DBS verified Mr Stephen L.
History, Politics and Government - GCSE and A-level - 17 years experience - First Class Degree-holder
About
Covering AQA, OCR and Edexcel boards for various Politics and History courses, I have over seventeen years experience as a private tutor and hold two FIRST CLASS degrees in British History and Politics from Northumbria (BA Hons.) and Newcastle (MA) universities.
HOW WILL WE WORK?
Every meeting is personally tailored to the needs of the student. Some variations on meeting structure:
A specific topic is chosen and an exam-style question is tabled. We spend thirty minutes working our way structurally though the Points and Counterpoints, examples and analyses. We then spend 15 minutes or more writing a sample paragraph based on one of our discussion points, ending the meeting by sharing our written paragraph. An assessment is then made of the work using standard exam board marking schemes.
The student requires deeper insight with appropriate examples of a topic area before moving into the 'written aspect' of tuition. This is more appropriate to Politics courses but can occur with History if the study is detailed enough. The meeting will be mostly lecture-style with questions welcome throughout.
AN APPROACHABLE, FRIENDLY STYLE
I have a friendly, approachable style of teaching that facilitates a good, relaxed learning experience. We're doing a serious job but a little humour can often aid the memory!
ARE LEARNING MATERIALS PROVIDED?
After 17 years as a tutor I have amassed topic-organised learning materials that students have found useful. These are provided for no additional charge after each meeting, along with the board-approved answer to any question we have tackled. Nobody leaves empty-handed!
ANY QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to send me a message with any questions and I will respond as quickly as possible.
Subjects & pricing
Languages
- English Native
Qualifications
Higher education
- BA (Hons) History and Politics · Northumbria University · First-class (1st) · 2008 Northumbria University · First-class (1st) · 2008
- MA British History · Newcastle University · Merit · 2010 Newcastle University · Merit · 2010
Pre-degree
- A-level History · C · 2005 C · 2005
- A-level English Literature · B · 2005 B · 2005
- A-level D&T: Product Design · D · 2005 D · 2005
Reviews from Tutorperch
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Reviews from First Tutors
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The review text is the original reviewer's own words, quoted as-is. We verified the tutor's ownership of the profile, not the truth of what each individual reviewer wrote.
- imported from First Tutors
Angela
Very professional, attentive and a great help to my daughter studying A Level History. Stephen gave guidance, support and clarity on aspects of the subject, allowing my daughter to understand better the content of what she was studying.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you, Angela. She is asking all the right questions and great progress is being made.
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Thom
greatly helped me with both ability and motivation to succeed in politics a-level, ultimately helping me achieve the grade necessary to get into my choice university. very informative, effective, and fun method of tutoring with obviously vast political knowledge thank you! :)
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you Thom! As well as the serious work undertaken I do try to inject some fun into our discussion (makes it more memorable I always hope).
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Neena
Stephen is an excellent tutor who really gave my daughter a boost in her last term and managed to get her Politics grade from C to an A . Thank you Stephen for all your hard work.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Neena, thank you for this kind review. I really enjoyed the meetings in the run up to the exam - such excellent progress.
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Nick
Towards the end of my daughter's Government and Politics A-level she needed help to fill in some gaps in her knowledge and understanding, as well as prepare her for the exams. Stephen was ideal in providing this and worked well with her to increase her understanding and confidence. He is both friendly and professional and we would definitely recommend him to others. Thanks!
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thanks Nick! I really enjoyed working with your daughter and I think we got some really good practice essays down on paper too.
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Selma
In lessons, he was able to give in-depth explanations behind different concepts. His knowledge of the subject as a whole including relevant contextual information is incredibly impressive and beneficial. Overall, his support has been incredible.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Selma, many thanks for this kind review. I think we got some good conceptual understanding down for the political aspects of this History study.
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Howard
I am able to understand him very well.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thanks Howard. Our weekly meetings have been great so far.
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Joy
Knowledgeable, patient, professional - we are very pleased to have found Stephen!
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you! Our Politics meeting is a weekly highlight.
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Charles
Very good Tutour was amazing helping me with my A-level Politics.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thanks Charlie. It was great to go through UK and US Government with you this year.
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Patricia
Stephen has tutored my son Jakob for his A-levels since October 2021. Jakob has now finishes his last exams with confidence and in control of his critical thinking and subject matter. Besides being highly knowledgeable, Stephen was always engaged, prepared, punctual and attentive.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Jakob was a great student, fun to work with and very keen on detail. He kept me on my toes these last few months!
