Saaya

I have always had a passion for learning new information and my specific interest has always been in biology, hence me now studying a degree that is so heavily focused on this subject! Through hard work, knowing my subject and being able to understand exam techniques that work, I was able to achieve high grades in both my A levels and GCSEs, which allowed me to study at one of the best universities in the UK, doing a course which is both highly competitive and more importantly, one that I love!

I have a fresh perspective on what makes a good tutor (after having one myself) and which techniques help a student retain and understand a subject better. By adopting a positive attitude, I hope to make the student feel comfortable and confident within the subject whilst adapting the way I work when needed. Practising exam technique is key to my lessons, and this is something I go over extensively after making sure the student has a thorough understanding of the subject.

My lessons typically span an hour but can be extended if there is a test coming up or a student needs more time for a specific subject, and all lessons are thoroughly planned each week.

Tutoring Experience

After completing my GCSE’s and achieving grades I were proud of, I received some request to tutor my younger siblings’ friends and realised I had a natural affinity for teaching and explaining exam technique. After doing this for a year, I built up a good client base and had formulated an approach to teaching both Biology and English Language, which involved fully explaining the content to the student, making sure they understand it, whilst supplementing their learning with exam questions and tests throughout. I felt this combination of both passive and active learning led to the best results and also signalled to me the areas that I needed to work more closely on with the student. As well as this, I am closely aware of the learning style of all of my students and what methods work well for each and those that don’t- therefore I am able to adapt my sessions to suit each person.

After COVD 19 hit, I then had to adapt my tutoring style to an online setting and did this by using another online tutoring service. I found this transition not only gave me access to many more students, but also made the lessons that much more engaging as I could ask students to annotate documents, draw images on the screen, highlight sections and so on, and overall, I could get through more content doing the lessons online.

After finding it difficult to find resources for my own university applications, I took time to find resources in order to aid my MMI preparation and help me write an engaging and punchy personal statement. This led me to receive all 4 of my offers for dentistry, beating the odds of only 3-1 students getting a place in this competitive course. This gruelling application process led me to want to help others gain access to it by offering MMI and personal statement tuition. The aim of my lessons is to provide my students with a greater understanding of Dentistry, more confidence with MMI style interviews as well as improving, or in some cases helping them start, their personal statements.
By first planning the statement together, giving advice on what to include, and then checking the drafts students have created, my students create outstanding personal statements that stand out.
Furthermore, when tutoring MMI and Dentistry Interview Preparation, we will practice questions together, do mock interviews, and discuss dentistry topics that can be used in the interview itself. I will help the student gain confidence with their application and feel more comfortable with the MMI format.

It has now been 3 years since I started online tutoring, 5 years since I started tutoring overall, and I can confidently say that my not only do I help my students achieve their goals, I also make them feel comfortable in the process, which leads to them being more forthcoming with where they are struggling and where they may not need as much help.

Tutoring Approach

By adopting a positive attitude I hope to make the student feel comfortable and confident within the subject, whilst adapting the way I work when needed. Practising exam technique is key to my lessons and this is something I go over extensively after making sure the student has a thorough understanding of the subject.

I like to ensure that all my students leave their lessons having gained a greater understanding of their subject than when they started, and I check that this is done through the copious use of exam questions and quizzes. I also produce my own revision material which I go through within the lesson, and this is available for them to download and review on their own at the end of the session.