English Tutoring FAQs

All tuition with the Cambridge Tutor is delivered online via Zoom. Lessons use a shared interactive whiteboard (Bitpaper), which lets students annotate texts, highlight key quotations and type notes in real time alongside me. Every lesson is saved and shared afterwards as a PDF, so nothing is lost. Students need a working camera and microphone to take part fully.

Online tutoring removes the practical obstacles that cause missed and rushed lessons. The main advantages are:

• Lessons take place at home, with no travel time and no sitting in traffic
• All the student's books and notes are easily accessible
• No reliance on parents for lifts around work schedules
• You can choose a specialist subject tutor anywhere, not just whoever happens to be local
• Shared whiteboard tools work far better than printouts, and every annotated page is saved

Both formats are available:

• One-to-one English tutoring — weekly sessions planned entirely around one student's texts, targets and weaker assessment objectives. This is how most students work with me.
• Paired or small group tutoring — up to four students of similar ability working on a shared topic, arranged on request.

Yes. Every new student (with a parent) is offered a free 20-minute Zoom meeting before committing to anything. That gives me a chance to assess the student's current level, discuss target grades and deadlines, and answer questions about how lessons run. Regular weekly lesson times are agreed at the end of this meeting.

After every lesson, I email the annotated whiteboard notes as a PDF along with tailored practice tasks based on what we covered. This gives students a permanent record to revise from and a clear way to keep progressing between sessions. Parents receive feedback either by email or through a short conversation at the end of the lesson, so they always know how things are going.

Most students take one hour-long lesson per week across an academic year, which allows time to work through set texts, build exam technique and practise under timed conditions. Shorter blocks of intensive support are possible in the run-up to exams, though sustained weekly work produces the most reliable improvement in grades.

Yes, within the rules set by the exam boards. I help students plan coursework and Non-Examined Assessment tasks, understand the marking criteria, choose viable texts and arguments, and improve their drafting and editing. I do not write or rewrite any part of a piece that will be submitted for assessment, as doing so would breach regulations and put the qualification at risk.

Yes. I work with students retaking GCSE English Language or Literature, including those sitting the November series and adult learners returning to the qualification. Lessons start by identifying precisely where marks were lost in the previous attempt, then targeting those assessment objectives directly rather than re-teaching the whole course.

Yes. Because every lesson is delivered online, I tutor students based in the UK and internationally, including families in China, Dubai and Spain. Lesson times are agreed in advance to suit the student's local time zone, with international slots usually falling early morning, afternoon or early evening UK time. Teaching is in English throughout, following UK and international specifications.

At least 48 hours' notice is required to cancel or reschedule a lesson. Without that notice, the full lesson fee is charged, because the time has already been reserved and prepared for.

• Cancel with proper notice and I can, if you wish, record a short video covering the missed content, charged at the same rate as a live lesson.
• Missed lessons with no notice at all are charged in full.
• In cases of illness I will try to offer an alternative slot, though availability cannot be guaranteed.

On the rare occasions I need to cancel a lesson, I will let you know as far in advance as possible and offer alternative times that week wherever my schedule allows. You are never charged for a lesson cancelled by me, and if a suitable replacement slot cannot be found, that lesson simply does not appear on your monthly invoice.

This page summarises the questions asked most often. The complete policy, covering lesson format, payment terms, cancellations and data protection, is set out on the Terms & Conditions page. If anything there is unclear, please contact me before booking.