Online lessons and paper feedback
IGCSE English Tuition
You understand the comments on an essay, but the next answer has the same problems. We offer individual English lessons in reading, writing and exam practice, as well as marking for completed papers. Lessons follow your course; you can start with one session.
Which English course are you taking?
English Language
Lessons focus on reading and writing: understanding meaning, analysing language, responding to an audience and purpose, and organising a response. Send the full First Language or English Language course title and code.
English as a Second Language
ESL needs distinct reading, writing, listening and speaking practice. Cambridge 0510 reports speaking separately; 0511 includes it in the overall grade. Speaking is still compulsory in 0510.
English Literature
Literature lessons cover set texts, close reading, argument and textual evidence. Send the text title, author, exam year and question, rather than just asking for help with an English essay.
For Cambridge 0500 exams in 2027–2029, use the relevant syllabus and specimen papers: the board has revised the reading paper structure and some assessment criteria. Older questions can still provide practice, but an old-format paper is not a current-format timed mock.
For Pearson Edexcel, OxfordAQA or another route, send the school specification or paper cover. We teach towards your course rather than applying Cambridge rules to another board.
What we work on in English lessons
Not every difficulty needs a full essay. Selecting evidence may need two or three sentences; paragraph development needs a complete paragraph. We choose the amount of practice around the skill being taught.
| Difficulty in the answer | What we practise | What to check next |
|---|---|---|
| You understand the passage but miss the question | Identify the task, separate stated information from inference and select relevant evidence. | Answer a similar question on a new passage without retelling the whole text. |
| You name a technique but cannot explain its effect | Start with a particular word: its meaning, associations and tone in that sentence. | Remove generic comments such as “makes the reader want to read on”. Does the explanation still match the text? |
| A summary is too long or too close to the source | Select relevant points, combine overlap and express the meaning accurately in your own sentences. | Check for missing ideas, added opinion and changes of meaning, not just different vocabulary. |
| Writing has ideas but little direction | Establish the audience, purpose and form, then give each paragraph a distinct job. | Does the opening address the task? Does each paragraph develop the response rather than repeat it? |
| The same grammar and punctuation errors return | Choose one or two patterns from your work, explain them and practise sentence boundaries, tense or reference. | Look for the same pattern in a new paragraph, not only in a corrected copy. |
Three short tasks to try
We wrote these passages, tasks and explanations for practice. They are not exam-board questions or official marked samples. Try an answer before opening the explanation.
Reading: go beyond naming a technique
By six, the station had swallowed the last commuters. Mina stood beside the locked kiosk, turning an unused ticket between her fingers.
How does “swallowed” contribute to the atmosphere?
Read the explanation and follow-up
“Personification makes it vivid” identifies a technique but does not explain this word. Swallowed presents the station as a large space that consumes people. The contrast between the vanished crowd and Mina beside a closed kiosk creates emptiness and isolation. That interpretation uses the passage; it does not need an invented story about a missed train.
A possible response: The verb “swallowed” makes the station seem to consume the crowd. With everyone gone, Mina appears isolated beside the closed kiosk.
Try next: explain what unused ticket might suggest in one sentence. Identify what the passage does not tell you for certain.
Writing: answer the reader’s concern
Task: write to your headteacher proposing that the library stay open until 5 pm twice a week. Address a concern about staffing.
First attempt: The library should stay open because it is useful. Everyone will like it. It will be much better.
See a possible revision
Useful and better do not explain the benefit, and everyone will like it is unsupported. Give a specific use and respond to the concern:
Keeping the library open until 5 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays would give students a quiet place to finish homework before their journey home. To address staffing concerns, I suggest a four-week trial on those two days, subject to staff availability, before deciding whether to continue.
The revision makes a precise request in an appropriate tone, explains a benefit and acknowledges the task’s staffing concern. Write your own second paragraph: how could the school judge the trial? Do not invent survey results.
