Online English Literature tutor & more
Phyllis G.
A level, GCSE, IGCSE, Entrance exams-Qualified teacher- Examiner-30yrs exp
Online English Literature tutor & more
A level, GCSE, IGCSE, Entrance exams-Qualified teacher- Examiner-30yrs exp
About
A Winner of teacher of the year in London (London Evening Standard) and a highly experienced tutor with over 30 years of professional experience as an Advanced Skills Teacher teacher and examiner for English language and English literature; my students make significant progress in their GCSE, IGCSE, A level and International Baccalaureate, achieving top levels for students (see my reviews). I have been an examiner during this time for AQA, EDEX, Cambridge (CIE), and OCR. I teach all exam boards. I have honours degrees up to and including Masters level from the London University, Institute of Education and the London School of Economics (LSE). I teach all entrance exams for private schools. I support students doing resit exams who need a push to move from a level 4, 5 to levels 6 and 7 and students who want the more demanding level 9. Additionally I am a specialist in literacy issues, exam technique and motivating reluctant learners of all ages. I also teach Cambridge IELTS.
I have privately tutored students to exam success for over 12 years. I was with First Tutors from 2017 and now they have closed I am transferring to tutorperch and I have managed to retrieve student reviews from that site but due to closure in May, not my current ones though I do have additional references on request.
With a background in Psychology I use current research into how best students learn and strategies to support the most effective methods. I use multi-media where appropriate, humour, creativity, problem solving and a wide variety of learning strategies to tailor each students learning needs: we are all different learners. I use feed-back to help pace each session and help build and develop confidence and critical thinking skills. Above all I try and provide the right balance to achieve the agreed objectives whilst supporting the fun of learning.
I work with students to create personalized tuition packages using regular feedback to monitor continued progress. All homework is thoroughly assessed with SMART targets to help parents, guardians and students track progress.
In addition to secondary education I also coach students for entrance exams, 11 plus and 13 plus. My students have got through tough assessments and have been awarded places at St Pauls, Thomas's Battersea, Alleyn's and King's in Wimbledon to name a few.
Additionally, I work with students who can feel challenged by academic demands and I am able to use my professional experience and expertise with a variety of cognitive conditions.
Should a cancellation be necessary then I ask for 72 hours notice so we can look at another time, however, where there is a 'no show' or a session is cancelled the day before or within 24 hours then that session is forfeited. Unavoidable emergencies exempt.
£55–£60/hr · 4 subjects · 20 levels
Subjects & pricing
from £55/hr
- £60/hr
- IGCSE — Cambridge · Edexcel£60/hr
- 13+, KS3£55/hr
from £55/hr
- £60/hr
- IGCSE — Cambridge · Edexcel£60/hr
- 11+£60/hr
- £55/hr
Languages
- English Native
Qualifications
Higher education
- MA (Hons) English Literature Certificate checked · London University Birkbeck · 1998 London University Birkbeck · 1998 Certificate checked
- BA (Hons) English Certificate checked · Open University · 1996 Open University · 1996 Certificate checked
- BSc Psychology Certificate checked · London School of Economics · 1986 London School of Economics · 1986 Certificate checked
Teaching qualification
- PGCE English Certificate checked · Institute of Education London · 1989 Institute of Education London · 1989 Certificate checked
Other
- Diploma in Shakespeare and classically trained actor Certificate checked · Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art London · 1983 Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art London · 1983 Certificate checked
- Philosophical Enquiry in Education Certificate checked · Oxford Brookes Oxford Brookes Certificate checked
- Teacher of the Year and Microsoft most innovative teacher Certificate checked · London Evening Standard and Microsoft · 2008 London Evening Standard and Microsoft · 2008 Certificate checked
- ADVANCED SKILLS TEACHER status certificate Certificate checked · Dept of Education and Skills Westminster Dept of Education and Skills Westminster Certificate checked
- Curriculum and Assessment for KS3 English Certificate checked · Qualifactions and Curriculum Authority -QCA · 2002 Qualifactions and Curriculum Authority -QCA · 2002 Certificate checked
Reviews from Tutorperch
No Tutorperch reviews yet. Students can leave a verified review here after a lesson.
Reviews from First Tutors
Imported from Phyllis G.'s First Tutors profile before the site went dark. Shown separately from Tutorperch reviews — today they don't feed this tutor's Tutorperch rating or ranking.
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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.
- Oct 2024 ·imported from First Tutors
Leslie
My daughter is finding the lessons with Phyllis extremely helpful and finds she is learning important skills that she hasn't learned at school. Phyllis has a well structured approach that is working very well for a one to one lesson. Would certainly recommend Phyllis as a tutor.
- Oct 2024 ·imported from First Tutors
Lorelei
Phyllis has been tutoring my daughter for several weeks. She enjoys the conversations thoroughly and finds Phyllis to be knowledgeable, interesting and extremely helpful so far. As a parent Phyllis has been communicative, clear, and responsive. She is exactly what I was looking for - a former A -level teacher, familiar with the specific texts my daughter is studying, with experience of marking exams so she knows precisely how to approach each exam. Four very enthusiastic thumbs up - from me and my daughter.
