About Me

I started tutoring by accident in 2006. Helping pupils become successful felt amazing. So I quit my job in Finance and Software Engineering to tutor full time. The video below shows a few maths study tips I have for students.

Tutoring Experience

  • 2006 onwards (starting online in 2012).
  • Residential live-in tutoring at homes.
  • Tutoring at independent boarding schools.
  • Teaching assistant volunteer at London primary and secondary state schools.
  • Specialist marker for a major exam board.

Other Roles in Education

  • BitPaper – (September 2017 to date) Social Media Coordinator for interactive digital paper whiteboard. BitPaper is used by thousands of tutors worldwide.

Teacher Training – Continuing Professional Development

  • Maths Conferences by Complete Mathematics
    (Click on links for my review and learnings for that maths conference)
  • #MathsConf36 Sheffield
    #MathsConf35 Leicester (2024)
    #MathsConf33 Leeds (2023)
    #MathsConf32 Derby (2023)
    #MathsConf31 Farnborough (2023)
    #MathsConf30 Manchester (2022)
    #MathsConf29 Kettering (2022)
    #MathsConf28 Gloucester (2022)
    #MathsConf27 Ashford (2021)
    #MathsConf26 Online (2021)
    #MathsConf25 Online (2021)
    #MathsConf24 Online (2020)
    #MathsConf23 Online (2020)
    #MathsConf22 Manchester (2020)
    #MathsConf21 Peterborough (2019)
    #MathsConf 19 Penistone (2019)
    #MathsConf 18 Bristol (2019)
    #MathsConf17 Birmingham (2018)
    #MathsConf15 Manchester (2018)
    #MathsConf13 Sheffield (2017)
    #MathsConf10 London (2017)
  • Webinars – Professor Mahesh Sharma (every week)
  • Algebra Tiles Masterclass – Teacher training course (2020)
  • Dyscalculia and Mathematical Difficulties workshop by The British Dyslexia Association – London (June 2019)
  • Making maths videos – London (2019)
  • Paper folding/Maths with manipulatives/Puzzles in lessons – Training course (2019)
  • Making maths memorable, lessons from Cognitive Science – Teacher training course (2018)
  • Multiple representations in mathematics – Teacher training course (2018)
  • Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract and Language methods in maths teaching – Teacher training course (2018)
  • Bar modelling/Algebra Tiles/Paper Folding – Training course (2017)
  • Dyscalculia training workshop by Patricia Babtie (2015)

Guest Blogging

Qualifications and Work Experience

My story – A terrible start at maths while growing up all over the world

There I was at a new school in a new country, new language and new syllabus…again. By the age of 11 I had been in 5 different schools across 4 countries. I was quietly slipping behind in maths and at age 13 I failed my end of year maths exam. Luckily my dad had been a maths tutor before he had joined the Indian Diplomatic service and was shocked to see me slip so far behind. I only knew one thing at the time though, and that was that my summer holidays were sure over!

Dad woke me up daily early every morning (while my siblings slept) and tutored me one on one maths for a whole month. I slowly became better and better at maths and there really was no looking back after that. I passed my re-take with flying colours and the foundation that dad had set meant I was never to struggle at maths again.

My parents had a nomadic lifestyle and so I lived in Yemen, Libya, Kenya and India. My eventual home was to be in London when I started school in Year 11 at the age of 15. Looking back I was incredibly fortunate to have experienced an incredible variety of cultures. Today I tutor students from many countries and have helped many students living abroad move from one country to another while providing them with a stable teaching figure through the transitions children face during such moves.

Voluntary teaching, PhD at Imperial College and rock singing

In 2005 I graduated from Imperial College London with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the Tribology department. My PhD was sponsored by Smiths Aerospace and the DTi. I looked at sealing mechanisms for actuator seals in aircrafts. And as part of my PhD I built an experimental rig made out of glass and used optics for peering into the sealing mechanisms.

In 1999 I had completed my undergraduate degree there in Mechanical Engineering. In that time I had been a teaching volunteer for two local state schools, a primary and a secondary. I had run undergraduate laboratories and tutored one to one guitar to students. My biggest passion at university was to be a musician. I bought an acoustic guitar at the late age of 19 and taught myself until I could play songs. A few years later I formed a rock band at Imperial College and I have now been singing and playing guitar in it for 17 years.

Rolls Royce and my days in software development

After a degree and PhD from one of the top universities in the UK I got some really cool jobs, I have worked for Rolls Royce Plc and in the City of London designing Economic Software models. But I left my city job voluntarily (at a time when people were hanging on to their jobs because of the recession) to tutor children.

Why I love tutoring

I enjoy tutoring because of the difference I can make to children’s lives, and by that to their families lives. I do this because of the many letters, emails, texts I get thanking me of the difference I make. I do this because of the things I myself learn from being involved with different people and families. I have taught in state schools, independent schools and even in a village in India where my grandfather grew up. I amass new and fascinating experiences year on year, and things always get better and ever more interesting. With online tuition I’m connecting to different parts of the world in real time.