Mark

GCSE ENGLISH TUITION • NATIONWIDE • BASED IN SUSSEX

I teach English over Zoom from my home just outside Uckfield, in East Sussex. I live here with my wife and two children; our dogs Lily & Saffy; and our cats Lulu & Belle.

I was born in Manchester and grew up in Buckinghamshire and northeast England. I moved to Oxford to study English at university, then to London where I spent over a decade working in advertising. We moved to Sussex in 2013.

I like reading (of course!), cycling around the Sussex lanes, and seeing live bands. (Over the summer we saw The Killers at The O2.)

I am a former parent governor of Fletching CofE Primary School, and as a result of that am fully DBS checked.

Although based in Sussex, I follow the AQA English GCSE curriculim, which is the most popular in the UK. As a result, I can teach students anywhere in Britain (or beyond) over Zoom.

Tutoring Experience

I have a 2.1 BA(Hons) degree in English Language & Literature from Trinity College, University of Oxford. The English department at Oxford University is widely accepted as the best in the world, and consistently tops both national and international league tables. I was taught by three of the top academics of the 1990s: Terry Eagleton, John Carey and Jeri Johnson.

I have over a decade's experience running face-to-face and remote training in English: in my professional life, I train company leaders in professional business communication. I've worked with brands including NatWest, Standard Chartered and Boodles.

First-hand experience of the challenges facing children studying English as they emerge from the pandemic, and face the pressures of large class-sizes; impersonal 'app based' learning; and the distractions of social media, have brought me to tutoring – initially to help my own children, then children of friends, and from there a wider audience.

We have two school-age children at home. Our youngest is currently studying towards GCSE. The oldest has just achieved Grade 9s in both English Language and Literature.

Tutoring Approach

At the heart of my approach is my belief that English really is the best subject in the world.

It's how the stories we love most are told. How movies and TV shows are scripted. And lyrics composed, for the pop songs we play on repeat.

But I've seen how children who love hearing stories – and then reading books for themselves – 'fall out of love' with English when they encounter it at secondary school. Questions like "What is the function of Scrooge?" seem to miss the point of books like "A Christmas Carol" – deadening the life in them and killing the imaginative spark.

My approach is about getting close to the text. It's about reading everything carefully, and in a way the author hoped it would be enjoyed at the time (or in the case of plays, the way the playwright wanted people to encounter it).

But I'm also aware of the distance betwwen today's English and a page of Macbeth. So I work with students to help bridge that gap, so they can enjoy a play by Shakespeare as people did in his day. (It really was the equivalent of 'Friends' or 'The Simpsons'.)

We work at the student's own pace, aligned to what they are studying at school. For children not attending school, we pick up where they left off, or work our way through the curriculum.

I use the AQA examination board's syllabus, which is the most widely used in the UK. The texts we are currently studying are "An Inspector Calls", "A Christmas Carol" and "Macbeth", plus the War Poets of WWI.

Lessons are £45 for 55 minutes, with payment to be made online on the day of the lesson. Lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours notice are charged at the full rate.

Most lessons are carried out over Zoom, so it's important that students have a reliable internet connection and access to a suitable device. Students are welcome to attend in person if they prefer. I am also open to discussing arrangements to come out to work with a student if necessary, in special circumstances. (There may be an additional travel cost.)

The first session online is at the 50% reduced rate of £22.50.