Alexander F
Tutor in Nine Elms, South West London

'Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.' (Aristotle)

I am a highly experienced A Level and GCSE English specialist who has examined for the OCR and AQA boards, led a highly successful English department consisting of 11 teachers and 770 A Level English students, and taught for over sixteen years at three top-ranking 'outstanding' Beacon Status Sixth Form Colleges - two of which belong to the 'Maple Group'.

I became a full-time tutor and freelance writer since 2014 in order to continue my passion for English teaching alongside pursuing a book project for Palgrave on the influential writer, J. G. Ballard, and becoming an active Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

My students find me enthusiastic, supportive, cordial and professional. I am responsive, a good listener, able to make complex ideas accessible and exciting, and can balance exploratory, individualised and structured approaches to learning.

I believe in drawing from a wide range of teaching methods to make a student`s experience of English varied, fresh and challenging but also identifying the particular needs of each individual to ensure that the right skills are prioritised and tackled rigorously.

Many students appreciate having a clear direction to learning and I believe in signposting different areas in a focused way - whether the skills involve close reading, constructing a debate, understanding or applying theory, researching contexts, or working on essay techniques and planning past papers.

My tutees over the last two years have valued my commitment to aiding their studies and wider cultural development, and parents have often thanked me for my willingness to 'go the extra mile' for their sons and daughters. (In many cases I have 'added value' of two grades or more over the course of regular tuition and always one grade at the least.)

I am a well-presented man who believes in balancing friendliness and approachability with the values of gentlemanly conduct and courtesy. Having boarded at Oundle School, a member of the 'Rugby Group', I subsequently studied at a Cherwell Tutors in Oxford for my A levels and know the value of tailored tuition from a student's perspective because the experience changed my life and attitude to academic studies.

Einstein once said of himself 'I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.' Ultimately, I believe that curiosity is the key to being both successful in exams and developing a life-long love of learning.