Olly

Experience

• 11+ English and Maths: ISEB and public school exams, including pre-tests.

• 13+ English, Latin, Ancient Greek, History and Maths: ISEB and public school entrance exams

• 13+ Scholarship Latin, Ancient Greek

• GCSE/IGCSE English, Maths, Latin, Ancient Greek, German and History (All exam boards)

• 16+ English and Latin: public school entrance exams

• A-level Latin, Ancient Greek (All exam boards)

I have been tutoring and mentoring students from age 8 all the way to undergraduate level for over five years now, and I am comfortable teaching both face-to-face and online.

Currently, I am tutoring 11+ Maths and English, helping with entrance to Eton, Radley, Bradfield and a range of Consortium schools. I am also preparing students for their Common Entrance exams and scholarship in the summer in Latin, Maths and Ancient Greek and older students for their Oxbridge CAT exams in November. I am preparing students for scholarship entry to Winchester, Westminster and Eton this year.

Last year, I helped two students through interview and CAT tests secure places at Oxford and Cambridge universities respectively. Students I have tutored this year and last have also secured places at Eton, Harrow, CLSG, Latymer Upper, Bradfield, Godolphin and Latimer and Frances Holland School.

Pandemic permitting, I often teach a small class 11+ and 13+ Maths at the Chelsea Academy and last year have led two Keystone courses in 13+ Maths.

Outside of tuition, I worked as an Outreach Assistant for Oxford University during my studies, which involved me leading a workshop in London encouraging 10 year-olds into Classics and teaching them some elementary Latin and Ancient History. On top of this, I worked for Boardworks a few years ago, narrating their GCSE History and Geography syllabi for use on classroom Smartboards.

Biography

I am a tutor and comedy performer from Oxfordshire. I grew up in Goring and went to school nearby at St Andrews Prep before moving to Abingdon School when I was 12. I had a wonderful time at Abingdon; I discovered my love of languages, literature and debate and had excellent teachers to guide me on my way.

I chose to study Classics at the University of Oxford, where I got to explore language, literature and history even further, and whilst at uni I found that I also loved the theatre & comedy worlds; I took part in countless productions over my four years, acting, directing and producing shows in equal measure, which was such a joy!

During my time at Oxford I also began tutoring privately, online at first but then expanding into mentoring face-to-face. I took evening classes in German too, as I wanted to develop a modern language to sit alongside my ancient ones.

I graduated from Oxford in June 2017 and since then I have taken two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe festival and spent the winter months working in Austria to perfect my German.

My blog posts

07/03/2022: A Guide to Oxford Classics Admission Test (CAT)

31/01/2022: 11 Plus Maths Exam Guide

Personal Approach

I think students perform the best when they are the most engaged in what they are learning, when they can connect their learning to things they already love, whether that’s activities, interests or hobbies. The most important aspect of private tuition, in my view, is that I develop a relationship with my students which goes beyond the teacher-pupil arrangement, so they can grow in confidence with the knowledge that they have a mentor to support them both academically and in personal development.

What I do when I am not tutoring

My passion outside of tutoring is in comedy, theatre and sport and this is what I occupy my spare time with. This year, I have joined an improv comedy troupe and you can find me most weekends in the theatre or playing tennis and football.

I have written for the BBC Radio 4 Show 'Newsjack' and occasionally for the London Review of Books.

Testimonials

“Olly's preparation for non-VR was simply fascinating. My daughter knew how to manage her test without any form of hesitation. I highly recommend Olly to pupils preparing for the 11+.” (Parent of 11+ student)

''It was fantastic. Couldn’t have gone better! My daughter was quite dubious/nervous on how it was going to be, but enjoyed it. Olly was great and my daughter really likes him. He helped immensely and took her back to basic algebra, as it was apparent that she had missed some vital steps. She completed her homework immediately after the session and already had a better understanding. So pleased with this set up and she is very much looking forward to her next session with Olly!'' (Mother of online 13+ Maths student in Hong Kong)

''My son received his CE results from Eton and he managed to secure an A in Latin...my son is the first one to know how instrumental you have been in helping him in those weeks leading to the exam - he learned tons, developed a greater passion for the subject and was truly inspired by your teaching and character.'' (Mother of CE Latin student)

''My daughter loves your lessons. Through your teaching, particularly sentence structure, you have enabled her to gain more confidence in tackling translations and this has also enabled her to obtain a better understanding of Latin. She says you make it more ‘logical’; By practicing each week with you and being able to ask questions without fear of thinking she will ‘stupid’ in front of her peers, she has noticed how much she has improved; I think that is a great testament to your teaching.'' (Mother of Latin 13+ student)

''Olly is amazing and the help he gives to my daughter is incredible. She looks forward to her tutoring session each week and it is helping her with understanding each unit and boosting her confidence.'' (Mother of iGCSE Maths student in Hong Kong)

''I find my lessons really good. I love having Olly as my teacher. He makes me understand things and is very good at explaining. He is the best maths teacher I have ever had'' (13+ Maths homeschooling student)

''Olly brought great structure and insight to my daughter’s preparations, enabling her to achieve A*/A in English language/literature at GCSE. Highly recommended!'' (Father of GCSE English student)

''Olly is amazing, he is so engaging and has built a rapport quickly with my son. He used to reluctantly go to extra tuition before. He now looks forward to the session and is proud of his work.'' (Mother of 11+ English/Maths student)

“My son found the lesson very clear; he said Olly really cleared up a lot of his confusion on cases just in the first lesson. Really great lesson! Thank you Olly.” (Father of GCSE Latin student)

“Olly, my daughter is enjoying her tutorials with you immensely. A wonderful example of your teaching skills is her using points she has learnt in every day conversation. Thank you.” (Father of Beginner Latin, Ancient Greek and Ancient History student)

“Olly is an extremely intelligent tutor: he spots exactly where the student's weaknesses are and works on them very effectively.” (Mother of GCSE Latin & English student)

“Brilliant! Olly certainly makes the sessions interesting and strives to make sure that the student does understand all that needs to be covered. Currently doing Protagoras and the notes I've written down are incredible -and it's just the beginning! Looking forward to the next session!” (A-Level Ancient Greek student)