Hugh Chapman

“When am I ever going to use this in real life?” Is what I said 1000 times at school when I was learning Maths. Looking back, the answer is “a lot”.

I completely understand that some topics on schools Maths syllabuses seem unnecessary and useless but the truth is that Maths is used by everybody, everyday and having a strong foundation knowledge before starting GCSEs can give you a massive advantage.

I believe students with a strong understanding of what they’re learning in Maths prior to starting GCSE have the biggest head start. I believe there is a direct correlation between understanding and enjoyment with school subjects so if I can help students understand maths, I hope they’ll enjoy the subject as a whole which opens to further study and higher education.

The modern day competition for university places has placed direct demand on having a Maths A-Level, with it being needed for almost all Engineering, Finance, Architecture, etc. degrees. I believe having a strong understanding of Maths early on secondary school increases the chances of further study significantly.

I am happy to tutor students in 2 ways. Firstly, it can be up to the student. At the start of each session I’ll ask them what they’re struggling with or if there’s anything particular they’d like to study and we’ll go from there. Or the sessions can be more structured where I’ll slowly work through the syllabus with the student.

My focus as a tutor is on demonstration. I believe it is all well and good to teach students but every few sessions it is important for students to work through exam papers so they can demonstrate their improvement and prepare themselves for real exams. Furthermore, I will also ask students to do homework between sessions, this is completely optional for the student but I truly believe consolidation is the key to learning.

Ultimately, I’m very chilled out and patient and will take the tutoring at the students pace while trying my best to make it easy for them.