Eleni - Biology tutor - London

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Eleni will be happy to arrange your first Biology lesson.

Eleni

One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Eleni will be happy to arrange your first Biology lesson.

  • Hourly rate £65
  • Response Time 7h
  • Number of students 50+
Eleni - Biology tutor - London
  • 5 (8 reviews)

£65/hr

1st lesson free

Contact

1st lesson free

1st lesson free

  • Biology
  • Cellular biology
  • Genetics
  • Physiology
  • Molecular biology

A PhD biologist with 15 years of experience in academic education and qualified teacher in the UK. Teaching Biology from GCSE to Postgraduate level, using truly tailored techniques for each student.

Lesson location

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One of our best tutors. Quality profile, experience in their field, verified qualifications and a great response time. Eleni will be happy to arrange your first Biology lesson.

About Eleni

I combine an extensive academic background with real in-school teaching experience. For over 15 years, I have supported so many school, University and postgraduate students succeed in their goals and secure their top choice of University. In my pedagogy training, I specialised in utilising my PhD level knowledge of Biology to develop teaching methods that can really make a difference to students of all abilities. I have supported GCSE students with difficulties in attention and exam technique by tailoring my lessons to their exact needs, as well as very high achieving students who need an additional challenge and have competitive goals like medicine and dentistry.
My extensive training in competitive institutions is what has fortified my abilities and experience as a tutor. I have completed:
- BSc in Human Genetics in University College London
- MSc in Molecular Medicine in Imperial College London
- PhD in Stem Cell Biology and Embryology in King's College London
- Further research in Oxford University.
- Qualified Teacher Status for PhD holders: Curriculum Designer and Researcher in
Educational Methods

My pedagogy training, Qualified Teacher Status and teaching experience were achieved in a cutting edge and prestigious program, run by The Brilliant Club, where academics are placed in secondary education, with the goal of improving the quality of science teaching and inspiring students to pursue competitive university studies. This program was specifically tailored to translate my vast academic experience into school teaching. I was able to gain valuable insight into the challenges and limitations of the educational system and develop ways to support students of all levels, ranging from students with special educational needs to challenging students that become easily bored with standard school activities.

I have now turned to being a full time tutor, as it is something I enjoy so much! It is hugely gratifying to be able to see a student fulfil their full potential and achieve their dreams! This also means that I have the time to dedicate to ensure that each one of my students gets excellent and consistent resources, feedback and individualised support, in a way that is simply not possible for tutors doing this as a side job.

My long term experience in the academic field, seeing the student selection process first hand, equipped me with the ability to guide students on their study goals, as well as how to prepare their university applications for competitive universities.

Kindly note that the number of references in this platform is not representative of the number of students I have taught, as online tutoring is relatively new and the majority of my students over the first 10 years or more of my career were in the good old fashioned way, i.e. in person and by word of mouth! (I am older than I look - in my early 40s :) I have actually tutored over 100 students, both privately, in University and in supportive extra tuition in schools.

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About the lesson

  • GCSE
  • A Level
  • Undergraduate
  • +2
  • levels :

    GCSE

    A Level

    Undergraduate

    Masters

    Doctorate

  • English

All languages in which the lesson is available :

English

You might be wondering why my rates are a bit higher than average and the answer is simple: I am now a professional tutor, channelling all my time and energy in developing my services, for those that want serious results. I am not a student still figuring out their teaching style or someone doing this after a long day at work as a side income. For every student, I:

-Evaluate each student’s level and needs at the beginning of our collaboration and throughout the year.
-Make a specific plan for what revision notes and practice questions to provide.
-Create exam board specific resources that truly link the theory to how each topic looks like in an exam question and structuring model answers (this is something that is missing, or just not done well enough in popular revision resource websites – I often spot many mistakes in their “model answers”!!)
-Set homework after each lesson that I mark and discuss with my student. With the way exam questions are phrased and the highly precise language they want you to use to get full marks, exam technique is as important (if not more so) as studying. Unfortunately, many times students are given quite vague guidelines on how to answer exam questions, like, “be specific”, or “use appropriate keywords”. However, each student is unique and unless one spends time to really pick apart the specific mistakes they make when answering exam questions, it will actually be hard to improve, even when they study a lot!
-Regularly communicate with parents & guardians about our progress and areas to focus on.
-Familiarise myself with revision resources students have from their school and often merge my own notes with school notes that I deem to be of good quality – I want to work WITH the student, not adding to their confusion by giving them too many notes to study from.
-Always include a few minutes of self-reflection for the student (shown in the educational literature to be a powerful tool for creating independent learners), as well as checking in to see how they are handling their stress and anxiety. I’ve been in enough competitive academic institutions to know how hard it can get and can offer ways for students to identify their learning insecurities, so we can face them together!

This all takes time, dedication and consistency, which I am able to offer as a full time tutor! Importantly, I take on a limited number of students so as to be able to offer this level of individualised support and attention.

Furthermore, I’ve developed my deep insight on the inner workings of each exam board over years of hard work, through my specialised academic training, where I’ve seen what it takes to succeed in higher education.

My lesson structure typically consists of explaining and breaking down concepts in a way that is easily understandable, as well as developing student's exam technique. Unfortunately, students do not always get enough past paper question practice in school, even though it is a highly essential part of revision. All my lessons include exam questions, where I use a step-by-step approach on building model answers. I also give specific feedback to each student on exactly what types of mistakes they tend to make and how they can improve their answers. This has proven to be a very efficient technique to target each student's problem areas that can’t be tackled simply by reading the textbook over and over!