- Feb 2024 ·imported from First Tutors
Sinéad
Phyllis is tutoring my daughter presently for both English language and English Literature GCSE. She is an excellent Tutor with great experience of the syllabus. Phyllis’s sessions are very well planned with concise supportive material based on sound assessment . She has great knowledge of the exam process which is vital for clarification , thus providing good learning strategies . I would have no hesitation in recommending Phyllis.
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news about her GCSE results. A 9 in English is a brilliant achievement. Now she can look forward to the next chapter. You must be so proud of all her hard work. She was a great student.
- Feb 2024 ·imported from First Tutors
Lori
Our daughter is struggling with AS English so we signed up with Phyllis , just completing our 4th week. Her first week she gave excellent and insightful feedback about our daughter’s lesson and is following through with the plan.
- Dec 2023 ·imported from First Tutors
Naseem
Phyllis has helped my son a good deal in the initial few weeks of his tuition . She’s very professional and helped him reorientate his approach to tackling examinations .
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news about your son's A level results. A great grade and brilliant news that he has his first choice of University. Well done.
- Nov 2023 ·imported from First Tutors
Natasha
Phyllis is an excellent tutor. My daughter is really valuing her sessions which are helping her get to grips with the written component of her A level drama. Phyllis is completely reliable in terms of planning and communication. She is clear about what will be covered in sessions and provides materials in advance of each lesson. Her understanding and experience of teaching these texts is obvious and her teaching style dynamic and even after just a few sessions my daughter is already feeling so more confident.
- Aug 2023 ·imported from First Tutors
Patricia
Phyllis was excellent with our son who was months away preparing for GCSE. She took the time to explain to him and quickly brought him to speed in areas where he was lacking technique and confidence. This helped him to move a grade higher than he was predicted. I certainly recommend Phyliss. She was always on time and willing to spend the time required to achieve the goal. She spent the time preparing for the lessons and very communicative.
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic results and an 8 in language. We did a lot of work on exam technique and Edward worked hard. Well done and good luck for his future academic success.
- Mar 2023 ·imported from First Tutors
Maha
I had several messages with Phyllis. Unfortunately we couldn’t proceed due to incompatibility regarding payment arrangements
Phyllis G. replied
Hi. The issue was that although you were the client arranging the tuition for your daughter, you were not the person who would be responsible for payment. I always work directly with the client rather than a 3rd party, which can be problematic. Your payment arrangement was not clearly explained in your messages. I did explain this to First Tutors who I hope returned your finders fee.
- Jan 2023 ·imported from First Tutors
Romy
I came to Phyllis with an usual request- to help my 17 year old son resit his GCSE English exam as he needed a higher grade for his preferred university choices. Phyllis designed two sets of intensive modules over 4 weeks that focussed on technique, timings, best practice as well as hints and tips. She provided exam paper practice, corrections, feedback and homework. At all times, she was professional, motivating and helpful whilst also being demanding and authorative- vital for a 17 year old more focussed on science based A-levels. My son did achieve the solid B grade he needed. However, he also learnt to be a better writer, to think more critically and vitally- the need to properly read the question being asked. Basic things that he missed at GCSE level but ones that will stay with him as he does A-levels, university and his career. I am very grateful to Phyllis for being unphased by the challenge (and he was at a weak and poor level, as he had not studied English for over a year) and going the extra mile with addtional paper practice and feedback to me to support him. I would recommend Phyllis. She is professional and easy to communicate with. Her feedback to me was helpful throughout and my son very much enjoyed his time working with her.
Phyllis G. replied
Thank you for your very thoughtful feedback. Fantastic to learn your son finally got the grades he needed and very pleased that he feels all the hard work will carry forward with the rest of his studies. Good luck.
- Dec 2022 ·imported from First Tutors
Shweta
Phyllis is a highly experienced and skilled English teacher. She teaches with patience and skill. My daughter enjoys her wonderful lessons and she tells me herself how much she is learning. I would highly recommend Phyllis as a tutor. She is amazing! I am incredibly lucky to have found Phyllis.
- Jun 2022 ·imported from First Tutors
Samantha
Professional and wonderful tutor. My girl learnt a great deal and improved at lot especially in exam techniques. Thanks so much Phyllis!
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news on your daughter's IGCSE results today, August 2022. She showed determination, hard work and commitment and achieved levels 7 for language and 7 for literature in a year when the exam boards raised the boundaries due to last year's grade inflation. So brilliant news.
- Nov 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Kamal
Phyllis has worked really well with my son, who is taking IGCSEs this year. Her teaching style is very good and my son has really benefitted with the tuitions. She was able to clarify a lot of his doubts in regards to the language paper, and was especially helpful in allowing him to understand what the examiners will look for in the answers. He is much more confident now and able to better comprehend and analyse texts than before. Highly recommended!
