Edward

From the start, Edward's approach of online tutoring was a breath of fresh air. It meant there was far more flexibility in both our diaries to find a suitable time slot. It meant the duration was simply 1 hour, with no travel. And it somehow meant that my son was more comfortable with the concept of tutoring.

We worked with Edward when my reluctant 15 year old son began to struggle with English GCSE and it had become his most dreaded subject. At first I had concerns about how Edward would keep my son's attention going when they weren't in the same room, but Edward reassured me that he had engaging tactics to overcome this, and that certainly proved to be the case. We worked with Edward for approx 14 months in the run up to exams (or non-exams as it turned out) and during that time I saw my son's capabilities improve enormously both in terms of his writing and the way in which he analysed a piece of text. But what I was most impressed with was the improvement in confidence. My son is still not enamoured with English but he believes he's good at it now. This was our goal rather than achieving certain grades, but nevertheless, his grades at school picked up steadily (even causing his English teacher to write "where have you been hiding this talent?" over one essay). We don't know his final grades yet, but are confident it will be something to be proud of.

I was impressed with the way that Edward got my son to do a written homework each week. And that my son not only did it, but was keen to do a good bit of work rather than the usual quick fire effort he often gives. I think this is testament to the relationship that they were able to build.

My son's own feedback is that he liked the way Edward didn't tell him how to write. Instead he saw the way in which he did write and then showed him how he could improve on that - he thought this was a much better way of learning. He welcomed the very personal and quick feedback on his work that meant he could immediately try out new skills. He had a lot of confidence in Edward's abilities and described him as a 'veteran' of GCSE knowledge. There was a good balance of being a nice person to work with but that you also knew you couldn't get away with too much.

From my perspective Edward was very efficient to deal with. A good communicator, very punctual and accommodating with the inevitable diary changes that came up.

If you want someone who can connect with your teenager, grow their confidence and their capability in English, without it feeling too heavy or onerous, then I'd thoroughly recommend Edward.

Edward is a very nice, professional and responsible tutor. He made a detailed plan according to my daughter’s needs. She enjoyed having lessons and felt it was very useful. She achieved two 8s for her English mocks, and I’m very pleased

We contacted Edward in the January before GCSEs following disappointing mock results. Our son is confident in maths & sciences but much less so with English. Over just 4-5 months, with Edward's help, our son moved from a level 3 to a level 5… an improvement that makes all the difference!

Edward was absolutely professional, reliable and flexible to allow for a few date changes or extra sessions. We used Skype for the sessions and although my son was a bit apprehensive about that, he enjoyed it after the first session. Edward focussed on English Language with our son, but the day before English Literature exam, I put him on the spot and asked him if he could do a last minute Literature session and it was excellent - he clearly knows the texts for different exam boards inside out.

If son 2 needs some extra help, we'll be back in touch with Edward.

Edward first started teaching my son when he was at a very low level, and the English teacher at his school had all but given up on him.
The prospect of my son passing English at that stage was non existent !
Edward came every week, set Oscar homework and was fantastic in his approach to my son and making him believe in his capabilities.
He pushed my son every week and he responded brilliantly.
Fast forward to GCSE results day and he passed !!!!
I can honestly say I wholly attribute my son passing English solely to Edward - I’m so glad that we found Edward through First Tutors and cannot thank him enough for his help, guidance and for making our son believe he could achieve the pass he needed!
From where we first began , to GCSE results day… thank you doesn’t seem quite enough!