Andrew

Experience

• A-level Philosophy (AQA, IB, Pre-U)

• A-level Religious Studies (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/EDUQAS, Pre-U)

• A-level Government and Politics (Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/EDUQAS, AQA)

• A-level/GCSE/KS3 Humanities including Theory of Knowledge, Sociology, History and more (Edexcel, OCR, WJEC/EDUQAS, AQA)

• KS3 and KS4, iGCSE and GCSE Religious Studies and Citizenship (CIE, AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, IB)

• 13+ Religious Studies, Citizenship, Philosophy and Ethics, Critical thinking

• Essay writing

• Exam/Study skills

Hi, my name is Andrew and I am an experienced, senior, fully qualified practicing teacher, expert KS5/A-level, KS4/GCSE and KS3/CE/Scholarship Tutor, who has been teaching since 2008 and tutoring since 2011. I have also been marking exams since 2009 and am an assessment expert.

I can help students with all the new specifications and my specialisms are: A-level AQA Philosophy, Politics, RS; Edexcel Politics, RS; OCR RS, Eduqas RS; Pre-U Philosophy/Theology, IB Philosophy/Theory of Knowledge; GCSE/iGCSE RS and Citizenship and study skills. GCSE and A-level Sociology, History, Humanities and other subjects and levels (KS3 to Post-Graduate/Adult learner) available on request - for these subjects I specialise in essay & exam success as well as study skills; I believe in providing the best possible service and dedication at all times.

I work online or face to face.

I have a Masters and Bachelors degrees in the subjects I teach.

I am an Examiner, Qualified Teacher and Author in the subjects I teach.

I have over a decade of experience and success with an average 2 grade improvement.

I can be available Monday to Sunday 8am to 8pm inclusive depending on bookings and existing obligations.

Here is what some students have said:

''Thank you Andrew for helping my daughter with her revision and exam techniques for A level Philosophy and Ethics. You quickly identified where she required the most assistance and helped her with her confidence too. You were very flexible with sessions and always replied promptly to any messages. It was lovely to meet you. She achieved the grades she needed and is now off to university!'' D

''Andrew was very proactive and helpful in identifying the topics that I needed covering. Sending additional material to help consolidate tricky concepts. His communication has been prompt and feedback effective. He was friendly and approachable and helped I gain the required confidence to go into her exams with a greater understanding of what is being asked from the exam format. I can thoroughly recommend him for A-level tuition'' N

''Thank you Andrew for tutoring me during my gap year. I was very pleased with the help you provided on how to structure my essays and the detailed feedback you gave my work which you felt would boost the grade. I liked that you used your own examples to explain some of the concepts like religious experiences. I felt that this as well as your guidance on structure helped me to make logical arguments and counter-arguments during my exam...and overall I was pleased with the support you gave me. I was very happy with my results seeing as I improved from a C to an A, and I am grateful for your help in achieving this grade. Thank you again!'' L

''Andrew was excellent, my son found it good. He tells you how to write an A* essay. He breaks it down so you can understanding it better and he gives good analogies.'' M

Biography

Before I found teaching I had been a financial consultant, a marketing, communications and PR officer, a company manager and business development manager, a yoga and meditation teacher, an actor, a chef, a creative and artist, a music festival producer and manager and more! I had left my own education with 5 and a half A-levels of my own as well as a BA in Politics (with Philosophy) and a Masters in International relations, Ethics and Philosophy.

I first came to teaching through becoming a Special Education Needs Teaching assistant; I also completed lots of work experience in other secondary and primary schools (for example Highgate School and Grafton Primary School). I trained for my PGCE in 2008 at the most respected teacher training institution in the world, the Institute of Education at UCL in RE; I finished as student rep and an IOE advisory board member and had placements at QE Boys Barnet and Cardinal Pole Schools.

I then worked for two years in one of the most challenging schools in London (Archbishop Tenison's School Oval) where I led A-level RE, assisted the head of year 7 and had varied other roles.I was mentioned in the LA publication for my work with my SEN form group. I left ATS and moved to Brighton and taught in schools there and around the south east (for example Bishop Luffa, Sir Robert Woodard Academy, Holy Trinity School and many more) for about another two years. Then I moved back to London in 2012/13 and taught in Rickmansworth School, City of London Academy Islington, Totteridge Academy and many more. During this time, since 2009, I was a student teacher mentor, a celebrated teacher and I specialised in developing schemes of work which were called outstanding by Ofsted.

In 2015/16 I spent a year or so in Thailand and voluntarily taught there. Then I moved to New Zealand and taught the IB model at Auckland Normal Intermediate, one of the most respected IB schools in the world. I moved back to London in 2018 and am mainly tutoring now with a little teaching in schools when my specialist services are required. All this time since 2009 I have continued to examine, having worked for all the main exam boards (A-level and GCSE) as well as working for Ofqual in the past as a subject expert; here I examined the exam boards exams themselves including some of the new specifications in use since 2016/18. I have been tutoring since 2011 and have the most experience in A-level and GCSE RE/RS, Ethics, Theology, Philosophy, Critical thinking, Politics, IR, Citizenship, Sociology, Humanities, Undergraduate/graduate help, Adult learning, Food, Meditation, Life and exam skills.

