Dr Hannah M.
Ph.D qualified A-level Biology and GCSE Biology and Chemistry tutor with 20 years experience
About
About me:
I am a patient, friendly and enthusiastic tutor. I come from an academic background, with a Ph.D in Molecular Biology followed by 3 years Post-doctoral Research at University of Edinburgh and therefore have a thorough and extensive knowledge of the subjects I tutor in. I enjoy sharing my enthusiasm with others and I'm also good at explaining some of the more complex elements of Biology and Chemistry . I thoroughly enjoy helping students make the links between different areas of the Biology and Chemistry courses.
When I am not teaching, I enjoy cooking, swimming, playing tennis, walking my dog and listening to all kinds of music!
Tutoring experience:
I have been a full-time Private Tutor for 19 years, mainly in Biology at A-level, but also GCSE Biology and Chemistry. I have tutored or fully taught students studying with all the exam boards at A-level, including CIE international. For GCSE/iGCSE, most of my teaching has been for the AQA, Edexcel and CIE boards (Biology and Chemistry). I have also worked in a local Sixth Form college, providing tutorial support to students who regularly miss lessons due to sporting commitments. I am more than happy to accept students of all abilities and endeavour to assist tutees in reaching their full potential, whether they need an A* for Oxbridge/Medicine/Dentistry/Veterinary courses or just need a boost in confidence to reach their target grade.
Approach to tutoring:
My approach varies depending on the student as all have different needs and learning styles. For GCSE/A-level tuition, I predominantly concentrate on exam practice, with in-depth topic study for any problematic subjects. I also use multimedia aids to help students visualise biological/chemical processes where appropriate and I have created PowerPoint files covering all A-level and GCSE Biology and Chemistry topics, tailored to each syllabus/exam board. My academic research background has given me a very sound understanding of how to interpret and analyse scientific data, a major theme in A-level Biology exams and one that many students struggle with. I will happily assist students in building their confidence with respect to this trickier element of the course.
Since March 2020 , all of my tuition has been online (via Zoom) and I have adapted my lessons to work equally well, using interactive tools and easy sharing of resources. I always send resources (questions, reading material etc) in advance of the session and will provide copies of my teaching material after the session too.
I try to keep the sessions as relaxed and enjoyable as possible. I will provide students with extra exam practice questions and will always be happy to mark these in my own time. I am also more than happy to assist with essay practice for A-level Biology and have a few different resources and tactics to use. I can also assist with the Maths skills essential for Biology and Chemistry.
Subjects & pricing
Languages
- English Native
Qualifications
Higher education
- BSc (Hons) Biology · University of Edinburgh · 2:1 (Upper second) · 1998 University of Edinburgh · 2:1 (Upper second) · 1998
- PhD Molecular Biology · University of Edinburgh · Pass · 2002 University of Edinburgh · Pass · 2002
Reviews
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- imported from First Tutors
Gillian
I contact Hannah to tutor my daughter with support on her first year Biology A level on the back of reviews left here and am very glad I did. Hannah responded very quickly, asked questions about where my daughter was in her course and our expections and sent worksheets ahead of their first session. My daughter has now had 4 sessions with Hannah and has found them very helpful and as a consequence has gained new found confidence and is really enjoying the course again. Hannah sends materials ahead of each session, explains things very clearly and questions my daughter throughout the lesson. My daughter is much happier and I am happier that we have been lucky enough to find an experienced tutor, an expert in her field, and does not charge the exhorbitant rates of some other tutors.
Dr Hannah M. replied
Thank you for your very kind feedback. It is great to see your daughter growing in confidence!
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Madeline
Hannah tutored me for my AQA Biology A-Level resit because I achieved a C and wanted to move up to an A. I'm currently waiting for my result to come out in December. Hannah's sessions are engaging and her learning resources are incredible. We'd cover content that I'm struggling with in the first half of each session and then do questions about the covered content and this method helped me because I'd typically avoid difficult questions on my own. Hannah challenged me and I felt supported rather than embarrassed when I got things wrong. When I resat the papers I felt far more confident than the first time and felt that I was able to answer most questions with ease. Hannah is highly qualified and knew my syllabus inside out and I'd highly recommend Hannah as a tutor for biology at any level.
Dr Hannah M. replied
Thank you for the very kind feedback Madeline. It was a pleasure tutoring you and I look forward to hearing your results in December!
