Our Expert Tutors and Counsellors

Aida Rocci Ruiz (Lead Tutor)

Aida grew up in Spain and always considered studying in the United States a distant dream more than an actual option. She began studying Business Administration and Finance at CUNEF, in Madrid. After three years, she ventured into the peculiarities of the US application system on her own and became one of the twelve transfer students accepted into Harvard University in 2011. Aida graduated from Harvard Magna Cum Laude with Highest Honors in Psychology in 2014. Her experience led her to co-found a non-profit organization to empower and coach Spanish students from non-international schools to access top American universities.

Shortly after, Aida returned to Harvard to pursue a Master's in Fine Arts in Dramaturgy and Theatre Studies at the American Repertory Institute in collaboration with the Moscow Art Theatre. During her postgraduate studies at Harvard, she became a teaching fellow, assisting top field professors and leading several undergraduate classes. She then went on to a second Master's in London at the prestigious Royal Central School of Speech and Drama; now, as a professional dramaturg, she helps playwrights and directors to find their unique voice to express their ideas. She uses the same skills to inspire young students to tell their story in a compelling and personal way in their US college applications. On top of teaching, she continues to work as a literary advisor and editor in the dramatic arts, and writes for The Theatre Times.

All of these experiences inform how Aida approaches tutoring. She focuses in developing the student’s learning tactics for long-term gains. Utilising skills from her academic and professional experiences, she curates how students learn and connect different materials with both rigour and ease. In a relaxed, friendly, and supportive atmosphere, students often find that they already had the key to learning in them and leave with long-lasting strategies to tackle new learning challenges.

Maria Blesie (Lead Tutor)

Born in the US, Maria grew up in London before moving back across the pond for university. She graduated from Princeton University in 2018 with an A.B. degree in History (summa cum laude), and her senior thesis analysed the evolution of Anglo-American informal diplomacy between 1887 and 1945. Maria is passionate about history, and was an editor for the Princeton Historical Review, a bi-annual journal of the best independent historical research produced by undergraduate students at the university.

At Princeton, Maria served as a Fellow at the Princeton Writing Centre, where she worked with university students on assignments ranging from short response papers to senior theses with multiple chapters. Her teaching emphasised equipping students with the tools to continue developing proficiency in their writing in the long-term, and she is a firm believer in adapting her tutoring approach to the individual needs of her students.

Maria teaches the ACT and SAT, and aims to work with students to develop the tools and skills they need to succeed in these exams. In her spare time, Maria enjoys reading, exploring museums, and watching football and tennis. She is also a singer, and hopes to join a choir again soon.

Loni Reynolds

A US native, Loni was awarded an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, where she double majored in English and Psychology (2005).  She moved to London to study a Master's in Writing in the Modern Age at Queen Mary, University of London (2006). Her PhD was awarded from University of Roehampton (2011); her main area of study was American Literature and her thesis explored religion and spirituality in the work of the Beat Generation. She has articles published in leading academic journals; she serves as associate editor of Culture and Dialogue and has presented her work at UK and international conferences. Loni is passionate about reading and writing fiction, and her short stories have appeared in US and UK journals.

Laura Trosser

Laura graduated from Harvard University in 2016 with an AB cum laude in Comparative Literature with a citation in French. Her undergraduate studies focussed on drama and poetry, specialising in 20th-21st century reworkings of Greek tragedy in English and French.

Before hopping the pond to study, Laura grew up in London. She attended the Tiffin Girls' School before joining the sixth form at King's College School, Wimbledon in the first year girls were admitted. With a keen interest in maths and physics as well as modern languages and literatures, she pursued her interest in a wide range of subjects through the IB diploma.

Having applied independently to US universities from the UK, Laura is sympathetic to the challenges of moving from the UK system to the US. She now works to make the process an easier and more enjoyable one for international students through her tutoring work and as a volunteer Harvard interviewer. Laura offers tutoring on all sides of the SAT and ACT tests.

Alongside her tutoring, Laura is studying for an MFA in Professional Acting from LAMDA.

Laura teaches:

• ACT: all sections
• SAT: all sections

Olivia Munk

Olivia grew up in Queens, New York and attended Harvard University in 2012. She graduated Cum Laude in 2016 with a degree in English and a minor in Mind/Brain/Behavior. At Harvard, she was an active theatre director and wrote for The Crimson's magazine, Fifteen Minutes ,  for which she served as Editor-at-Large. She blogged for Harvard's Office for the Arts, and was a Becky Greenwald Ledecky Fellow for Harvard Magazine, which allowed her to write columns, news articles, and personal dispatches. After graduating, she went on to pursue a Master of Studies in English (1900-present) at St. Catherine's College, Oxford. She was awarded a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa in order to found her theatre company, Part of the Main, which focuses on improving the representation of women creatives and women's stories in the professional theatre industry.

At UES Olivia specializes in assisting students with both the Maths and English sides of the SAT and the ACT, as well as the ISEE/SSAT and AP Subject Tests. Olivia approaches tuition is a friendly manner, taking special consideration of a student's comfort. Olivia believes that when students feel supported in lessons, they are able to better engage and take an active role in their studies. Olivia excels at making the content approachable, particularly for students who may feel intimidated by the harder maths concepts such as algebra or complex American grammar concepts.

