Claire

Tutor profile - Claire

Claire

11 Plus, 13 Plus, Other School Entrance & Maths

Like all our tutors, Claire is a qualified teacher Like all our tutors, Claire holds a degree from a top University Like all our tutors, Claire holds a full, clean criminal records checkClaire either works or has worked as an examiner for an exam boardClaire holds a degree from a Russell Group University
Claire helped my daughter prepare for her Maths GCSE during year 11. Highly effective tuition from an engaging and much-liked tutor.

Parent of GCSE Maths student

Claire's biography

Claire graduated from Imperial College in 2011 with an Engineering degree and is currently in her eighth year of teaching, exam marking and tutoring mathematics. Her experience as a teacher, examiner and a tutor over the last eight years has given Claire many of the skills necessary to successfully tutor students of all ages. She hopes to use this knowledge to further her commitment to providing all students with the opportunities they require to succeed.

Claire is currently tutoring online full-time alongside being a GCSE exam marker. Her most recent teaching position was at St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith.

Claire has a multitude of experience in various areas of the teaching profession. From being a Head of Year 12 to working in a high achieving school as the Lead of Teaching and Learning in Mathematics, Claire understands not only the academic requirements at all age ranges, but the social and physical wellbeing of her students. She uses her character and personality to respond to the needs of students ensuring that high academic and behavioural standards are met.

Another key role that Claire has undertaken is as her school’s KS5 Guidance and Extended Studies Coordinator. Here she was responsible for the promotion and creation of opportunities relating to careers and further education alongside leading the Extended Project Qualification. In this key role, Claire was also responsible for identifying and supporting students applying to Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities.

Claire enjoys participating in a range of sports activities in her free time from netball and cycling to skiing and volleyball. She also really enjoys reading a good book, ranging from historical fiction to dystopian thrillers.

Case studies-

A Year 12 student taking AS Level mathematics who achieved a B grade at IGCSE. The initial aim of the sessions was to ensure that the student passed a mathematics test that would allow him to continue the AS Level course (since they did not get the usual required A or A* IGCSE grade). After this was passed, the objective was to ensure his smooth progression through the rest of the syllabus. Since the learner was reluctant to undertaken his own revision, the sessions needed to be engaging so that he began to enjoy mathematics and would want to revise outside of tutorials. Through Claire’s personality and positive relationship with the student, the student began to see the value of studying and enjoy the high level mathematics that he was learning.

Multiple Year 10 and 11 students who have been aiming for A* grades at GCSE and IGCSE. Although these students were naturally gifted, they perhaps did not revise as much as they could have. This meant that the aims of the sessions were to really push the academic ability beyond a methodical learning technique. It was here using Claire’s knowledge of the syllabus, experience as a GCSE examiner, and also how to best scaffold and guide complex problem solving questions, delving into the skills required at A Level, she was able to ensure top results were achieved. Alongside the outstanding grades, the students were then also able to perform extremely well at their chosen A Level subjects, which for some included further mathematics.

An adult learner who wanted to take GCSE mathematics in order to facilitate a late career change. This student lacked a lot of confidence but Claire’s friendly and approachable character reassured the student who regained her belief in her mathematical skills. By constantly assessing the student’s strengths and weaknesses, Claire could then make a unique and detailed plan of what would need to be covered in our sessions. She also guided the student through evaluating and getting the most out of her home learning in order to achieve the pass mark she needed.

GCSE Statistics for a young female athlete who was only receiving one lesson a week in school. The student was very capable in GCSE mathematics, but due to the nature of the statistics GCSE course and it being slightly more definition based, she needed extra guidance on her study skills, which also needed to fit around her demanding training schedule. By getting to know her unique learning style and habits, alongside connecting with her through their mutual love of sport, the student was able to fly through the course with Claire alongside maintaining her other commitments.

Year 12 and 13 online tuition throughout exam periods. Claire has, via online tutoring platforms, tutored multiple AS and A2 students through their exam periods. Initially the focus was on individual topics within the AS and A2 specifications and then once mastery of those topics were achieved, they moved onto challenging exam questions in order to ensure that A/A* grade questions could be answered. Claire was able to build a great rapport with the students and this enabled the students to improve significantly on their own communication skills in general and around mathematics itself, something vital for university interviews.

