Gary
Professional maths tuition with a friendly and supportive tutor | PGCE
About
I am a qualified teacher of Mathematics offering tuition up to A-level, SQA Advanced Higher and beyond.
As I see it private tuition in maths offers you the help, encouragement and support you need to increase your understanding of this important school subject, and should be seen as an investment in your future. I have been told that even in Soviet Russia, despite the obvious emphasis on free state education for all, people would nevertheless hire maths tutors. This was seen as a practical response to the high expectations and competitiveness of the university admissions system.
My aim is to offer a dedicated service to people who want to gain more confidence and skill in maths. I strive to deliver high quality tuition up to SQA Advanced Higher, A level and beyond.
I enjoy using my ability to reason and hope to pass on an appreciation for reasoning to the people that I am giving tuition to.
In addition to having worked in education I have also been employed in software engineering.
I enjoy sea kayaking, wild swimming, French cinema, playing backgammon, listening to music, watching TV with Masterchef being my favourite programme to watch.
I live in Edinburgh city centre wth my wife Lorna and our Birman cat Bella.
Please see below for my reviews
Tutoring experience
I have been offering private tuition since 2012 and have helped many tutees to obtain, or surpass, their target grades in SQA and A level exams. In the last 5 years alone I have delivered over 3000 hours of tuition!
In addition I have 4 years classroom experience, and have worked in providing adult education in computing.
Tutoring approach
As a dedicated teacher, I enjoy teaching at all levels of ability, tailoring my approach to the needs of my tutees. Having a calm and patient manner I enjoy the challenge of helping tutees to understand basic principles in ways that make sense to them. Whether you need help with a specific problem or an explanation of a more general concept I'm here to help. Just let me know what you need assistance with and I'll do my best to provide a clear and helpful response.
Elements of my approach:
review of basic maths ✅
practice of routine processes and methods ✅
discussion of how to approach A/B questions at Higher ✅
breaking down complicated maths to simpler ideas ✅
problem-solving techniques ✅
encouraging you to have a questioning attitude in your study of maths ✅
exam technique ✅
Our aim is to work towards creating a time and space where you can talk about and learn maths in a natural way. I contend that the big difference between private tuition and, say, watching tutor videos online, or learning by some other online or electronic means, is that a tutor can listen to you and detect things that are misunderstood and provide instant and friendly feedback to correct these misundertandings. Nor can you interrupt a video to ask a pressing question that has just occurred to you, but you can with a tutor. Any good tutor wants you to ask your question and to be engaged.
I ask my tutees to aim high and to that end the focus will always be on you developing as a confident learner.
Jo Boaler in her book Mathematical Mindsets states that “…for the vast majority of children — about 95% — any level of school maths are within their reach.” Further to the point, Nobel prize winner in Physics (1965), Richard Feynman: "I was an ordinary person who studied hard. There's no miracle people. "
With the right support and encouragement to think for yourself you are perfectly capable of learning maths and of being able to obtain a good pass in your exams. So please take this on board and adjust your mindset accordingly.
I don't believe that one can teach effectively if one has forgotten what it is like not to know something, so I gain real satisfaction from explaining complex things in a way that makes sense to others.
Homework, feedback, and exam preparation
Homework may be set where useful, usually growing directly out of the tutorial, and is intended to reinforce learning without becoming burdensome.
Feedback is available on request, with brief summaries of work covered, progress made, and areas for further attention.
As examinations approach, tutorials place increasing emphasis on the habits that matter most for success: clear layout, careful checking of working, and drawing on prior mathematical knowledge in a thoughtful and connected way. These are encouraged throughout the year, but brought into sharper focus in the final phase of preparation for the exam.
Quotations I like
What is algebra? If you ask someone on the street this question, the most likely response will be: 'Something horrible to do with x, y and z' If you’re lucky enough to bump into a mathematician then you might get something along the lines of: 'Algebra is the abstract encapsulation of our intuition for composition. By composition, we mean the concept of two objects coming together to form a new one.'
