Ben Dale

My lessons are relaxed and tailored to each individual student. I’ll start by getting to know what you’re currently studying and what you’d like to improve, then we can focus our sessions around your individual goals.

Depending on what you need, lessons can revolve around everything from essay writing and structure, breaking down difficult political concepts, dissecting assessment objectives, preparing for exams, or even simply discussing current affairs. I like lessons to be interactive, so I’ll encourage you to share your ideas and work through any questions or problems. Much more interesting than just sitting and listening to someone talk!

I have lots of experience researching and writing about a wide range of political topics ranging from elections and voting behaviour, political parties and pressure groups in the UK and US, or core political ideologies like conservatism, liberalism, and socialism. My aim is to create a supportive environment where you can build your confidence and knowledge of complicated topics.

For example, a lesson might involve breaking down a difficult concept such as the relationship between each branch of government before working together to build an exam-style response to an essay question. We might also work together on past paper questions and discussing how to approach it to meet the assessment objectives. Sometimes it’s easier to work backwards, so we might use current political events to apply theories and concepts from the specification, helping you develop relevant examples to use in your essays.

I know first hand how frustrating politics can be, especially when you understand the content but struggle to turn that knowledge into strong exam answers, which is why one-to-one support is so crucial. I want my lessons to help bridge that gap, giving you the confidence to develop your own arguments and express them clearly. There’s no pressure to know everything straight away, and I’m happy to go over things as many times as needed. Ultimately, I want you to leave each lesson feeling like politics makes a little more sense.