Tutor profile - James

James was educated at Glasgow University where he took his honours degree in English and won awards for his work in English Literature. He went on to Oxford University on a fully-funded graduate scholarship to Balliol College, to start academic research in English Literature.

Deciding that his career would be in school teaching rather than in academia, James left aside his research to establish a career in independent senior schools in England. He has experience as Head, Acting Head, Deputy Head, Head of English, and boarding Housemaster. He has additional experience in developing online education for an independent school group, as well as experience in the recruitment of school leaders.

James has a teaching qualification (a PGCE with QTS), for which he was awarded ‘outstanding’ in all ‘Q’ categories (teaching standards). He also has a Masters degree in educational leadership and a university qualification in boarding education.

James's interests include music, literature and the arts in general, European culture including history and politics, nature, sustainable living, cooking and keeping fit.

In addition to his work as a tutor, James has worked as an educational consultant: a recent piece of work involved assessing English teaching in academically selective senior high schools in a continental capital city. James also creates study-guide websites for students studying literary set-texts for GCSE and IGCSE; he writes occasional feature articles on European cultural topics for a leading UK magazine. James is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). For nineteen years, James led (seasonally) cultural study-tours in Italy and the UK for American high-school students and their teachers.