.. mathematics is very much like poetry ... what makes a good poem -- a great poem -- is that there is a large amount of thought expressed in very few words. [In this sense some mathematical formulas are like poems.]"
Alexander Paulin, Lipman Bers
So whether it's the arithmetic rules for combining fractions that baffle you, or that you want to learn about the exciting numbers generated by hyperoperations, or anything in between, then please do get in touch.
Subjects & pricing
Maths
£60/hr
Statistics
£60/hr
Mechanics
£60/hr
MAT (Maths admissions)
£60/hr
STEP (Maths)
£60/hr
TMUA
£60/hr
Discount
5% discount on tutorials pre-paid in blocks of 5
Languages
- English Native
Qualifications
Higher education
- BSc Mathematics · Polytechnic of Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Ordinary degree · 1988 Polytechnic of Newcastle-upon-Tyne · Ordinary degree · 1988
Teaching qualification
- PGCE Mathematics · University of Durham · Pass · 1989 University of Durham · Pass · 1989
Vocational / professional
- Return to teaching · University of Edinburgh · 2012 University of Edinburgh · 2012
Reviews from Tutorperch
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Reviews from First Tutors
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Grainne
Gary replied
This tutee improved from a fail at her prelim to achieve an 'A' in her SQA Higher exam.
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Ian
Gary has proven to be an outstanding tutor for our son. It’s been a pleasure to hear them solving problems together and it’s been good for Dylan to have Gary to support and challenge him. Dylan got an A in advance higher mathematics today- two years early. Given he could not attend over 1/3 of his school classes, having Gary to backfill made all the difference! Thank Gary… on to STEP and advanced higher mechanics and stats now
Gary replied
Thanks Ian. I'm looking forward to the challenges of the next academic year.
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Andrea
Gary has been absolutely fantastic. His explanation makes it easy to understand complex mathematics and the use of a shared whiteboard makes online lessons feel as though they were face to face. He has tutored and helped me through my preparation for my engineering maths exam and in just a few lessons I am definitely feeling far more confident in the topics I was previously struggling with. Communication regarding lessons arrangements has been excellent from day one. If you are struggling with mathematics, I definitely recommend Gary.
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Arunava
Gary has been extremely helpful in guiding my son towards his advanced highers in maths. His teaching methods have been great, improving my son's approach towards tackling questions and improving his confidence. I would highly recommend Gary.
Gary replied
Thanks for your feedback Arunava. This tutee obtained an A pass at Advanced Higher.
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Lorna
Gary provided over 8 months of online tuition for my daughter during her Higher Maths. He was excellent from start to finish. My daughter grew in confidence and valued his insightful, methodical approach. He was well versed in the SQA marking schemes and really added value with tips on what to focus on. I would highly recommend him.
Gary replied
Thank you Lorna for your feedback. It was a pleasure helping your daughter. This tutee obtained an A pass at Higher.
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Clare
Dear Gary, thank you for all the support and encouragement that you gave given Lucas for advanced higher maths. Lucas has felt much more confident as a result of your tutoring. You have explained complex problems thoroughly that he was struggling with. He is now going in to his exam tomorrow feeling prepared. Thank you for your excellent tutoring.
Gary replied
Thank you for your feedback Clare.
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Po Yin
Thank you so much for your support and guidance. It’s really helped, and my son is feeling more confident now. We truly appreciate it!
Gary replied
Thank you Po Yin. I enjoyed helping your son and wish him well for his exams.
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Charlie
Gary is an experienced and patient tutor who has helped my son build his confidence in preparation for his Higher Mathematics exam. All the tuition was provided online - Gary was reliable, provided links to supporting materials, and has delivered valuable, high quality tutoring to get my son exam-ready. Many thanks Gary - recommended.
Gary replied
Thank you Charlie for your feedback. It was a pleasure helping your son.