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Kiman
Hannah is an excellent tutor and I cannot recommend her highly enough. Hannah helped me improve from getting a C in my end of year mock at AS to get an A* in A level biology, which led me to securing a place at medical school.She is helpful, friendly and patient and I could not have gotten my results without her! I'd tried tutors before Hannah but they didn't have the vast amount of experience and knowledge that Hannah has! Thank you Hannah!!
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Tracy
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Heidi
I can highly recommend Hannah. My daughter went to her after getting a D at AS level in Biology and with Hannah's easy way of explaining things, improved to get a B as her final result. Hannah has a way of making topics easy to understand and has the time to re-explain and break things down which was just not possible in the classroom.
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Gayathri
Quite simply, Hannah is an exceptional tutor. She is perfectly organised, her style of teaching is both clear and methodical, and she managed to make biology a subject which I enjoyed, which I had thought to be impossible! Thank you for everything, Hannah.
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Kevin
Hannah has an excellent approach and is a patient, supportive tutor. My son was struggling with GCSE Chemistry but with Hannah's input he managed to pass the GCSE this summer (2017). I would highly recommend her.
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Kirsty
Before I started with Hannah, I was struggling and was getting D/E. After starting with Hannah I got a C in my AS levels then going on to getting a B in my A-levels. I found Hannah's teaching method with selecting topics to go through and answering exam questions very useful. Hannah is very approachable and helped me achieve the grade I aimed to get.
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Zoe
Hannah was a great tutor and really helped me through my final year of A-Levels. She was really good at helping me answer questions getting me to understand the marking behind each one and helped me to learn the many maths questions I struggled on. By having a tutor it really helped me to feel secure in the grades I would be getting at the end of the year, I would really recommend Hannah to anyone thinking of being tutored.
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Athena
Freya is extremely happy with your tuition. The time you spend with her is increasing her confidence and knowledge and she looks forward to the sessions. Thank you
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Helen
Wonderful tutor, helpful, engaging and reliable. Gave my daughter the skills and confidence to go from a predicted grade D in both Biology and Chemistry at GCSE to her getting a Grade A in both subjects and even (fleetingly) considering doing them to A level. Hannah's style is warm and encouraging. Thank you!
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John
Hannah bought my son from a moderate B in his AS level Biology to a very high A (540UMS) at A2. I don't think I need to expand on this much further, except to say that Hannah is kind, intuitive, patient and exceptionally intelligent. I really couldn't recommend Hannah's tutoring skills and ability any more highly.
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Valerie
Excellent
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Lesley
Thank you so much for all your help, Hannah. Katharine went into her biology exams with far more confidence (and knowledge!) than she would have done without your tuition, and she was rewarded with a higher grade than she would otherwise have achieved.
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Alan
My son has been very impressed with Hannah's help - hopefully it will pay off
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Deborah
Hi Hannah just wanted to feedback how happy both Christina and I are with how you are helping with the Biology tuition. Particularly that you are tailoring this to her needs for University. Christina advises she has learnt so much since seeing you, and that you make it easy for her to grasp and understand. Thanks Hannah
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Paula
I cannot believe we found such a wonderful lady to help my 15 year daughter with Biology and Chemistry. Hannah's knowlegde in her subjects is outstanding. The sessions were always well planned and structured with lots of information to take away and also emailed. Without the help of Hannah we don't believe my daughter would of come out with grade B's in her sciences as she was struggling in the subjects after a chanage of schools. I would highly recommed Hannah to anyone I can gaurantee with her help you will be guaranteed to pass.
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William
I cannot recommend Hannah highly enough. She helped our son improve his A level Biology grade from an E in the January mock exams to an A in the actual exam. He attained 89 percent. Hannah explains new concepts thoroughly and ensures the tutee understands using visual aids. We were sceptical about whether she would be able to help, but she was a first class tutor in every way. Thank you very much Hannah.
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Christina
Hannah has been invaluable to my daughters teaching, she helped my daughter achieve a B grade in her AS Biology. Hannah’s emphasis on exam technique and questions really helped. Her knowledge is extensive and I would thoroughly recommend her as an excellent Biology tutor.
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Krishnaraj
Hannah was always exceptionally well prepared for each session and had excellent subject and syllabus knowledge. My son was achieving low Bs and Cs in biology before we found Hannah. He recently achieved a high A at AS level.