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Rates

Hourly rate

  • £65

Pack prices

  • 5h: £325
  • 10h: £650

online

  • £65/h

free lessons

The first free lesson with Eleni will allow you to get to know each other and clearly specify your needs for your next lessons.

  • 1hr

Find out more about Eleni

Find out more about Eleni

  • When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring? 

    I knew I loved science and wanted to study Genetics since I was little! This is something I never doubted and I pursued a PhD with my eyes closed. While in research, I did realise that communicating science was hugely rewarding, as was teaching and mentoring students in the lab. So I decided to pursue teacher training, so that I could use all my knowledge to reach more students and also help schools to improve the way science is taught. I’ve been tutoring for over 15 years now and as a full time tutor for 6 years and I love the immediacy with which I can help students!
  • Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less). 

    I really love all of Biology, but if I had to choose I would say I love teaching about how complex and wonderful cells are! I find the best way to convey that, is by liking them to a city: they have transport mechanisms, defences, headquarters and specialised workers, exactly like a cell! I love explaining how in just four letters (A, T, C, G) the entirety of life as we know it is encoded. I also love to bring in some of my personal expertise as a research scientist to how the biggest discoveries have been made. This is not only increasingly essential knowledge in A-level Biology, but also helps students to get excited about science, which is essential if they’re going to keep their motivation up!
    I don’t dislike teaching any topic, but I do find that some topics are taught in such an unimaginative and dry way in mainstream education, when young minds are naturally creative and inquisitive! So often I would love to be able to give students more insight into Biology beyond school. However, I must balance getting students excited with actually buckling down and studying in exam mode in order to achieve high grades. That too is rewarding in itself though, as we see those grades increase!
  • Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you? 

    My father would teach me about women in science since I was little. I knew about the injustice done to Rosalind Franklin in the Nobel Prise for DNA structure when I was 8 . In my A-levels though, when it was time to turn all that enthusiasm about Biology into top grades, I was in the hands of an excellent (if not quite strict) teacher, who really showed me what it really means to prep for exams methodically, so all those hours of relentless work don’t go to waste. This was when I realised that studying alone, just doesn’t cut it. Your answers need to look like a mark scheme every time! For that you need targeted exam technique. It was her methods that I drew from and developed for my own tutoring.

  • What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor? 


    You have to be in love with your subject! Even after all these years I still get goosebumps when I explain some facts about DNA:)
    At the same time it is imperative that you spend absolute ages reading all the past papers and mark schemes you can get your hands on! Only this way can you really help a student to go beyond a basic comprehension of the subject to actually achieving high grades. Simple studying will not cut it, exam boards have been getting trickier and trickier and they want very specific language in order to award full marks for a question, not to mention questions that are actually not covered by the textbook! So it is up to a really competent tutor to coach students on this very crucial exam technique.
  • Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school. 


    I once had a student who was finding it extremely hard to remember how blood travels to and from the heart. I was quite new to tutoring at the time and I would try to draw different kinds of diagrams, even make various mnemonic tricks, but the student was still struggling to correctly recall everything. After a lot of thought, I took a different approach: I gave the student a set of limitations (e.g. blood can only come in to the heart through these portals, it has to pass from the lungs before the heart – the kinds of rules you would be given when playing a board game). I then asked them “How would YOU design the pathway of blood through the heart, given these constraints?”. He did so and never forgot it again!
    I now know this to be a classic strategy in the field of pedagogy, where you design student-led lessons that are completely interactive, but at the time it was a real eye-opener for me as a teacher and it really shifted the way I design my lessons.
  • What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject? 

    Biology is as challenging as it is beautiful. It is a very tricky subject to teach well, as it combines scientific thinking with impeccable verbal skills! This is further compounded by the amount of detail that is known in the field today, which is abysmal (I know because I keep up with developments in research). This means that adapting it for school teaching is a real balancing act, as you want to give students enough information to get a mechanistic understanding of how things work, but you also can’t overload them with terminology! I always have to constantly asses exactly how deep to go with each student, but it’s these kinds of challenges that make my work exciting!
  • Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different? 

    I would say teaching but also learning about science (still). I still follow lectures and publications of my research field, the education literature but also delving into cognitive neuroscience as it pertains to learning and brain health. It never stops really, continual education should be a staple of any great educator!
    In my personal time, music (singing and piano) is another great love of mine! Singing is such an exhilarating way of channelling emotion and is how I’ve always dealt with work related stress. I’m a big fan of students trying to maintain some hobbies as a healthy outlet for anxiety.

  • What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ? 


    With the way exam questions are phrased and the very, very precise language that they want you to use to get full marks, exam technique is as important (if not more so) as studying. Unfortunately, many times students are given quite vague guidelines on how to answer exam questions, like, “be specific”, or “use appropriate keywords”. However, each student is unique and unless one spends time to really pick apart the specific mistakes they tend to make when answering exam questions, it will actually be hard to improve, even when they study a lot!
    About 50% of the work that I do will all my students is that: getting them to answer lots of exam questions and sit down together and pick their answers apart. The other 50% is making sure they absolutely understand every single bit of the syllabus, as the more you understand, the less you have to blindly memorise!
    I’ve developed this technique over many years and many students, so I’ve got it down to a science (literally :)
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