Ruth

Tutoring Experience

My first experience with tutoring was helping a GCSE student with English Literature in 2020. She was struggling with exam technique so I made resources for her showing her how to structure her responses, broadening her abilities and making sure she input her own ideas to make it personalised and effective. She overachieved her goal of a 6 by getting a 7 in her GCSE.

Next, I helped someone who was struggling to pass with their GCSE English Literature and was working at a level 3 when we started. Through homing his natural abilities and translating it into exam technique, where I helped him with time management and understanding the texts, he was able to get the confidence to apply himself and managed to succeed in getting a 5 in his exams.

In 2021 I coached a student who wanted advice on applying to Oxford. I explained the application process to them to make sure they understood their goals and were committed to the task and gave him recommendations on how to broaden their love and knowledge of their chosen subject, inspiring their passion as well as making sure they understood how to approach their personal statement. I looked over their personal statement drafts and offered insights and questions so they could adapt it to be the best it could be and then gave them examples of the ELAT so they understood how it worked.

Tutoring Approach

For GCSE subjects, the key to success is understanding what the examiners are asking of you. In this sense, I would make sure the pupil understood the question. We would look through methods of identifying command words within the instructions and reference previous examiners’ reports to ascertain what the markers want for each grade.

For English Literature, I would then help them consult the set texts and question them accordingly to make sure they understand the plot, devices, characters, theme and style and how to fit these into a structure they’re comfortable with for the question. I would offer them feedback in the shape of questions and inquiries so they can develop their own analytical skills and perfect their personalised structure for the questions.

For GCSE history as well as GCSE religious studies, this would involve making sure they understood the context and the keywords of what they were studying. I would engage them in small spelling texts and have discussions with them on their ideas about the topic at hand to bounce ideas off each other and promote their understanding. Then, it would be a case of fitting their knowledge into what the question is asking.

For A-Level subjects, it is essential they learn the skills that differ and develop on GCSE ideas. For English Literature, this would involve understanding the exam and coursework (if applicable) structures and making sure they can develop their ideas beyond the GCSE framework. In terms of the texts, I would go through key passages in the texts and invite the tutee to analyse them for me. I would offer pointers for how to develop their ideas and then go through how one would put this in an essay to hit the exam criteria.

Admissions tests rely on passion for the subject and therefore it is imperative to hear the tutee’s ideas and areas of interest, offering them resources for how they can extend this further and show their enthusiasm for their chosen field. For the admissions process for Oxbridge, I would make sure they properly understood the structure and timetable of the individual components to ensure organisation. For personal statement crafting, I would help them home in their interest areas to something they could write about.

I would let them write their drafts independently and then offer feedback and inquiries when they wanted them so they understand how to perfect it and make it the best it can be. For the admissions test, I would point out resources that can help them and then be there to mark and look over any practice attempts they had, giving them personalised advice so they got used to the structure of the test, offering reassurance so they can be confident on the day. For interviews, I would hold mock interviews with them – at the start, it would be informal and focusing on the structure and, after a few more sessions, would be more akin to the real experience to see how they fair. This way, they can enter the process with confidence