What advice would you have for someone looking to apply for post-graduate study several years after completing their undergrad?

Dhananjay Talwar

Passionate and experienced multilingual tutor!

I have 4 years’ experience as a private tutor and now a full-time tutor, as I have been for just over 6 months. I have experience teaching a range of students in terms of age (from 5 to over 60) and level. I have taught English as a Foreign Language, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German and Latin as well as English and Maths (up to 13+) to a total of more than 50 students (including some groups). Many of these students have been learning for exams, such as GCSEs and A-Levels, while some have been casual learners. While flexibility is essential and I try to tailor my approach to each student, I base my tutoring on transmitting my passion and expertise in learning to the student. As a speaker of many languages, I have considerable experience of the language learning process and know-how of language learning techniques. I use this to predict common pitfalls and difficulties for students, and to explain these by breaking them down in simple terms. In this way, the student’s confidence increases and they feel able to reach their targets. While I have high standards, I also believe students will naturally want to learn more if they have fun. I often use cultural materials such as books, films or songs in my lessons so that the student sees the advantages of language learning and so starts to learn proactively and thus improve faster.

£60Per hour

Ecem Mimoglu

Experienced tutor and undergraduate at Imperial College London

I am a third year medical student at Imperial College London, and while I am passionate about my university subject, I equally enjoyed my academic journey to get here. I have always had an enthusiasm for anything and everything taught to me - in particular maths and science - and I hope to help other students find not just an understanding for their subjects, but a genuine interest and appreciation for that knowledge alongside it. I have experience tutoring children of varying ages and abilities and believe that I can be helpful in a variety of situations individuals may find themselves in. I place emphasis on the importance of flexibility in tutoring as not all students will learn in the same way and helping students understand how they learn best will help them excel not only in that subject but throughout the rest of their academic career. As well as experience in teaching school subjects, I consider myself to be a good source of guidance for university applications. I have a good understanding of how universities select for science degrees in particular, and this can be very helpful for students who want an extra push at this stage. I am a very approachable and lighthearted person, so although I take teaching seriously I would like sessions to be as engaging and interactive as possible. My perspective on teaching is that it is never one-sided, as tutors and students should work together in a comfortable middle-ground in which both are learning and developing together. This means that I will value a students needs and opinions about sessions as much as my own in order to ensure they reach their full potential. I hope that I can be helpful and look forward to hearing from anyone interested.

£40Per hour

Nerijus Sidorovas

Seasoned Mathematics Tutor with years of experience, and a current PhD student

Hello! My name is Nerijus, although you can call me Neri for short. I am a private mathematics tutor in the Sheffield area, who is available for ONLINE and IN-PERSON tuition. In addition, I make challenging A-Level Maths & Further Maths papers for students to practice from. I am a recent Loughborough University graduate (Class of 2020) holding a strong first-class Master of Mathematics degree (MMath). In October 2020, I am starting my PhD in Applied Mathematics back at Loughborough for which I have secured a full 4-year scholarship. My research area concerns developing and analysing extended mathematical models in field of nonlinear wave dynamics using various modern mathematical wave theory techniques, and concepts from fluid mechanics. In addition to my own studies, I enjoy tutoring other students and watching them become competent in a subject that most seem to fear! I decided to begin tutoring and help many struggling GCSE, A-Level, and University students get to grips with their mathematics, and be confident that they are more than able to achieve the highest possible grade in their examinations. Some benefits which I gain from tutoring include developing my own communication skills, retaining certain mathematical knowledge, and simply having the pleasure of impacting on someone’s success in a positive light. Throughout my own academic journey, I have taken upon numerous opportunities to tutor students of different abilities and help them get the grades they wish for. Initially, I began as a non-profit tutor in my own school where I tutored Year 8-11 students, and this involved boosting their confidence in the subject as well as providing new ways to approach problems and solve them. Whilst this opportunity was not as long-term as others, the improvement of the students was clear-cut. Their algebra got much better over time, they started to think laterally about problems, and the topics which once haunted them were no longer an obstacle. In summer of 2016, after some tutoring experience and after receiving my A-Level results, I decided to become a part-time tutor. In turn, I have signed up to several tutoring websites, and slowly began tutoring students in their own homes as well as online. In the most recent academic year 2019-2020, I had the pleasure of tutoring three students on a regular basis. One of which was a Y1 / AS Maths student, another was a Y2 / A2 Maths student, and the third was a second-year university student studying a Mathematics & Statistics course. In 2017, I was granted two opportunities; one of which was to work with an outreach programme titled ‘PATHWAYS Project’ run by a partnership of Leicestershire Universities. This involved being properly trained to be a tutor (safeguarding, teaching approaches, various scenario handling) before being sent off to tutor at two different schools every week. The tutoring largely involved the same approach as before, but now I was able to build more rapport with my tutees, and I often created revision material tailored to the specific students which I tutored. At these schools, I often tutored a small group of students (2-4) which were identified by the schools to require the most improvement in the subject. The second opportunity was ultimately the same, but run by Loughborough University closer to the exam season, whereby I was sent to help tutor larger groups of students as part of their final revision push before exams in the Swadlincote area. All this has given me plenty of experience and teaching knowledge that I apply to every session I run. In total, I have tutored for over 400 hours in the last few years. My teaching style has also been refined over this period, and I usually like to dedicate first sessions to building rapport with my tutees, discussing which topics they want to focus on, how confident they are at the beginning of tutoring, and then plan my lessons in advance accordingly. Occasionally, I like to ask for small, informal feedback in the sessions to make sure my tutees are happy with the service they are provided. This is to ensure that I do not go too fast or too slow, and that we don’t leave behind any misunderstood topics. How does tuition work? I provide a personal Google Drive link where all the resources we cover are uploaded and can be viewed at your leisure. Online sessions are done via Skype (or Zoom), and I use my tablet to write any mathematics we discuss. These notes are uploaded to Google Drive for you by the end of the day.

£25Per hour

Felix Morrison

Resourceful tutor and undergraduate at University of Oxford

I have tutored students in my local area for a number of years, and through one-to-one teaching I have seen how an individualised approach can dramatically improve academic performance. I favour a collaborative style, working with the student to identify areas that they find difficult and through practice helping them to gain confidence. I also encourage my students to send me written work for feedback, which will always be returned on a quick and regular basis. I will also produce personalised revision packs and schedules to help structure work throughout the week. My tutorial style is relaxed and laid back, and I tend to gear a segment of each session into a discussion of what part of the syllabus the student finds the most interesting. Cultivating practical examination skills alongside a passion for the subject is the ultimate goal of my tutorials. While English Literature is my degree course, I have also tutored students for GCSE History and R.E. I can also offer guidance on university admissions, and specifically Oxbridge applications. I have just completed my final year of study in English Language at Literature at the University of Oxford, and have graduated with a first-class degree. I am well aware of the benefits of tutorial-based teaching and wish to impart some of the techniques and skills I have acquired over the past three years to students working at all levels. Having undergone A-levels and GCSEs not too long ago myself, I am conscious of what examination boards are looking for from candidates, and how simple techniques (acquiring the right vocabulary; addressing questions appropriately; arguing with intent) alongside broadening your knowledge of the subject outside of the confines of examinations (reading around the texts, dipping into accessible parts of criticism, exploring topics not typically covered in school) can both improve the grade of a student while also instilling a greater appreciation of the subject in general. Having worked as an Admissions Helper at Hertford College, I have experienced both sides of the university admissions process and would be happy to help prospective undergraduates with their university applications.

£20Per hour