Rebecca

Experience

• 11+ English & Maths (ISEB, public school entrance exams including pre-tests)

• 13+ English & Maths (public school entrance exams)

• (I)GCSE English (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• (I)GCSE Maths (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• (I)GCSE French (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• (I)GCSE Spanish (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• A-Level Maths (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• A-Level French (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

• A-Level Spanish (AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC)

I have tutored students of all ages and levels in Maths, English, French and Spanish, including Oxbridge interview and admissions test preparation.

I tutor all subjects face-to-face and online, both for students in the UK and based overseas, such as in Singapore.

I have extensive experience preparing students for the 11+, including ISEB Pre-test preparation, and have overseen successful applications to top schools such as Latymer Upper and Downe House. I am well-versed in the common issues faced during the process of 11+ preparation as well as effective strategies to overcome them.

Biography

I grew up in Essex and completed my secondary education at St John Payne school. Here I achieved A* grades at A-Level in English Literature, Maths, French, Spanish, and Critical Thinking as well as an A* for my EPQ on Historical Linguistics. I then pursued my passion for languages as a student of French & Spanish at Hertford College, Oxford, where I took a particular interest in the study of modern French and Spanish-language Latin American literature.

As part of my degree I spent a year abroad working in Normandy (France) and Vigo (Spain). The new and exciting experiences I had during this time opened my eyes to unique ways of seeing the world and so immediately after graduating from university I took up a position as a Professional Tutor with Keystone, keen to share the rewards of original ways of thinking with students through tutoring.

After an incredibly rewarding 2 years as a Professional Tutor, I moved to Madrid in 2019 and completed a Masters Degree in Literary Translation into Spanish. I moved back to the UK in June 2021 and continue to tutor on a purely online basis.

My blog posts

07/03/2022: The Modern Languages Aptitude Test (MLAT) at Oxford

07/02/2019: The Modern and Medieval Languages Admissions Assessment (MMLAA) - Cambridge

Personal Approach

My personal tutoring philosophy hinges on active learning. To this end, I aim to guide students in reaching solutions themselves rather than spoon-feeding them answers and ideas. In my experience, this results in more profound understanding and far greater long-term learning and is well worth the initial extra effort in order to establish a solid fundamental grasp of the topic at hand.

This also allows for specific areas of difficulty to come to light so that they can be targeted directly in highly-tailored tutoring sessions which take the student’s individual learning style and goals into account. No two students are the same, and personalising my tutoring approach accordingly proves to be far more successful and rewarding.

I believe in the power of positive reinforcement and always aim to instil in my students the idea that learning and studying are not chores which must be completed by rote, but rather opportunities to discover something new, be it facts about the world, new skills, or even new perspectives on familiar topics.

What I do when I am not tutoring

Football is also a huge part of my life and more often than not I can be found on the pitch. If I’m not playing, I’m probably going to see women’s matches or doing painstaking research for my Fantasy Football team.

I also work as a translator and, in my spare time, love to bake any and all kinds of bread and am currently teaching myself Norwegian.

Testimonials

''Thanks to you, she now loves academics more than the performing arts! She is not finding the academic difficult at all and she was so scared. At her new school they all think she is very bright and academically prepared!'' (Mother of a home-schooling student)

“The session with Rebecca went very well. My son said it was very useful and helped him a lot with his revision.” (Mother of a Year 11 student)

“My son is really enjoying his lessons with Rebecca and does not even complain about the lessons (which is a first!)” (Mother of a Year 6 boy)

''My son got an interview at Latymer and has gained a place at UCS. Thank you so much for your support. He couldn't have done it without you!'' (Mother of Year 6 student)

''I am very grateful to you for all of your help with preparing me for the interviews - without your hard work I may not be lucky enough to have got an offer. All of your advice was so useful and made the real interviews far easier to tackle.'' (Oxbridge candidate)

''My daughter had been struggling with Spanish and almost wanted to quit just a few months before the exam. Your tutorial was a rescue. She actually screamed when she saw the result. She is lucky to have you to help her. Thank you so much!'' (Mother of GCSE Spanish student)

''We really like Rebecca and both the boys enjoy her company and say she makes the lessons fun. I have seen a marked improvement in our son’s progress at school while she has been tutoring him.'' (Mother of 11+ students)

“We all would like to thank you for all your effort and help for our daughter on this difficult process. She really enjoyed learning with you - I am not joking , she is so picky because she has always been very aware of who she can receive the most accurate and beneficial knowledge from.” (Mother of GCSE Maths student)

“We had parents evening this week, I hope your ears were burning with all the praise you were getting from our pupils!!” (School coordinator for Maths tutoring)

“His enjoyment of the subject has returned and he is much, much more confident than he was before and requires very little support at home now. He really enjoys his sessions with you.” (Mother of 13+ Maths student)

“I would like to thank you for tutoring my daughter these few months. I enjoy reading your detailed updates every month. Your structured approach has helped her tremendously and she has now become more confident in her Spanish.” (Mother of GCSE Spanish student)

“Tutoring has transformed his work at school and boosted his self-esteem.” (Mother of 13+ Maths student)

''I got a nine for Spanish! Thank you so much for teaching me and guiding me throughout this and last year. I couldn't have gotten this amazing result without your help. I have always enjoyed your lessons and found them very useful every time.'' (GCSE Spanish student)

''I wanted to say thank you for your work with my daughter. She has really enjoyed the weekly sessions and her confidence and therefore ability has really grown with her Maths.'' (Mother of GCSE Maths student)

''My daughter was very pleased to have been awarded A* for her efforts in French and Spanish. She is going to her first choice university. It has been a pleasure conversing with yourself and my daughter tells me she has found your input and expertise invaluable and you were a pleasure to work with.'' (Mother of A-Level French & Spanish student)