Award-winning second year History student at Durham University, tutoring A Level and GCSE History

I’m a second-year History student at Durham University. I achieved an A* in History and Law at A Level, and an A in Economics (all three AQA). I recently won Durham’s Edward Allen Prize, awarded for achieving the highest aggregate performance out of the first-year History cohort (around-students!).

My AQA A Level topics were Tsarist and Communist Russia and The Making of Modern Britain, however I am perfectly capable of teaching other topics; for instance, I have taught A Level Tudors in the past. I’m also happy to teach History at GCSE level. I’m particularly skilled at making online revision materials (e.g. Quizlet sets) for students to use, as well as teaching students how to master exam technique in a way that interweaves content recall. My History teachers were so impressed with my revision materials that they asked me to pass on my Quizlet sets to them!

My teaching methodology is centred around helping students master exam technique while simultaneously improving their grasp of content. For a subject like history, where bringing in contextual knowledge (e.g. stats on the Tsarist Russian economy) is vital to achieve those top band answers, content mastery is a must. Content revision - for instance, regularly asking the student what contextual knowledge they could use to buttress a point - is interwoven into every exam question we work through together, bolstering the student's recall skills.
- My learning environment is relaxed and encouraging. A calm mind is conducive to coherent thinking, so I do my best to ensure my students don't feel unduly pressured. They are given all the time they need to answer questions and think through matters in-depth, yet given gentle nudges when required.
- I particularly focus on helping students to understand what the examiner wants from their answers and how they can attain this. I do this through giving students a broad set of general 'rules' that they can apply to any exam question (for example, how to structure an introduction for the extract question that hits everything the examiner is looking for). I also use mark schemes to provide clear examples when necessary.
- A typical session will be around an hour, though I have experience with two hour sessions as well.
- I have tutored A Level Law and History in the past, both in person and through Microsoft Teams.