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Patrick
Can highly recommend Gary as a tutor. He greatly assisted our son for public maths exams.
Gary replied
Thanks for your feedback Patrick.
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Blanche
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Stuart
Gary has been great , very good feedback and really wants to help my son get back on track , would highly recommend. Regards Stuart
Gary replied
Thank you for your feedback Stuart.
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Denis
Dear Gary, Thanks for your tutoring of James for TMUA this year. I think he told you already that he found the first paper very different to previous years and very difficult. The second one was "fine". You probably know that from this year the tests are administered, and I think set, by Pearson VUE for the first time. On asking James afterwards if more preparation would have been helpful he didn't really think so, since the types of questions seemed so different to those on past papers. So, he did the best he could on the day with the practice he had done and approaches and knowledge from his study and tutoring with you. The scoring system seems to have changed this year as well, norming around 4.5, with some universities stating that a score of 5.0 this year is taken to be equivalent to 6.5 last year (and in previous years). James got his result this morning. His score was 6.2. This seems to be about the 20th percentile. He hasn't heard back yet on whether he has an interview at the college he applied for in Cambridge, to do Computer Science, but this score might well help his application. Many of the people doing the TMUA would be applying for maths degrees at other universities and perhaps this would drag the average score upwards. So, thank you very much for your help. It seems to have been a strange or transitional year for the TMUA and we hope that this result will help James with his application. I will send this message to you directly by email as well. Best wishes, Denis
Gary replied
Dear Denis, I had read that paper 1 was different to previous papers. So I'm very pleased to hear that James scored so well. Best wishes to him for his future studies. Kind regards, Gary
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Alache
My son was very satisfied with the taster lesson graciously offered free by Gary. We however were unable to proceed as we were looking for a fortnightly arrangement which Gary is unable to offer.
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Shahzad
A very experienced tutor. Gary takes time to understand what the tutee knows and gradually talks with them and builds upon their knowledge. He also makes them understand how to structure their answers.
Gary replied
Thank you for your feedback Shahzad.
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Kathy
Gary worked with my son for 3 months before his A level Maths, it was very short notice but after my son's D in his year 13 mocks he asked for additional help. Gary really helped him with his understanding of the content and achieved an A in his actual exam. I can highly recommend Gary to anyone who needs additional support with A level Maths. Thank you Gary, we are both very please!
Gary replied
Thank you Kathy, I’m also very pleased at that outcome.
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Gunes
I highly recommend Gary to every student. My daughter received a C in her prelims, but after eight lessons with Gary, she achieved an A in her Higher exam. He understood students' needs well and helped them specifically. Thanks Gary :)
Gary replied
Thank you for saying. I found your daughter to be very capable.
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MARIANNE
Gary was an excellent tutor. He went at a pace that was appropriate to my daughter's level - something which wasn't happening at school - and she felt comfortable asking him all of her questions. Gary explained maths concepts in a very clear way, which really helped her to build confidence. The online sessions worked well for us, as she could fit them in around the other things she does. Having failed her Nat5 prelim she ended up - with Gary's help - getting an A in the final exam. Thanks Gary!
Gary replied
You're welcome Marianne, it was a pleasure giving tuition to your daughter.
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Julien
As we needed help with my son's IB Maths HL, which is an unusual request, we were impressed with Gary's ability to adjust to the different curriculum and still able to get our son to exactly where he needed to be. He really appreciated Gary's time and the effort he put in. Thank you very much.
Gary replied
It was a pleasure helping your son.
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John
Really pleased with Gary. He comes prepared and always works through solutions. I taught my kids show your workings and he rams that home in a massively positive and intuitive way with harder stuff.
Gary replied
Thanks for your feedback John, greatly appreciated.
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RONYE
Gary is an excellent tutor. He helped my son with preparation for his advanced Highers examination and simplified complex mathematical topics for easy understanding.
Gary replied
Thank you for saying Ronye. This student achieved an A at SQA Advanced Higher.