their parents are usually looking for a tutor to improve their grades (and my students do get high grades and get into top universities) I also believe it’s important to concentrate on understanding as well as learning. Exam success is greatly helped by understanding where the concepts come from and how they are used.

My philosophy is "more than higher grades". I believe it is not enough simply to do well at A level, students need to be given the tools to succeed at university. To that end I take a very full interest in their education generally. As one student recently put it, I am "so much more than just a subject tutor". For example I give guidance and support with university entrance, including the UCAS personal statement and Oxbridge applications and interviews.

Tutoring Experience

I have been teaching for thirty years, at top-ranking schools including Charterhouse in Surrey and Phillips Exeter Academy in the USA. I have been a full-time private tutor for sixteen years, helping over 400 students achieve higher grades in their exams. That's in excess of 14,000 hours of one-to-one teaching.

As well as Maths (including Further Maths) and Physics at A level, I have prepared candidates for the Oxford MAT and PAT exams and the STEP exam (for entry to Cambridge, Warwick and Imperial.) I have been an examiner for Edexcel, AQA and OCR. I also teach A level Statistics.

I was a Kitchener Scholar at the University of Cambridge, where I was awarded an Entrance Prize by Trinity College and the Philpott Prize for a first class examination performance. I took a second degree with the Open University, where I won the Leslie Walshaw award for scoring 100% in the examination in Mathematical Models and Methods. (In fact, I achieved first class passes in every assignment and examination for every course I took throughout the degree.)

I believe strongly in the importance of lifelong learning and continuous professional development. I spent a year at the University of York studying second year Physics, where I also developed an interest in Economics (and have taught it at undergraduate level). I've grown my business skills as an Enterprise Fellow at York St John University, and I've taken examinations in accounting at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (I scored 92% in Financial Accounting). I'm motivated in part by personal interest, but also by the desire to be able to give my students better advice and better teaching.

Tutoring Approach

My style is to make the subject as simple and as enjoyable as possible. My approach produces outstanding results: one of my students came to me in March of his A2 year with E's and U's in his mathematics modules. He resat his whole A level after three months tuition with me and was awarded an A* and got into his first choice university, Manchester, to read mathematics.

Please note: I charge £240 per month, payable in advance on the 1st of each month. This covers four one-hour lessons and additional online support outside of lesson times. I do not hold parents to contracts, but the expectation is that lessons will continue throughout the academic year.