Maths is at the heart of the majority of STEM subjects. Whether you are planning on doing Medicine, Psychology or Physics at university, you will be required to have a certain level of competency in maths.
As a group of tutors who are passionate about science we understand the central role that maths has to play in all sciences and we are believe that proficiency in maths is key to both understanding and enjoying science.
Maths Tutors
Joseph Harper
I founded Thames Tuition to provide students with a service that will allow them to flourish in Science. Having studied a Masters in Chemistry I understand the pivotal role that maths plays in all scientific disciplines.
I achieved an A* in my own A Level maths and received 100% in several of my modules and relish the chance to help others do the same. I have seen first hand that developing good skills in mathematics during GCSEs and A Level can be a huge advantage leading into a STEM field. Ingraining the specific skills and mathematical techniques throughout your GCSEs and A Levels can be instrumental during university.
Throughout my Masters in Chemistry and through my experience as an Actuary I have been amazed how frequently the maths topics I covered during A Levels and GCSEs have come up. I am eternally grateful that I was able to develop these skills at a young age and use them throughout my career.
I have been tutoring maths at GCSE and A Level for the past 4 years and have consistently achieved exceptional results with all students, many of which achieving A* at A Level.
Throughout my experience in tuition, I have developed a well-structured, systematic route through GCSEs and A Levels that allows students to develop a thorough understanding and achieve fantastic grades. This structure is followed by all of our tutors here at Thames Tuition.
Luke Green
Aerospace Engineer Graduate from the University of Sheffield, teaching GCSE Maths and Physics in and around Henley-on-Thames.
I provide a friendly and adaptable approach in my tuition that focuses on building my students’ confidence in their subjects. Developing a quick rapport through my easy-going and engaging nature is key to this approach.
Understanding that everyone learns in a different way, I aim to adjust my teaching methods to each student to help them understand the subject material in a way that best suits them. My tutoring experience allows me to pitch lessons at the right level to ensure they are challenging but achievable, and more rewarding as a result.
I achieved a 2.1 in Aerospace Engineering, as well as an A in A level Maths and A* in. GCSE Maths and Physics. My academic background and passion for problem solving give me the tools to provide a fun but effective lesson, enabling my students to achieve the results they are capable of.
Amy Brent
I graduated from the University of Durham with a 2:1 (Hons) in Biological Sciences and achieved first class grades in all of my final year modules. While my degree focused on the more biomedical side of biology, modules included biochemistry and statistical methods, allowing me to appreciate the importance of interdisciplinary learning, even when specialising in one field. I am currently undertaking a post-graduate dentistry degree (BDS) and even now I have found my strong background in chemistry and mathematics invaluable.
I understand the importance of putting the hard work in early, having achieved the highest GCSEs in my secondary school of 10A*s, 1 A and a distinction. I then went on to score highly again at A level achieving 4 A-levels, including A*s for Biology, chemistry and Mathematics. I appreciate that everyone has a different learning style and aim to adapt my sessions to the individual. I also believe a range of different methods can be helpful in embedding learning and linking concepts together. Furthermore, a range of styles allows me to encourage an alternative perspective on subject matter that may be challenging. I demonstrated this ability to adapt my teaching style during my time teaching basic maths and English to children in deprived schools in Cambodia.
I have 3 years of tutoring experience in science and mathematics and have helped all my tutees reach their goals thus far. I also have experience helping students pass their entrance exams for competitive secondary schools and Sixth forms. This is something I am passionate about, having personal experience, but also relish seeing students reach their potential. Being in the midst of my dental degree enables me to stay in touch with different teaching and learning methods. I know all too well the importance of staying organised and can offer help with structuring learning and revision in the build-up to exams. I try to make my lessons exciting as I believe this passion for learning is the key to achieving highly. In my final year at Durham, I led my team in a Biological enterprise module in which we had to pitch a novel product to a panel. This involved explaining to the lay-person the complex science behind our product. Our team scored the highest in our cohort, demonstrating my ability to break down complex science for others to comprehend and present it in an engaging and exciting way.
While reaching students potential is at the centre of my tuition, I appreciate the pressure and stress that can come with achieving highly and try to help students diminish this where possible.
Will Henry
Hi I’m Will and I have a first class masters degree in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Bristol. I loved my time studying Physics. Learning how things work the way they do, from the largest galaxies to the smallest particles and everything in between – how could I not! Unfortunately this excitement is often lost in the classroom as the key concepts are skipped over. Before you know it, you’re swimming in “Formulae”, “Laws” and “Principles”, with little understanding as to why.
Concepts are at the heart of Physics and this is where I focus my tutoring. Once the base concept is understood the mathematics can be connected to it much more easily, and the full picture comes together! Being able to help someone else understand Physics through this way is such a joy and is what keeps me tutoring.
A Level Maths
Our maths structure has been developed by our founder, Joseph Harper:
The A Level maths syllabus is very extensive and care must be taken to develop a plan to ensure maximum understanding is achieved in all three of statistics, mechanics and core maths. We have developed a detailed plan of action for the A Level syllabus that aims to maximise students’ understanding in all three branches of maths. This plan has been proved to be very successful with a wide range of students and is now followed by all of our maths tutors.
GCSE Maths
GCSE maths is arguably one of the most important GCSEs throughout your life. Along with English language, maths is the other subject that will nearly always be required whether you are applying for college or university or applying for a job after graduating. It is vital to be able to develop in proficiency in mathematics at this age and mathematical skills that you develop at GCSEs will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Many students find maths very tricky and can get overwhelmed with the amount of material within the GCSE syllabus and what seems like an avalanche of equations. We are aware that there is a big range in ability and enthusiasm for maths at GCSE and we have lots of amazing, patient tutors that will help students to surpass their expectations.
Our approach to teaching GCSE maths is purposeful and methodical. We focus on ingraining the key skills and topics which lie at the heart of GCSE. The GCSE syllabus contains a significant amount of algebra (roughly 30%), therefore developing a thorough understanding towards the start of your GCSEs will allow the rest of the content to fall into place.
FAQs
A Level maths, like any A Level can be very challenging. It assesses a very broad range of topics but also covers certain topics in incredible depth and difficulty. Students must be aware that achieving a good grade in maths requires proficiency in not only core maths but also statistics and mechanics.
Statistics and mechanics are very different to conventional maths and are often very new to students. However, once patience is applied to the learning process, students knowledge in both statistics and maths should increase exponentially.
Although maths is a very challenging A Level, we believe that attaining a fantastic A Level maths grade is with many students capabilities. We have developed a logical and systematic approach through the A Level syllabus that makes it enjoyable whilst allowing students to develop a solid understanding in even the most complex topics.
Whilst the contents vary slightly between different syllabuses, we broadly split GCSE Maths into 5 major topics. These are shown below with their rough weightings:
- Number (15%)
- Algebra (30%)
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change (20%)
- Geometry and measures (20%)
- Probability and statistics (15%)
These topics will vary slightly in the proportions that they are assessed but above is a rough guide averaged across the main syllabuses. At Thames Tuition we have a large emphasis on developing a thorough understanding of Algebra, not only because it is the largest topic but also because it sits at the heart of maths and leads to a good foundation going into further mathematical education.