Year 11 Additional Maths Qualification for a student only receiving one lunchtime lesson a week. Claire set up a detailed scheme of work, to compliment the student’s IGCSE maths that she was also tutoring him for, which included both teaching time and consolidation practice. The student lacked some basic algebra knowledge which Claire quickly identified and rectified. Following on from this, silly mistakes were the main issue which they worked on by using varying strategies that did not rely on the prompting of Claire to alert him to the error. The student achieved the top possible grades in both his further maths and IGCSE maths exams.

13+ online tuition. Claire has tutored multiple students through the 13+ entry exam process in order to gain places at distinguished English boarding schools, including academic scholarships being offered. Through intensive sessions, Claire ensured that students covered all areas examined, focusing on mastering the methods first and then moving onto typical exam questions, including problem solving for each area.

16+ online tuition. Claire has tutored many international students through their 16+ entry exams to ensure that they achieved the required grade to attend Sixth Form in England. In sessions, Claire focuses on a set scheme of work which covers key topics in the IGCSE syllabus since many schools don’t cover all of the areas that 16+ exams contain, including the problem solving elements.

A Year 9 student struggling with worded problems. Claire has tutored a Year 9 student who was an intelligent and methodical mathematician but struggled with worded problems. They worked through content from his school work that he struggled with, often introducing GCSE exam questions. Claire consistently focused on improving his approach to worded problems by breaking down keywords and encouraging his own note taking style of a question. He rapidly improved and worded questions were no longer an issue.

Sandhurst Officer (AOSB) Tests. Claire successfully tutored a mature student through the maths requirements for the Sandhurst Officer tests (AOSB). She focused on the quantitative reasoning tests, developing tricks to increase the speed at which they could answer speed distance time questions. She also worked with the student on ways to present their planning exercises solutions to maximise efficiency and minimise mistakes.

Teacher Training QTS. Claire has tutored a mature student successfully through the numeracy skills tests for teacher training. She focused on making sure the student knew the appropriate tricks to be able to answer the mental maths sections quickly and calmly. Claire also worked on ensuring the student’s familiarity with the electronic format of the test and the written arithmetic and data areas needed by using multiple resources Claire made available.

Claire's availability

All times are displayed in UK time.

I am available for short term roles only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 0820-1730. I’m also available in the school holidays (not limited to Tues/Wed), including half terms, Christmas, Easter and some weeks in the summer.

School entrance experience

Claire has worked with children aiming to attend the following schools:


Claire has tutored multiple students in preparation for their 11+ Maths exams and interviews with 100% success rate and even scholarship offers.

One example is an 11+ student who was a naturally gifted mathematician although surprisingly not methodical in her approaches when necessary. Claire initially started to work on topics such as shape and time, which the student struggled with, and then progressed onto strategies to approach questions which required the student to be disciplined and precise in her working and layout. Claire also identified that all the ‘silly mistakes’ the student made were in the first ‘easier’ 80% of the paper, and using engagement techniques to motivate no ‘silly mistakes’, she was soon getting full marks in the first 80% of the paper. This, alongside keen communication with parents and past paper guidance and timetabling meant that the student was able to achieve entry to all the schools that she applied for, with even a scholarship being offered.

Having taught for more than eight years, Claire has also used previous 11+ questions in her classroom teaching in order to help inform her teaching practice and students’ progression.

Claire's qualifications

Claire qualified to teach Maths in 2012, and holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from Institute of Education.

University name Name of degree Year of graduation
Imperial College London BEng in Materials Science and Engineering 2011

Subjects tutored:

11 Plus (Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning)

13 Plus (Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning)

Other School Entrance (10+ Maths, 10+ Non-Verbal Reasoning, 12+ Maths, 12+ Non-Verbal Reasoning, 14+ and 16+)

Maths (KS3, GCSE AQA, GCSE Edexcel, GCSE OCR, IGCSE, IGCSE additional, A Level AQA, A Level Edexcel, A Level OCR, IB Studies, IB Standard Level, IBDP analysis and approaches SL, IBDP applications and interpretation SL and IB MYP)

Recent testimonials

Claire was an extraordinary tutor. My daughter had a few sesssions before her GCSEs to cover areas she found tricky and she always came away singing and bright and optimistic. She said she was the best tutor she has ever had. She gained a 9 for her Maths and an A* for further maths and look forward to using her again for Maths A Level.

Parent of online Maths student

Wednesday, 18th September 2019