When Amelia came to me, she was frustrated. A full year into her degree, she’d been consistently achieving 2:2s on her essays despite feeling she understood the course content. Like many undergraduates, she’d found that university lectures teach you what to know – but not how to write about what you learn. She needed a private tutor.

The gap between knowing your subject and knowing how to structure an academic argument is where many capable students stumble, and Amelia was no exception.

My Private Tutoring Approach

Over a series of focused one-to-one sessions, we worked on how to frame her existing knowledge into the kind of analytical writing that earns top marks.

I didn’t teach her new content – she already knew her stuff. Instead, we focused on:

  • Essay structure and signposting – making her argument clear from the introduction through to the conclusion
  • Academic voice and critical analysis – moving beyond descriptions to genuine analytical depth
  • Evidence selection and integration – using quotations and examples strategically rather than decoratively
  • Paragraph construction – ensuring each paragraph did meaningful analytical work

The Result

We had six sessions booked, but Amelia had an essay deadline after our first two sessions together.

She received her first ever First.

Over the next four sessions, we put together a framework to enable her to approach future essays independently. The skills weren’t course-specific – they were transferable across any subject that required critical writing.

The Problem With University Teaching

University teaching rightly focuses on discipline-specific knowledge, but the craft of essay writing often gets left to students to figure out on their own. Some do. Many don’t.

Amelia needed to be shown how to shape what she already knew into persuasive, well-structured academic prose.

As an ex-student with 10 years of experience writing essays during a First Class Honours Degree, a Masters at Distinction, a PhD, plus three years of experience marking essays as an Associate Lecturer, I’m exceptionally well-placed to help students reach their full potential.

So, if you’re a capable student not seeing your knowledge reflected in your grades, private tutoring might bridge that gap. Drop me a message and we’ll have a chat about how tailored support could transform your academic writing.