Summary: select and combine ideas
The club moved its meetings online. Members no longer paid for bus fares, and those living far away could join. Sessions were recorded so members who worked late could catch up.
Summarise the benefits to members in no more than 30 words.
Compare a suggested answer
Online meetings removed travel costs, enabled distant members to attend and let those unavailable at the meeting time catch up through recordings.
This 22-word answer combines benefits involving cost, distance and timing. It does not add an unsupported environmental claim. The 30-word limit belongs to this practice task, not to every exam summary question.
Use feedback in your next answer
Our marking refers to specific paragraphs, evidence and sentences, rather than only asking for “deeper analysis”. For a word-choice question, that can mean checking whether you explain the word in context and support your inference from the passage.
- Keep the original: include the question, source text, time used and existing comments.
- Practise one priority: attempt the same type of task on a different passage.
- Separate revision from independent work: compare a response revised after a demonstration with a new answer completed without prompts.
One-off mock marking includes one written clarification, not unlimited redrafts or follow-up teaching. You can book a separate lesson to work through a revision with a tutor.
English lesson and marking fees
| Service and fee | When it fits | What you receive |
|---|---|---|
| Single lesson · from £45 | One topic needs teaching, or you want to try a lesson first. | 55 minutes of online teaching, agreed practice and post-lesson priorities. No paid diagnostic is required first. |
| 10 lessons from £399 / 20 from £749 | You need continuing tuition and checks on earlier practice. | 55 minutes each: 9 hours 10 minutes or 18 hours 20 minutes in total. Tutor, subjects, schedule and total price are agreed before payment. |
| Mock marking · £45 for one / £79 for two in the same subject | You have completed a paper independently and want detailed feedback. | Review of the agreed paper, three practice priorities and one written clarification. Live teaching is not included. |
| Optional diagnostic · £35 | There is only a small sample of work and the main difficulty is unclear. | One diagnostic review of agreed material with a next-step recommendation. Not full-paper marking or a compulsory fee before lessons. |
Language and Literature are different subjects; one paper from each does not count as a same-subject pair. For a paragraph or a speaking task, tell us what you want to practise so we can agree the appropriate service and scope.
Your English questions
Why are exam marks low when spoken English is fluent?
Conversation and timed reading, analysis and writing make different demands. Bring a question and your original answer so we can look at task focus, evidence, structure and accuracy. Speaking fluency alone does not identify the teaching needed.
Can I work only on writing without buying a course package?
Yes. Request a 55-minute lesson on one task or difficulty, such as developing an argument. We agree the sample and practice scope beforehand; one lesson does not include unlimited correction of long essays.
Will feedback rewrite my whole essay?
No. We identify important issues, demonstrate selected changes and ask you to do the next revision. A response rewritten entirely by someone else does not show what you can produce independently.
Can you edit coursework that counts towards my grade?
Tell us whether the task is assessed and what outside help your school permits. We do not write submissions or polish them line by line into a final assessed piece. Where needed, we use separate practice to teach skills you can apply yourself.
How should we choose First Language, ESL or Literature?
Start with the school course code and entry arrangements, then consider previous study, reading and writing, and any receiving school requirements. Nationality or home language cannot decide the route on its own. Literature and language also assess different work.
How quickly can a grade improve?
Lesson count alone cannot predict a grade. We look for less prompting on new tasks, fewer repeated errors and completed timed answers. Progress depends on the starting point, exam route and independent practice; we cannot promise a grade increase within a fixed number of weeks.
What to send with your enquiry
- Course title, exam board, code and exam year. A paper cover or school course outline is helpful when you do not know the details.
- A specific question or recent answer, with the task, time used and existing feedback. You do not need a complete mock to enquire.
- The difficulty you want to address, your target and lesson availability with your time zone.
Photograph the complete task and answer clearly, covering unrelated personal details. We confirm tutor, scope, timing and total price before payment. A free enquiry does not include full-paper marking.