Chris

Hi. I have multiple qualifications in law and business (LLM, PgDL, MBA and BSc) with practical experience in both sectors. I have a passion for education and helping students fulfill their potential and life ambitions. I sincerely believe that any motivated student can pretty much achieve whatever they want.
The latter half of my career has been focused on engineering and construction disputes, frequently assisting a contractual / quantum Expert Witness acting for one of the parties in Arbitration or Litigation. At other times I have been engaged in preparing or rebutting contractual claims. In business, I have set up and run offices, which involved dealing with all facets of business.

Tutoring Experience

I have just commenced tutoring but have helped our sons through their education. Our eldest son, a graduate of Imperial College, London (Advanced Aeronautical Engineering) is a maths and physics tutor, while my wife is a piano tutor. We have always placed great emphasis on education and they inspired me to take up tutoring, to help people fulfill their potential. Our youngest son is studying mechanical engineering.

Tutoring Approach

My approach to tutoring is derived from my experience as a mature student working full-time, where I also grappled with these inevitable questions:
“I am under pressure with X, Y and Z, so how can I avoid devoting an unnecessary amount of time to achieving this qualification?”
“What is the most effective learning method for me to get the grade I need?”

One of the most ineffective methods of study and revision is simply to read through textbooks and notes: this is obviously necessary but it is not sufficient, since:
• The level of recall is inconsistent and low, and
• The volume of information becomes impossible in the count-down to the exams

A-LEVEL and GCSE LAW:
One of the challenging aspects of law is that it comprises a significant number of facts, exemplified by the fact that the AQA A-Level Law textbooks (Years 1 and 2) refer to over 900 cases. It would be very difficult and time-consuming to learn these cases directly from a textbook. When studying law, I made hand-written ‘flash cards’ for all the cases I needed to learn (case name on one side, ratio decidendi and key facts on the other). It enabled me to learn cases in a random sequence, isolate the cases which I struggled to recall and thereby focus my effort where it was most needed. It also bought variety, competitiveness (against myself) and efficiency to the learning process. I found this a highly effective means of learning hundreds of cases, ratio and basic facts.

To assist your learning I have prepared electronic flash cards in ‘Quizlet’ for the cases in A-Level Law. The ‘Quizlet’ website also provides a means for you to track your progress if you chose to use this method of learning. Swift recollection of case names, ratio and facts is invaluable when in exam conditions.

I have prepared numerous summaries which capture the essential elements of each topic. Depending on your particular requirements, these summaries can either provide the basis of a step-by-step talk through a topic or, alternatively, they may simply act as a refresher prior to us tackling some questions.

Achieving a high grade requires delivering the type of answers demanded by the Examination Board. Merely studying the text books and the exam questions does not really reveal the nature of the answers required to get high grades. Only through analyses of the marking schemes and examiner’s reports does it become clear how a high quality answer needs to be structured and the level of non-substantive law that is occasionally required. Good exam preparation means knowing exactly what the Examination Board requires.

The learning process is most effective when the student chooses, a couple of days in advance, the aspect of law we should focus on and advises whether any aspect of it is particularly troublesome. Having received this guidance I can then identify / prepare some notes / illustrations in advance to ensure a sound understanding of the relevant legal rules and principles, as well as compiling some questions for us to tackle.

With time being of the essence in exams, it is beneficial to develop a clear, professional writing style where we demonstrate clarity of thought and eliminate verbiage. Our objective is to save time and deliver accurate, concise answers. I would be happy, in my own time, to review some of the written answers you may have prepared previously to see if we can identify any areas, e.g. sentence structure, sentence length, elimination of redundant words or phrases, where you can deliver more succinct answers. I recently edited a Masters dissertation and reduced the student’s word count by 20% without any notable change in meaning.

GCSE BUSINESS STUDIES:
When tutoring GCSE business I will provide you with:
• A clear explanation as to material covered by your syllabus,
• An understanding of how the different facets of business interlink with one another; it is important to have a holistic view of business, and
• Real-world examples to help illustrate the points we are considering.
The basic formula for success in GCSE Business, as with most subjects, is quite straight-forward: get a clear understanding of the material you will be examined on, do lots of questions, reflect on how to provide concise and compete answers in the style demanded by the Examining Board.
I am conversant with much of the A-Level Business and Economics syllabi and have my MBA knowledge to draw upon. Should you wish to attempt more challenging questions, this can easily be done. This may be worthwhile if you are considering studying A-Level Business and/or are seeking to achieve a high GCSE grade.

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTED:
Through a graphics tablet, I can write on screen so you can see my scribbles, notes, annotations etc. We can save a PDF version of the work covered in the lesson. Ideally, you would also have some form of on-screen digital writing technology as this makes the process more collaborative and interactive. As a minimum though, a laptop or tablet, perhaps coupled with a headset / microphone, would suffice for a one-to-one lesson.