Jack M - Tutors - Keystone Tutors

Employed Tutor

Jack

Jack studied English Literature at the University of Edinburgh and graduated with first class honours. He then went on to complete an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway. He tutors both Maths and English across the age range and aims to create an open and reflexive learning environment.

Jack is an employed Keystone tutor. This means Jack:

Engages with Keystone's bespoke professional development programme
Works exclusively for Keystone on a fully employed basis
Is committed to tutoring as a career and profession

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“A huge thank you to Jack, and I would highly recommend him, he has been brilliant”

Parent of ISEB/11+ student

11+ English and Maths and public school entrance exams, including pre-tests
13+ English
13+ Maths
13+ History
13+ Geography
13+ Sciences
Eton List / Harrow Test / Winchester / Westminster
GCSE English
GCSE Maths
GCSE Further Maths / OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification (FSMQ)
GCSE World Literature (CIE)
A Level English
A Level Maths
A Level Further Maths
International Baccalaureate
Undergraduate English Literature

I first became interested in tutoring when I was studying in Sixth Form. I realised how useful having a tutor would've been in pushing me further towards my own goals - particularly in A Level English, where success relies on a high degree of engagement with material beyond the syllabus. In a sense, the most important work happens outside the classroom. I took up most of this work myself, but this is, of course, what tutors are here for.

Since joining, I have completed Keystone’s rigorous Professional Tutor training which includes the 11+ curriculum, ensuring that I have the thorough knowledge required to help students gain entry to the most prestigious schools in the country; I have assisted students with 11+ or 13+ entry to such schools as Eton, Harrow, Winchester, St. Paul's, Brighton College, CLSG, and Henrietta Barnett among many others.

I am equally comfortable tutoring Maths as English at GCSE and A Level across the exam boards, with a particular focus on essay planning and writing skills in English. I have taught for international English GCSE modules such as CIE World Literature, and helped students work on entries for essay competitions. I have also worked on residential jobs and in long-term homeschooling contexts with SEN students.

I grew up in Cheshire, and went to school in a town sort of half way between Manchester and Liverpool. I achieved 3 A* grades in A Level English Literature, Maths and Further Maths, as well as an A* in a Philosophy and Maths-based EPQ project on time travel.

I went on to read English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. During this time I also studied abroad for a year at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I studied film and screenwriting alongside my literary studies. In 2021, I graduated from Edinburgh with first class honours and was subsequently awarded both the James Elliott Prize and the Jo Wilson Prize: the former goes to the graduating student whose work in literature is deemed the best in the cohort by the examiners; the latter goes to the student with the best performance in a Creative Writing class.

I then moved to London, where I studied an MA Creative Writing at the Royal Holloway. I specialised in non-fiction, although nowadays I write more poetry. After this, I joined Keystone and worked here as a full-time Pro for two years, before heading off to the University of Cambridge for an MPhil in English Studies, which I completed in the summer of 2025. During my more recent studies I have written critical essays on a wide range of topics – knock-off fashion, Big Data, the NHS, experimental interviews, psychogeography, necrobiomes, a photograph of William Wordsworth, and whether Francis Bacon's paintings can speak.

“Jack is a wonderful tutor. My daughter achieved A* for both her First Language English and World Literature subjects.”

Mother of IGCSE student

“My daughter had a lot of anxiety on her English iGCSE papers. Jack supported her through her preparation and examination techniques. Jack definitely fine-tuned his lessons to her ability. He encouraged her to ask more questions and was a superb tutor in guiding her along the way. Most importantly, he was able to manage her anxiety and channel it productively. Throughout it all, he kept us informed and his reports always included his assessment on her readiness which made his lessons and plans very transparent to us as parents.”

Parent of an IGCSE English student in Hong Kong

“Thank you for your help and support on her 11+ journey! We're all happy and proud of our daughter's achievement!”

Parent of 11+ applicant

“My daughter said to me that without your help she would not have been able to answer the questions as confidently or structure her writing as competently. So thank you for all your help during the run-up to the exams. We are all grateful.”

Parent of a GCSE English student

The best tutors are capable of reading the student's thought processes and adapting to them. I'm lucky to have had a few brilliant teachers at school who knew how to nudge me along towards a deeper engagement in my work without me even realising, specifically through how they framed activities and responded to what I did. I try to incorporate this style of teaching into my approach, helping students achieve desired grade targets and exam successes through, first and foremost, an open and reflexive learning environment.

This also means tailoring the curriculum to the student, finding out what they respond to. Most of the time when students feel disengaged or disenfranchised with learning, or struggle with their goals, it's because they haven't been helped to understand things in their own way. All educational and academic targets are achievable when they are approached with an open mindset - not just seeking to take in a syllabus of information but to plot a particular path through it which helps it all hang together for that student, a bespoke, individuated way of thinking. That said, much of this is achieved through a more pragmatic approach of identifying how far any of the tried-and-tested approaches to learning apply to a student and creating the learning environment that will be most conducive to the student's ends. The ultimate goal, beyond this, is to develop a student's way of thinking to the point that they don't need a tutor any more, ready to continue learning independently.

I am always either reading or writing; mainly poetry or short stories. Aside from literary hobbies, I'm a musician; I did grades in violin and guitar when I was younger, and I've recently taken up jazz guitar lessons (and enjoying 'being the student again'). I do also spend a sizeable chunk of my time watching football, and I've recently taken up indoor bouldering.