Oxford First in economics. Started MPhil Cambridge in economics. 6 years experience (2500 hrs + full time 1to1 exp) as a maths tutor, with a track record of raising students' GCSE and A-Level grades

Find out more about George

• 1) When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I have been interested in economics since I was 16 and read a lot of economics books on economics, particularly for the Oxford economics interview.
  
  I became very interested and dedicated to economics in my undergraduate degree at Oxford, where I dedicated a lot of time to reading intensely microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, econometrics, game theory and labour economics.
  
  I became a private tutor in 2017, when I tutored several families who knew me. I also tutored regularly through my second and third year undergraduate degree whilst studying PPE at Oxford. Therefore, I have over seven years' experience (over 4000 hrs experience) as a private tutor (2017-present, with full time professional experience as a tutor since 2021).

• 2) Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  I have taught A-Level economics to many 1-to-1 students; I have taught numerically as my experience over eighty one-to-one students for economics A-Level tutoring, with many covering the full life cycle of the course with me. I have seven years' experience (with over 3500 hours experience) as a tutor (A-Level, GCSE, 11+, 13+, 16+). For A-Level economics, I have studied the mark schemes and best available course material to offer extremely exam focused lessons that consistently raise students' grades tremendously (from D to A for former students). I have extensive experience with all exam boards for A-Level economics: AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Edequas, CIE and others.
  
  I enjoy teaching students microeconomic theory and game theory because that is what I enjoyed studying the most at Oxford, where I got the best mark in the year in game theory (game theory is the foundation of microeconomic theory). Oligopoly theory is covered by all major exam boards, which is probably my favorite topic to teach and a topic many students have told me they enjoy in my lessons.
  
  I also teach economic theory generally to students applying to Oxford and Cambridge to help them prepare for interviews. I have extensive experience helping students prepare for the TSA Oxford admissions test as well. I have been a maths tutor for seven years as well based on using maths heavily in the finals exams for economics at Oxford and in the master's I have started in economics at Cambridge.

• 3) Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  I was inspired by several brilliant tutors I had at Oxford. I was taught microeconomic theory in tutorials by Prof. Baldwin at Hertford College Oxford, who was a fantastic tutor and economics mentor. Also, I was taught game theory by Prof. Eso, who is course convenor at Oxford for game theory and deputy head of department for economics at Oxford. Prof. Eso always offered extremely detailed solutions to the game theory past paper questions to students, which were by far the most useful resource I ever was fortunate enough to get in my education. I thought he was very generous in always giving solutions to the past papers. I try to do the same in teaching economics A-Level, in that I have written model solutions to every essay topic in A-Level economics for students to use in lessons to learn how to score highly on the markscheme in practice with me and in the exam.

• 4) What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  I think a tutor should be empathetic and understanding of students' concerns and difficulties at school, so that the tutor has a good chance of solving and remediating any problems students have in their studies; resourcefulness and adaptability of the tutor helps a lot with building trust and rapport between the student and tutor, such that the tutor can get the best out of the student. I remember preferring teachers and tutors at Oxford and school who gave very clear instructions, guidance and explanation on what a perfect solution would look in the exam, which is why I have developed exemplary solutions on all topics in the A-Level economics course.
  
  Tutors should be able to resolve any questions students have with their subject. The research and evidence is that clever and hard working tutors get the best results for their students, so tutors should have been exceptional students at school themselves, scoring extremely high marks and earning places at the best institutions for university study. Also, there is good evidence that tutors who carefully follow a lesson script to explain in detail for the student in lessons double the learning outcomes (knowledge acquired) for the student, so I think the best tutors would have written material and notes to prepare for lessons that form the basis of a well structured, thorough and detailed lesson (which I have done in A-Level economics on all exam topics for instance to hit the mark scheme and also politics on several topics as well).
  
  Also, there is good evidence that students learn up to three times more in the zone of proximal development (a term invented by Vygotsky where students are stretching themselves in a maximally engaging way) than in a lesson that is either too hard or too easy; therefore, it is very important that tutors constantly plan lessons to extend students into their zone of proximal development as they learn and to calibrate lessons optimally to make sure students are constantly in their zone of proximal development in lessons. Having regular tests for homework and being highly attentive to how students perform in lessons are all crucial for detecting a student's individual zone of proximal development.
  
