Neil

I am from Northumberland, where I went to Ashington High School, and gained AAB grades in Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics.

I then studied Chemistry at Wadham College, Oxford, gaining a II.ii in 1993.

After moving to London, I have taught Chemistry continuously, at the Abbey DLD group and Lansdowne College, the former of which I have taught at for over 26 years before leaving at the end of 2021 to focus fully on online tuition.

I live in Muswell Hill, North London.

I offer A-level chemistry tuition in an examination-oriented, skills-based manner.

The majority of marks in an examination come from material that can either be rote-learned (such as giving the definition of ionisation energy) or material that is routine, and can therefore be rehearsed (such as interpreting a graph of ionisation energies). Difficulties often arise when questions are asked in an oblique way, meaning the inexperienced student may not write the answer down, even though they actually know it.

Underpinning the subject is a range of skills, such as being able to confidently manipulate the various and confusing ways that organic molecules are depicted, that are sometimes taught quickly at the beginning of a course. If not correctly grasped and fully developed, these can affect vast swathes of the subject down the line.

Consequently I teach by breaking down the subject into material to be memorised, individual topic skills that can be rehearsed, and broader subject skills that need to be fully understood and developed. This is coupled with early introduction and emphasis upon board-specific past-paper questions, in order to develop examination technique and identify barriers to achievement.

When I am not teaching I am mostly listening to music, mainly opera and classical and jazz.