Tutor profile - Toby

Toby is a qualified teacher and published novelist with over a decade's experience teaching Maths and English in schools and one-on-one. He specialises in preparing students for exams, whether that's Key Stage 2 students applying for school entrance, or older students sitting their GCSEs and A Levels. He received his first degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Oxford and his Masters in Creative Writing from New York University.

Toby has been tutoring one-on-one since 2012. As a private tutor, his work has concentrated around 11+ and 13+ preparation, English A Level and GCSE, and Maths GCSE. He has helped failing students go on to get 5s and 6s, he has helped other students achieve top grades, and he has successfully coached students who have been accepted at some of the topschools in the country. In addition, he has worked extensively with SEN students, especially those with ASD diagnoses. In total, he has over 5,000 hours of one-on-one tutoring experience.

Toby has taught English literature extensively to A Level. He has taught all aspects of the exam, including support with coursework, and has seen many students get top grades and then go on to take up places to study English at Oxbridge and other Russel Group universities. He has taught across several different exam boards, and has worked as an A Level examiner for OCR across several different papers, which has given him a precise idea of what is expected of students at A Level. During his masters degree and shortly afterwards, he taught in higher education in the US. At New York University, he taught an undergraduate creative writing course, where he designed his own syllabus introducing students to the craft of both fiction and poetry. And at City University of New York, he taught essay writing to adult learners, some in their late teens, others in middle age.

Overall, he has worked with a great range of ages and ability levels, which has helped shape him into a flexible tutor who can get the best out of all his students.