Tutor Profile - Alex

The tutor says of himself:

I’ve taught English Literature at the University of Cambridge for over a dozen years. For four of those years, I was a director of studies in English at St John’s College, Cambridge, during which time I also helped to run the admissions process and conduct admissions interviews. I have also been a Royal Literary Fund fellow, offering one-to-one help with academic writing skills to doctoral students (and others) at King’s College London.
In addition to this professional teaching experience, I am a writer and have published two collections of poetry as well as several editions of Victorian writers. I’ve also published an academic book and many articles, poems and translations in a range of magazines and journals. I’m a current member of the National Association of Writers in Education and my teaching work is covered by public liability insurance.
I enjoy individual and small group teaching based on real thinking, real feeling and the development of critical sensitivity. I would be delighted to hear from students who want to improve their close reading skills and their critical writing, and those who are thinking of applying to read English (or related subjects) at university. I am able to offer sessions either at my home in N10 (within certain hours) or online by video call.
My approach is always based on commitment to the individual and their particular needs, goals and interests.
English (Literature): I believe in the value of real literary appreciation and close attention to detail. Sensitivity in reading is something that must be learned gradually and cannot be acquired through any ‘tricks of the trade’. I believe in helping students find their own way of reading, in which they can feel conviction and pleasure.
I have more than a dozen years’ teaching experience in English Literature at undergraduate level. Sessions with me will focus on the same ‘close reading’ skills I have taught at Cambridge. They will help students to move beyond the shortcuts and crutches that are often very pragmatically taught as viable approaches to GCSE and A-Level examinations. For sixth-form students, the sessions should deepen and enrich their A-Level work and help to prepare them for the more sophisticated and rewarding work expected at university level. For university students, they will help to refine the fundamental skills in reading and critical writing that underlie all work in the subject, but which are not always taught extensively in themselves. For the most part, my sessions are versions of (and often indistinguishable from) the kind of teaching I would offer in ‘practical criticism’ as part of the Cambridge English course, although I will always tailor my approach for each individual student.
As the above implies, I will not generally focus on readings of the ‘set texts’ students may be working on at school, college or university, although I will help them to think more critically and argue more articulately about such texts. For the most part we will work on developing real, fundamental skills and critical sensitivity by looking at a wide range of sample texts.
Creative Writing: As a published poet with experience in running creative writing workshops, I am able to offer personal tuition to poets and other aspiring writers, especially those who wish to develop the sensitivity and precision of critical reading that is indispensable for progress as a creative writer. My focus would be largely on what I would call ‘literary appreciation for creative writers’: that is, we will work at least as much on reading as on writing, but always with your creative development in mind.
University Admission Applications Support: I offer preparation for university admissions/interviews (including Oxbridge) for English and other Arts and Humanities subjects.
If you are getting ready to apply for an Arts or Humanities subject at a university that interviews or sets written assessments for admissions, it can be hard to know how much preparation is helpful and how much is counter-productive. I have several years’ experience of participating in the running of the admissions process for English at a Cambridge college, during which time I conducted interviews and particularly attended to the ‘text-based’ exercises that form part of those interviews. I also have experience of being the interviewee, when I applied myself! Drawing on these experiences, I am able to offer realistic guidance and helpful, fair support to applicants.
I don’t teach tricks or ‘hacks’, which don’t usually work and in fact often misfire. Instead, I try to give an idea of what qualities interviewers and assessors tend to look for, and to help develop these through sustained work that aims to get applicants to think outside of the more schematic marking criteria (‘assessment objectives’) that may have become familiar to them from A-Level work.
The focus will be on thinking and reading more critically, deeply and independently, and on building the confidence to think on one’s feet: to articulate thoughts clearly and thoughtfully, but with a measure of spontaneity and responsive flexibility.
Although my main experience is in admissions for English, many other subjects in the Arts and Humanities are rather similar in this regard, and there is significant overlap in the skills and qualities that highly selective universities look for.
In short, I am not offering any magical formula or secret weapons. Instead, I aim to promote real learning and intellectual development (beyond what A-Levels require) which should make candidates better placed for university admissions and undergraduate study, as well as being intrinsically worthwhile.
Dissertation/Essay Writing Skills-(Writing Skills for Academia): I offer one-to-one tutorial guidance on academic writing and editing for students in higher education at all levels. The sessions I offer in this area are informed by my experience of working at King’s College London for two years as a Royal Literary Fund fellow, during which time I saw students and post-doctoral academics from many different disciplines. I am familiar with the challenges of different types of academic writing, including doctoral theses, journal articles and grant applications.
Instead of providing feedback on substantial pieces of writing, I work closely with short samples of written work, helping students to develop skills and confidence which they themselves can then apply more extensively elsewhere.

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