Alexander

I grew up in North-West London, attending a state comprehensive school for the majority of my secondary education, from which I was the only student to progress to Oxbridge in my year. Throughout my childhood, I had a great passion for music, achieving distinctions in the highest grades in both trumpet and piano performance at a young age. On a rather contrasting note, I also spent far too much time on my BMX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue5Q0YEGaC0 - thank me later).

It was only upon transferring to Dr Challoner's Grammar School for my sixth-form studies that my love for Mathematics, and more generally problem solving, became apparent. The transition from being good at - but not passionate about - Mathematics, to finding myself spending numerous hours voluntarily poring over the subject was due largely to an inspirational teacher. I source much motivation from the prospect of being able to have a similar impact on the performance of students who are eager to learn.

Having prepared for the STEP and MAT independently, I am acutely aware of areas that students new to the examinations may find difficult or daunting, and more importantly I have retained a recognition of the recurring tricks, as well as some personal exam-related strategies which students have historically found beneficial to their approach. After successfully tackling the challenging STEP examinations, I was granted admission to St John's College, University of Cambridge, where I studied Mathematics.

After leaving Cambridge, I completed a Master's degree in Machine Learning at UCL and internships in quantitative trading. Since then, I work in quantitative trading/research at leading global hedge funds, predominantly designing systematic trading strategies.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-aits-82b3151a3/

Over the last few years I have seen that my tutoring has been most impactful when I am viewed by the student as a mentor, rather than a tutor in the traditional sense. This is particularly relevant when it comes to the Olympiads or university admissions. Half of the battle is often to calibrate student's expectations as to how hard they need to be working and the standard that is required. Especially in Mathematics, largely a skills-based subject where fluency is paramount, tuition is not a replacement for consistent hard work - rather, it should be used to amplify the benefits of individual hard work, by guiding the student in the optimal direction and resolving issues that the student has already attempted to work through.

• GCSE/FSMQ/A-level/IB: I firmly believe every student is capable of achieving the top grade in these examinations. The syllabi are strictly defined, and question format, length and difficulty remain somewhat constant between years. Firstly, ensure comprehensive understanding of the entire syllabus, before increasing efficiency and familiarity through past paper practice.

• MAT: firstly, issue a pack of questions that I have constructed based on the MAT syllabus and themes recurrent within the past papers. Home students find this useful as a checklist to ensure they have a solid grasp of the fundamentals, and the many international students I've taught for the MAT have found this to be useful as a means to bridge the gap between their local curriculum and the MAT syllabus. Thereafter, we work through the available papers in full and, with good reason, I encourage students to attempt all questions on each paper during preparation (except in mocks), regardless of course choice.

• STEP: this is the least straightforward, but the most enjoyable and rewarding, to prepare for. The syllabus is comparatively vast and question difficulty can fluctuate significantly between questions and years. However, the question style is unique and there are repeating themes and tricks that must be familiar to the student, so past paper practice should be encouraged from early on in the process. This preparation process is very much individual: some students come to me already capable of attempting papers in full, others need to first take some time to broaden their grasp of the syllabus, particularly for STEP III.

Socialising, exercising, music, mathematics, programming