Hello! My name's Josh and I'm a First Class English Literature and Philosophy graduate from Durham University, currently doing my Master's in Twentieth and Twenty First Century Literary Studies. I teach English Literature, Religious Studies, and Drama! I pride myself on my friendly personality, and strive to make my lessons as engaging as possible. With a background in the theatre arts, I believe this has given me the confidence and liveliness needed to make lessons fun and enjoyable. Whether you seek essay feedback, or general improvement - I hope to create an environment where the pupil feels comfortable sharing their ideas with me.

As a tutor, I like to tailor my lessons to the individual and their specific aims for improvement. However, generally speaking my strategy focuses on subject content and essay feedback. We begin by going through the content of the specification, focusing on specific areas the student feels they need work on. We then move on to exam technique, with particular emphasis on applying this knowledge to an essay format. I am also available for marking sessions if the student requires.

First and foremost I will simply ask the student whether there is anything specific they would like me to focus on. I will try to ascertain precisely why it is they have sought a tutor, and work on specific areas if needed.

However, if the object of the pupil is general improvement, then I will structure my lessons as follows: start with an informal chat about the lesson topic, present for 10-15 minutes, set a task for the student to work on (allowing them to consult me throughout), and conclude by reviewing said task. Each lesson I will try and vary the tasks, building up week-by-week until the student feels comfortable dabbling in essay practise. I can measure their progress by examining their written work in each lesson in light of the assessment objectives provided by the exam board.

This leads me to one of my main points. Although it may seem somewhat dull, I would like to emphasise the importance of consulting the assessment objectives. This will, most likely, form the content of my first lesson. It is important, after all, for the student to be aware of what precisely they are being marked on. Utilising marking schemes, past papers and examiner's reports will make the student all the more prepared when confronted with real exam situations. Once the student is aware of this, we can then engage with the course content in light of the examiner's advice.