I have written a book on my subject 'How to write any essay and get a top mark' available on Amazon and at all good retailers.

I have also got a passion for food and have taught that in school and outside, in the past running my own cookery school, catering business and now a youtube channel (The Good Greek).

In summary, I have over a decade of excellent teaching experience, with lots of other useful experience, including examining experience and successful tutoring experience. I have up to 80% of my tutees receiving an A or A* and I bring more than most to tuition.

Personal Approach

I am passionate about teaching and aim to make my lessons stimulating and fun as well as informative. I tailor my lessons to suit each student's level and soon discover how they best learn.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I like to listen to podcasts, watch sci fi movies and play xbox with my wife. We also like to go for walks with the dog. We both live in London and are committed to being here for the next five years at least.

Testimonials

"The lesson with Andrew was fantastic . He is great and even these few sessions are going to be a huge help." (Mother of Year 13 student)

''Thank you Andrew for helping my daughter with her revision and exam techniques for A level Philosophy and Ethics. You quickly identified where she required the most assistance and helped her with her confidence too. You were very flexible with sessions and always replied promptly to any messages. It was lovely to meet you. She achieved the grades she needed and is now off to university!'' D

''Andrew was very proactive and helpful in identifying the topics that Izzi needed covering. Sending additional material to help consolidate tricky concepts. His communication has been prompt and feedback effective. He was friendly and approachable and helped Izzi gain the required confidence to go into her exams with a greater understanding of what is being asked from the exam format. I can thoroughly recommend him for A-level tuition'' N

''Thank you Andrew for tutoring me during my gap year. I was very pleased with the help you provided on how to structure my essays and the detailed feedback you gave my work which you felt would boost the grade. I liked that you used your own examples to explain some of the concepts like religious experiences. I felt that this as well as your guidance on structure helped me to make logical arguments and counter-arguments during my exam...and overall I was pleased with the support you gave me. I was very happy with my results seeing as I improved from a C to an A, and I am grateful for your help in achieving this grade. Thank you again!'' L

''Andrew was excellent, my son found it good. He tells you how to write an A* essay. He breaks it down so you can understanding it better and he gives good analogies.'' M

''A great teacher with very good subject knowledge he is even more useful as a tutor because of his experience as an examiner with the board I am studying. He is also patient and reassuring with any topics that seem difficult at first sight so I have been happy with the service provided.''

''Rating: 5/5 - Within a few months of tutoring with Andrew, I was able to improve my D grades to A grade work in philosophy and politics. Andrew has great knowledge in these subjects and is able to simplify hard topics. As an examiner, he was able to solve my difficulty in understanding the vague mark schemes and finding model answers. Andrew showed me exactly what an A* essay looks like and how I can achieve it by correcting my essays and turning them into model answers himself. This made me realise how achieving A/A* grades is much easier than I thought! This was also my first experience of online tutoring, I was very skeptical at first but quickly realised how time saving and useful it can be. I am still able to hand write essays and receive feedback from Andrew by email before even starting the hourly skype sessions. This way I feel supported throughout the whole week.'' M

''Very Good and very professional! An expert in his field and Exactly what we were looking for!''

''Hi Andrew, R got GCSE philosophy result today with grade 8. Thanks for all your help. Regards'' R

''Dear Andrew, She got a 9!!! Thanks so much for your help.'' R

''Andrew really clicked with my son, to the extent that he actively looked forward to their sessions. Thank you for your help, professionalism and flexibility, you worked wonders. Thank you for all the extra support you gave him outside of the revision. I hate the expression but he is now in ‘a much better place’.'' S

'Andrew assisted my daughter with A-level Politics for a year. She came in with a grade B in her AS politics and was struggling to grasp the subject knowledge. However, with Andrew’s methodical approach and experience of being an examiner...she began to understand the subject and connect with it. Andrew is always happy to mark extra essays and always responds promptly with what went well and how to improve. With his help she consistently achieved extremely high marks in her Politics essays and eventually went on to achieve a strong A* in her A-level Politics (353/400). I definitely believe that my daughter gained greater confidence in the subject and analytical skills through his genuineness and professional approach to teaching. An exemplary tutor and I recommend him to anyone seeking to improve in A-level Politics.' P

My book is essential reading if you want to know the secrets behind my decade (and counting) of helping 80% of students achieve an A* or top grade they were looking for, it`s as good as booking sessions with me, although I appreciate some people want a little extra guidance. It`s for AQA, OCR, and Edexcel, New and Old courses! Unit/Course/Specification codes: 7061, 7062, 2060, 7171, 7172, 2175, H172, H572, H173, H573, 8RS01, 9RS01, 8RS0, 9RS0 and many more! Available on Amazon

''This is such a useful book for all students of A level Religious Studies, Philosophy and Ethics. The style is student friendly and accessible, and the author brings to it his experience as a teacher and examiner. The highly practical approach is exactly what students need to negotiate the minefield of exam preparation and practice equipped with straightforward, realistic advice.'' Sarah K Tyler