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ngozi
Excellent tutor, very supportive with my daughter who had lost loads of confidence with History. Stephen helped her a lot with prepping for exams on how to answer questions. He guided my daughter on the content, which has helped her a lot during her revision time. Thanks!
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you for your kind feedback! I was pleased to see all that lost confidence return by the time of that modern history exam.
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Suzanne
Thanks Steve - your positive approach really helped improve my knowledge, exam technique and build the confidence I needed. I am so happy with my A grade A-level.
Mr Stephen L. replied
It was great to meet Jonah - a thoughtful and enthusiastic student who really sharpened his writing skills across the weeks.
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Karoline
Stephen has been absolutely brilliant for my daughter's confidence, knowledge and ability to properly articulate what she knows. He understands the subject inside out and was able to pinpoint both the topics and skills she needs to work on to do her best in the exams. Stephen has coached her on technique as well as subject matter and the one to one support has been awesome for my daughters learning. I really cannot recommend Stephen highly enough. He's done more for her as an individual in 3 months than her teachers have in 2 years.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Kind words, Karoline. Thank you for your business - it has been great to tutor Sydney these last few months and I know she will go from strength to strength in her critical writing abilities.
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Garry
Stephen is an excellent tutor, always responds quickly and is very reliable. He certainly helped Jamie achieve an A grade in his A-level, giving him encouragement and confidence, as well as the obvious advantage of benefitting from Stephen's deep knowledge of the subject matter. Jamie found his revision more rewarding and stimulating with the tutorial style approach. In hindsight I wish I had been aware of Stephen earlier in which case an A* may have been achievable! Well worth the investment.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thanks Garry. It was great to see Jamie get that A grade - and certainly deserved.
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Hamish
Stephen is a first class tutor . He quickly grasped the issues we faced . He is highly knowledgeable and brings a sense of calm and order to the exam challenge. He established a rapport with my son both in terms of the subject but also over how he would help build confidence in tackling questions for the exam. My son looked forward to the sessions with Stephen and started to make really rapid progress. During the timed questions he did with my son ,he also wrote a timed answer which led to a comparative answer being instantly available. My son obtained an A grade . I recommend Stephen to you. Hamish Moore
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you Hamish! I really enjoyed working with Fraser - a bright young man with good academic ability. I am pleased he achieved that well-deserved A grade. Thank you Hamish!
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Judith
Steve did a fantastic job tutoring my son for his history AS resist, as well as helping him with history coursework. His grade increased from an E to an A for that module. My son really enjoyed his weekly sessions and found Steve both approachable and knowledgeable. We found Steve very reliable and he always arrived promptly. He was excellent value for money. We would have no hesitation in recommending Steve.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thanks Judith. Charlie responded really well to the sessions and I am glad he got the well-deserved A grade.
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Sue
Stephen was very thorough and quickly got to what needed more revision on. very punctual and most importantly our son enjoyed working with him.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you Sue. I enjoyed working with Greg - bright and knowledgeable on British politics, I think we got the best out of our meetings.
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Maria
Stephen has provided excellent tutor support for my son in doing his AS and A2 AQA History exams. He has a really good and detailed understanding of the different topics and also importantly knows what the examiners are looking for. Stephen quickly established a really good relationship with my son, which I think is key in successful tutoring. My son says he definitely feels more confident going into the exams than he did last year. I'd definitely recommend Stephen to anyone looking for a tutor.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you Maria. Cal was enthusiastic about the subject (post-war Britain) and I enjoyed our conversations - ranging from Christine Keeler to Margaret Thatcher! Always good to see a student take a keen interest in a study with politics at its heart.
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Paul
I found Stephen's help to be of great use. He had a lot of knowledge that I could use and was very helpful in polishing and improving my coursework. Overall, Stephen was a very good tutor. His feedback was constructive, specifically pointing out where I could improve my work, and he was easy to understand.
Mr Stephen L. replied
Thank you Paul - a great piece of coursework that was a pleasure to read and draft.
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Lynn
Always prompt to appointments, organised and knowledgable - excellent.
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Rebecca Louise
I'm currently studying A-Level History with Edexcel and have two exams to undertake at the end of May and June, in Germay Kaiser to Fuher 1900-1945 and Women (AS Level Resit) . Revision sessions are really helpful, Stephen is able to get more out of you and shows you how to evaluate and analyse. Very helpful gained alot of knowledge so far. Stephen is very useful and knows alot about the Kaiser to Fuher so i gain from that and also use that knowledge for my women question in evaluation