- Nov 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Steven
Phyllis has been really wonderful with our daughter - giving back her confidence over this term after the last rocky year of lockdown schooling. Her clear and patient tutoring is really effective and her experience and feedback to us about our daughters progress has been regular and excellent. I would wholly recommend Phyllis to any new family. This is our first experience of a tutor for english and we couldn't be happier.
- Nov 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Nicole
Phyllis is a very experienced tutor. This can be seen not only from her personal file, but also from her organization and management of teaching. Up to now, my son has had two assessment lessons and two language lessons with her. For each lesson, Phyllis prepares meticulously, usually sending the needed materials to us for printing or reading about a week in advance. The materials provided are also very suitable. Phyllis is also very responsible and confident. She appears in the lessons punctually, never late, and is proficient in [contact details hidden — unlock to view] use. She has a clear and standard pronunciation, and a suitable rhythm, which makes students easy to understand what she lectured. Phyllis also has a sense of morality. After one or two sessions, she found that my son needs to do basic tasks such as grammar first before he can go to the more higher lever English works. So she adviced my son to buy a grammar practice book and insisted on doing it every night by himself. She thinks current tutoring is not needed as it is mainly about practice and finding the patterns. My son followed her advice and practiced for about two months by himself without tutoring. Then Phyllis gave my son another assessment and the results showed that my son had made good progress. Based on this second time assessment and the improment, Phyllis worked out another learning path and tutoring programmar for my son for the next stage. In short, Phyllis has demonstrated rich tutoring and teaching experience, a high sense of responsibility and morality, as well as patience and clear tutoring ideas for her student. All this shows that she is a excellent mentor and will definitely highly recommend her!
- Sept 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
C
Phyllis is very knowledgeable and an extremely organised tutor. She clearly puts 100% into her students. We are confident that she will help our daughter achieve a high level in her English GCSE.
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news on your daughter's GCSE results today, August 2022. She showed determination, hard work and commitment and achieved levels 8 for language and 8 for literature in a year when the exam boards raised the boundaries due to last year's grade inflation. So brilliant news.
- Sept 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Rafael
I highly recommend Phyllis to any children struggling in English. She has supported my son for his GCSE and brilliantly managed to motivate him to study the topic and to therefore excel in his results : 8 in literature and 9 in english language. Particularly amazing coming from a 4/5 level. Phyllis knows very well the curriculum, has the ability to motivate and is so organised (all her lessons are prepared ahead and papers sent in advance). I am so impressed and grateful. Thank you.
Phyllis G. replied
Thank you for your feedback. It is also down the commitment your son put in and the work he was prepared to do. Well done on exceptional results. I wish Rafael every success in the future. Phyllis
- Sept 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Jane
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news of your daughters exam success this year, 2022, doing CIE IGCSE - two A* each in language and in literature. You must be so proud, as I am, of her achievements.
- May 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Anne
I contacted Phyllis woefully late in my sons’s GCSE year and we were only able to fit 4 sessions in before his April exams. In those 4 sessions Phyllis transformed him from a 15/25 student to a 25/25 candidate (yes he scored 100% in his English Literature exam). Both he and I see her influence as utterly transformative. All lessons were online and this in no way lessened their impact. Phyllis gave him clear and express guidance on how to structure his essays and she homed in with forensic skill on the areas of weakness, equipping him with the tools he needed to address them. He has told me that when he reads his pre Phyllis essays he can now see clearly where he was going wrong and he has confidence when he sits down to write an essay now that he knows what he needs to do to perform at a significantly higher level. I could not be more impressed and grateful.
Phyllis G. replied
Thank you so much Anne. Your son listened carefully and was quick to apply what he had learned. He worked hard and deserves every success. Well done. thank you for posting me his results and fantastic news that he has gone from a 6 to a 9. Brilliant work and well done.
- Apr 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Krystine
My daughter is currently being tutored by Phyllis and is studying for her GCSEs. Her lessons have been well organised and she gives clear feedback on what my daughter needs to work on. Phyllis' lessons have improved my daughter's confidence in English significantly. The lessons are well structured and are well tailored to my daughter's needs. I would highly recommend her.
Phyllis G. replied
Fantastic news on your daughter's GCSE results today, August 2022. She showed determination, hard work and commitment and achieved levels 9 for language and 8 for literature in a year when the exam boards raised the boundaries due to last year's grade inflation. So brilliant news.
- Apr 2021 ·imported from First Tutors
Emily
My son has had Phyllis for only a few months but the improvement has been drastically positive. She helped my son go from a grade of 1 and 2 to a 6 and 7 in his next mocks in a considerably short amount of time. My son no longer dislikes English and has a much more neutral opinion on it. She is good at keeping him active in lessons which helps him to focus. He considers himself very lucky to have found such a great tutor.
Phyllis G. replied
Thank you for sharing your sons GCSE results today and big congratulations that he was awarded an 8 for language and an 8 for literature. Well done. A lot of work went into that achievement: from a 2 to a double 8 LIT AND LANGUAGE!