Tom P - Tutors - Keystone Tutors

I have worked with Keystone since 2015 and I have experience of working with a wide variety of clients, online and in person, in the UK and internationally. My tutorials boost confidence and empower students to reach their goals through the development of high-quality academic skills and retained specialist knowledge.

More specifically, I work with clients on:

• **11+ preparation for ISEB pre-tests, written entrance tests and interviews in English, Mathematics and Reasoning. I have successfully prepared candidates for entry to schools including St Paul’s Girls School, City of London School for Boys, Latymer Upper, Godolphin & Latymer, City of London School for Girls, Emanuel, Harrow, Eton, Westminster and Winchester.
• **GCSE and IGCSE History preparation. I support students preparing for examinations offered by the AQA, Edexcel, OCR and CIE exam boards. I teach all the core topics and essay writing and source analysis skills. I am able to prepare students in the exam technique for each of the exam boards’ papers and also for coursework modules.
• **GCSE and IGCSE English Language and English Literature preparation. I support students preparing for examinations offered by the AQA, Edexcel, OCR and CIE exam boards. I have experience of teaching a range of set texts. I am able to prepare students in the exam technique for each of the exam boards’ papers and also for coursework modules.
• **A-Level History exam preparation. I support students preparing for examinations offered by the AQA, Edexcel, OCR and CIE exam boards. I teach most early modern and modern History topics. I am able to prepare students in the exam technique for each of the exam boards’ papers across the primary source, historical interpretations, breadth and depth essay question types and I also offer support for the coursework modules.
• **A-Level Politics exam preparation. I support students preparing for examinations offered by both Edexcel and AQA. For AQA I teach all of the core topics: both UK and USA government and politics, comparative politics, the traditional ideologies and all of the other ideologies options. For Edexcel I teach UK politics and government, core ideologies, non-core ideologies, comparative politics and global politics. I am able to prepare students in the exam technique for each of the exam boards’ papers across the source, essay, ideas and short-answer questions.
• **University admission support – with a particular focus on Oxbridge preparation for History and Politics. I support students applying to university to read History, Politics or related degree courses. I offer support with guided reading, personal statement, admissions tests, interview preparation and with their applications as a whole. I have particular experience of working with candidates applying to read History and History and Politics (which I read as an undergraduate) at both Oxford and Cambridge.
• **Homeschooling – over the last ten years I have worked with a significant number of students who are educated through Keystone’s homeschooling programmes. I have particular experience of working with students who have left the school environment because of demanding personal circumstances and of supporting these students with sensitivity and energy to achieve their goals. I work on homeschooling across my subject areas but also work on homeschooling at the 13+ level offering enrichment courses in History and Politics.

I completed my secondary schooling with A-Levels in History, French, Politics and Spanish at the highly meritocratic and academically empowering The Manchester Grammar School. This educational experience inculcated a love of academic excellence, a competitive nature and a commitment to social mobility and diversity. As an undergraduate I read History and Politics at and was a scholar of Christ Church, Oxford. I have worked as a Professional Tutor at Keystone since 2015.

For each of my students I set, in conjunction with the parents and student, a clear, achievable and measurable job goal, offering a structured but adaptive plan for how we can best reach that goal together. Feedback on where we are at, relative to this goal, is consistently provided to both student and parent and I offer engaging, lively and well-structured tutorials, with a particular focus on confidence building and motivation.

The common thread to my tutoring is that it is individual-based; it is geared around a recognition that ability, circumstances and character differ from student to student. The methodology and pace may sometimes vary, but the constant in my tutoring is a sympathetic, calm but challenging manner. My tutoring aims to instil confidence, both in the subject I am working on with a student, but also in their general educational and personal development. The aim of my approach is not just to tick boxes on a syllabus or repair specific faults, though both are often necessary components of my work: I set out to not so much teach my students, as to work with them.

The Oxford tutorial system in particular, but also my relationships with some teachers at school, formed a significant role in my own personal development. I developed a rapport with my teachers and tutors, and this helped me to progress educationally, cultivate various skills and map out my future. It is with a similar temperament that I approach one-to-one professional tutoring.

I also offer an approach that is family-based: that is, I work with multiple siblings in many families.

Besides tutoring, I am the owner of an indie publishing company and also work as a consultant editor on a small number of highly commercial, bestselling books with a leading international publishing house. I am also particularly interested in social mobility in education projects and participate in a number of Keystone pro-bono initiatives including our university programme, which I have worked on since its initiation, and The Bridge 11+ support programme. I am also a trustee of an international family foundation dedicated to improving social mobility.