As well as tuition, Olivia also provides application support for personal statements, essays, and college choice. 

Holly Barker

Holly is one of our most experienced science tutors with eight years of teaching experience. She first began tutoring students as part of a programme to help disadvantaged young achievers while studying for her degree in Biochemistry at the University of Manchester. After completing her degree, her passion for science led her to complete a PhD in Clinical Neuroscience at King's College London, where she spent four years studying the pathways underlying dementia and motor neuron disease and published a handful of scientific articles on the subject.

Holly loves writing and talking to the general public about her work and has volunteered at museum events and has written scientific articles for the University magazine. Since completing her PhD, Holly has spent the past few years working as a full-time tutor and teaches a range of subjects and levels, including GCSE, IB, A-Level, AP and the SAT subject tests. She had also spent time working in the Cap de Crus National Park, teaching groups of students about biodiversity and marine ecosystems. She believes that a supportive and encouraging environment, students can realise their potential and build the confidence in their scientific ability.

Peter Woodford

A US native originally from Chicago, Peter received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he double majored in Philosophy and Religious Studies (2004). He went on to do a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Stanford University, focusing on philosophy of religion and the relationship between religion and science. Peter’s PhD was awarded from Stanford University in 2013, and he first came to the UK via a 3-year postdoc at Cambridge University. In addition to tutoring, Peter is an active academic. He teaches courses in philosophy and religion at universities in the UK and has articles published in leading academic journals.

Peter has several years' experience teaching at the college level both in the US and UK, and he brings an understanding of both the US and UK systems to his tutoring. Peter covers all sections of the SAT, ACT, SSAT, and ISEE and he has a passion for learning across a range of subjects. He enjoys helping students break down the tests and the types of questions asked, so that they feel comfortable and prepared on test-day.

Outside of tutoring, Peter mostly goes on trips with his family and chases after his very active 2 yr old daughter, making sure she doesn’t injure herself. He loves hiking, reading, and music; while he continues to follow sports in the US, he is developing a passion for football and cricket.

Lori Wormald

Lori attended university and spent the early years of her working life in the US before being transferred by her employer to UK.  Lori had a successful career in the IT industry based in the UK and throughout Europe and the US.  She became a full time tutor twelve years ago, focusing mainly on A level maths, GCSE maths, and the US math curriculum.      

Lori began working with both the ACT and SAT in 2014 and has logged hundreds of hours helping students achieve their test prep goals.  Given her experience with both the US and UK education systems, Lori is particularly good at helping students interpret the ACT and SAT and how they differ from the traditional UK exams.  

Lori holds a BSc in mathematics with distinction and BA in Education - both from the University of Minnesota.  

In Lori's spare time she loves to play tennis, ski, paint, walk her dog and spend time with her husband and adult son.

Sean Kelly

Born in the north of England, Sean holds a BA in English language, graduating from the University of Manchester with First-Class Honours in 2008. Two years later, he became a fully qualified teacher and has amassed over ten years' experience teaching at prestigious secondary schools in the UK, Spain and the Middle East. During this time, he has gained a reputation for helping countless students to fulfil their academic potential.

Sean recognises that the most successful lessons take place in environments in which students feel comfortable and supported and so he believes that building a rapport with his students is a crucial part of the learning journey – something that he has always been successful in doing. Sean also aims to instil in his students the confidence to take ownership of their own learning; he sees this as crucial in developing into a well-rounded, successful individual.

Sean recently ventured into the world of full-time tutoring, using the skills and experience he has acquired over the years to prepare his students for a range of exams, including GCSE and A-level English. He now teaches all sections of the ACT and SAT.

In his free time, Sean likes to keep himself as physically active as possible. In recent years, he has developed a greater appreciation for the great outdoors and has spent many a chilly night in his tent in fields across the UK.

Sarah Azamtu

Sarah graduated from the University of Bristol where she obtained her Master's in Aerospace Engineering. At university she first began privately tutoring during her free time, coaching students to achieve high marks in their A-Levels and the International Baccalaureate.

During her time at Bristol she conducted multiple research projects focusing on areas such as advanced composites and bridging the gap between human-computer interaction and materials science. She also has a keen interest in space travel and was lucky enough to work with Airbus and The European Space Agency, working on the design and development of one of their Earth observation satellites. Outside of the lecture theatre, she was a cheerleader on her university’s national champion team where she was thrown into the air hundreds of times a week! In her term breaks, she also liked to spend her time hiking and volunteering abroad and was fortunate enough to receive an award from her university for this work.

After achieving her master's degree with First Class Honours, her interest in space led her to a role at a cutting-edge reusable rocket engine company in Oxford. Tutoring has always been something she has enjoyed and she is particularly drawn to the challenging style of the SATs and ACTs. She believes it is important to excite and encourage her students so that they are eager to learn, especially as the tests require students to think differently from what they may be used to with the UK curriculum.