  Learning is also maximized through active recall and spaced repetition, so it is essential to engage students actively with the correct material as much as possible; I ask students regular questions, encouraging students to write down detailed chains of reasoning based on the exemplar notes I teach. I test students on previous lesson content through homework and in lessons regularly to engage students maximally with the material.
  
  Also, it is essential that tutors are finely attuned to deliver lessons that are 100% focused on the exact exam requirements students face, delivering the crucial exam technique that can make all the difference in the exam, whilst also teaching material to maximize students' grades on the mark scheme.
  
  Also, In A-Level economics, putting into practice the above, I can deliver extremely mark scheme focused material from mark scheme focused notes I have written on every exam topic, which I teach to redress any difficulties students report to me, experience in tests or are evident in homework. I can deliver and help students practice carefully all the analysis and evaluation needed to score full marks in the exam. I tailor every lesson to student requirements to maximize learning in a highly interactive, well organized and dynamic lesson.
  
  Also, I think students are more dedicated and committed in lessons, when they see the lesson is highly productive in improving their overall grade; students' grades improve; their confidence in the subject improves; their enjoyment of the subject improves; my students regularly do extremely well in A-Level economics (A/A*) having struggled on a D prior to lessons.

• 5) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  At school I was committed and keen on Model United Nations. I showed up to go on a Model United Nations trip at school (RGS Guildford) only for the teacher taking us to Lady Eleanor Holles School for the competition to say that my country had to change and the group I would be in for the competition had changed on the day of the event; I think I was in my final GCSE year at the time. I managed to win the outstanding delegate award (best award in my group in the competition) despite preparing and writing my resolution on the bus on the way to the competition. The resolution I wrote on the bus to the competition got voted on at the competition. The teacher who took us was impressed with my resourcefulness and decided to announce to the whole school in assembly that I had won the outstanding delegate award despite being forced to do all my preparation on the bus on the way to the competition. I won over five outstanding delegate awards at school for Model United Nations. Most of my competition probably had been preparing for several weeks or months for the Model United Nations Competition, as I had done for the wrong group and the wrong country.

• 6) What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or are still facing in your subject?

  Fairly frequently I see students who come to me needing help in economics A-Level who lose marks initially through writing irrelevant material in economics A-Level exams. These students sometimes think that creative or original answers from their own imagination that appear nowhere in textbooks or lessons are rewarded in economics exams, but students usually drift far off the mark scheme with this approach and thus are disappointed with low marks due to producing frequently irrelevant and uncreditworthy responses in exams. As a tutor facing and solving this challenge for students in lessons, I find students benefit a lot from writing down model solutions I offer, teach, coach, thoroughly explain and illustrate in lessons to learn to hit the mark scheme efficiently. I provide the exact mark scheme focused content (with detailed analysis, evaluation and application) students need to score full marks in economics A-Level, which is often not explicitly covered in school lessons. Students can rapidly improve in their grade, confidence, enjoyment and commitment to economics once they see that they can score highly if they put their efforts into mark scheme oriented detailed economic theory with me in lessons. I have seen many students climb several grades from lessons with me, sometimes as much as D to A* in their written responses.

• 7) Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  I enjoy tremendously my job as a professional full time tutor inspiring students and motivating their progress. It is tremendously rewarding to see a student who previously struggled in a subject come to love it and thrive in it through lessons with me. Motivating and instilling a love of learning in a student for math, economics or politics is a very rewarding part of my job. Seeing my students' progress is very rewarding and meaningful. I have a passion for economics because I really enjoyed studying economics at Oxford. I think that economics is a really exciting subject offering lots of conceptual and empirical tools to improve, predict and inform decision making. Economics is an extremely useful subject. I also enjoy exercising tremendously because I believe that I function at my best after lifting weights. I also enjoy music as a saxophonist; I was previously in the Surrey County Youth Jazz Orchestra and played music in several bands and a big band at Oxford University for balls and concerts. I also enjoy public speaking as I liked speaking at the Oxford Union and in Model United Nations competitions.

• 8) What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

  I have over 4000 hrs experience (seven years' experience) as a professional tutor and have successfully raised many students' grades for economics with extremely exam focused A-Level economics tutoring. I scored a First at Oxford in economics and a First in PPE overall. I scored the best mark in the game theory exam at Oxford, with three prizes overall in economics at Oxford University.