Hi Reader If you’re anything like me, summer can feel like a constant balancing act. You want your child to rest, switch off and enjoy the holidays, and rightly so. But there’s often a small nagging worry in the background… What happens if they stop reading and writing altogether for six weeks? As a GCSE English tutor and examiner, I see the effects of this every September. Students return to school feeling rusty. Vocabulary recall is slower. Writing stamina has dipped. Analytical thinking...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader I’m deep in exam marking at the moment. That means hours spent reading real student responses and seeing, line by line, what earns marks and what holds students back. I can’t share specific papers or mark schemes, of course, but I can share some recurring patterns I’m noticing. Here are four lessons from the examiner desk this week. Strong ideas are not enough if they are not clearly expressed This is one of the biggest misconceptions I see. Many students genuinely do understand the...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader Now that exam season is drawing to a close, many families find themselves in a strange in-between period. The papers are done. The revision notes are put away. And then comes the waiting. Waiting for results can feel surprisingly unsettling. Without the immediate pressure of exams, there is often finally space to reflect. What went well this year? What felt harder than expected? Where did your child thrive, and where did they struggle? For many parents, this is the point when they...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader Today, many of my students sat their final English exam. As always, this time of year leaves me feeling incredibly proud of them. Not because every exam will have gone perfectly, but because I have had the privilege of watching how much they have grown over the last year. One thing I've learned, after many years of teaching and examining, is that improvement in English rarely happens overnight. It isn't usually a sudden breakthrough or a flash of inspiration. More often, it looks...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader If your household feels emotionally exhausted right now, you are not alone. Over the last week, I’ve seen students move from confidence to panic to relief and back again, sometimes all within the same lesson. After one exam, a student told me:“I couldn’t have wished for better.” Another said:“I prefer character essays to themes!” Meanwhile, inboxes and lessons have been full of conversations like this: “Paper 1 went quite well… then came Macbeth.” “I had to double check to make sure...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader When parents invest in private tuition, they are often paying for far more than the hour spent online each week. A recent lesson reminded me of this. I was working with an international student on an article. She already had a thoughtful argument and a clear line of reasoning, which was an excellent starting point. However, some of her vocabulary was too vague and there were several grammatical errors that were limiting the clarity and sophistication of her writing. During the...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader With GCSE English Literature exams approaching, many students are becoming anxious about remembering quotations perfectly. Interestingly, during examiner refresher training this week, one point stood out very clearly: Examiners are not looking for robotic memorisation. Of course, accurate quotations are helpful. However, students are not heavily penalised if quotations are not word perfect. What matters much more is whether the student clearly knows the text and can use references...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader With GCSE English exams just around the corner, many students are working incredibly hard. But effort alone isn’t always enough. Last night, I worked with one of my long-term students, who is diligent, thoughtful, and always gives his best. We tried a “poetry pick and mix” comparison task. He very bravely chose two poems he felt less confident about: London and Checking Out Me History, focusing on abuse of power. What it revealed The task was extremely useful, because it showed us...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader Many students who have always been considered “good at English” are surprised when GCSE results do not quite reflect that. They may read confidently. They may contribute thoughtful ideas in class. They may have always coped well with English at Key Stage 3. And yet GCSE English can feel harder than expected. Why? Because success depends on more than natural ability. GCSE English rewards very specific skills. Students need to know: what each question is really asking how to structure...
4 months ago • 1 min read