I'm Tom, a full-time specialist tutor and experienced teacher based in London with a PhD in literature and philosophy. I am a member of The Tutor's Association.

Informed by over a decade's experience in secondary and undergraduate classrooms, and by fourteen years experience as a tutor, my tutoring practice fosters student independence and self-assurance, especially when encountering challenging texts.

My areas of expertise are GCSE and A-Level examinations in English Language and English Literature across the full range of exam boards, 11+ & 13+ examinations, homeschooling from Y4 onwards, KS3 Literacy, and creative writing at every level.

I've been tutoring for fourteen years, becoming full-time in September 2024. I have also worked in London as a secondary school teacher (seven years' experience) and as a lecturer at the University of Glasgow and the University of Essex.

From September 2017 to June 2024 I worked in London as a secondary teacher of English Literature and Language, RSE and Citizenship from KS3 to GCSE, with an 100% pass-rate at 7 (A) and above.

I am a specialist 11+ and 13+ tutor, helping my students gain places at a long list of independent schools in London and beyond, most recently Whitgift, Dulwich College and Eltham College.

Between 2011 and 2016 I worked as a teacher of undergraduate English Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Glasgow (2011-2016), teaching over 300 students overall across a wide range of undergraduate modules. This work included course design and delivery, marking, feedback and administration, and the development of bespoke lectures and workshops in poetry.

More recently, I worked as an associate lecturer in Creative Writing and Literary Theory at the University of Essex (2017-18). In 2015 I was nominated for a University of Glasgow Student Representative Council Student Teaching Award in the category 'Best Postgraduate who Tutors'.

I'm also a specialist in editing, proof-reading and academic writing more broadly. I was a regional editor of The International Journal of Badiou Studies for a number of years and I recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry. My book of philosophy, 'Badiou, Poem and Subject', is published by Bloomsbury (January, 2020). I continue to review prospective philosophy manuscripts for Bloomsbury.

I am also a published poet with six published collections and numerous publications across a range of independent journals and magazines including Granta.

My tutoring practise is about building relationships: it's hugely important to me that I offer a non-institutional, supportive and lively space in which I can respond not only to a student's individual challenges and ambitions but also to what they find most stimulating and pleasurable in their work. I have a certificate in counselling skills and particularly value 'attunement' as a tutor; my most obvious strength is in helping my students comfortable and responded to. I deliver bespoke tutorials designed to foster enthusiasm, confidence and pleasure-seeking in reading and writing; but I also prepare those of my students sitting exams to be canny, to 'play the game' with expertise.

In person, I work with a wide range of resources tailored to the needs of individual students, leaving myself room to respond live to instructive tangents. However, I'm also a strong advocate for online learning: my online tutorials are lively and collaborative, using Google docs to create vibrant shared documents full of live feedback. I especially recommend online work for GCSE and A-Level students - we can work far more efficiently and intensively when both tutee and tutor are working live with the same document.

I have a huge amount of experience in exam preparation across the full range of exam boards. I also offer structured tutorial series to help students master the nuances of 11+ and 13+ examination success, including elite comprehension and creative writing coaching.