Our expert private tutors
Our highly-educated and friendly tutors have all achieved full marks on the tests that they teach, and know them inside out.
All of our tutors:
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Have achieved full marks on the tests they teach;
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Are highly educated at top US or UK universities (many have PhDs);
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Undergo extensive training in these tests;
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Know the application processes for schools and universities inside out;
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Are passionate about their subjects and about teaching;
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Have CPD-certified Safeguarding qualifications updated regularly;
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Are fully DBS checked; and
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Want you to do as well as possible.
Our tutors are selected not just for their experience and their knowledge of their subject areas but also for their communication and motivational skills. They’ve graduated from some of the best universities in the US and UK, and understand the American standardised tests inside out. They’re passionate about helping students to achieve their goals and know how to get them there through the right balance of challenge and support.
We only take on tutors who have a proven track record. Before starting work with us, tutors undergo extensive training in our teaching methodology. Our most experienced tutors have well over 1000 hours of standardised test experience.
About our Academic Director, Lead Tutors, and Senior Tutors:
Our
Tutors
are experienced specialists, who have passed the tests they teach with full marks. Our
Senior Tutors
are highly experienced specialists, who have taught several hundred hours each. Our
Lead Tutors
are our two most experienced and popular tutors and who lead on courses. Our
Academic Director
is Dan Escott, who leads on all learning, teaching, and curriculum development at UES. All our tutors have passed the tests with perfect scores, and have all gone through a thorough recruitment and assessment process.
Here is a selection of our tutors:
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.
Aida teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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ISEE and SSAT: all sections and levels
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AP: Psychology
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US College Counselling and Application Support
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US College Essay Guidance
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Portfolio Review
Olivia Munk (Lead Tutor)
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.
Olivia teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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AP Subjects: English Literature, Economics, US History
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A-Level Subjects: History, English, Economics,
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ISEE and SSAT: all sections and levels
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Specialist Subjects: English Literature, Maths
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Humanities: History and Geography
Sean Kelly (Lead Tutor)
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.
Sean teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
Jared Michaud
Jared grew up in rural northern Maine and graduated cum laude in 2019 from Yale University with a BA and Distinction in Theater Studies and a Certificate in Education Studies. He also studied under Janna Baty at the Yale School of Music and was awarded the Beekman Cannon Friends Prize and the Metcalfe Prize for the best music and theater essays, respectively. While at Yale, Jared served as an Academic Strategies Peer Mentor at the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and as a Teaching Artist in numerous youth music and theater education contexts. Jared has offered college application advice and test prep services as a volunteer with REACH and a Teaching Assistant at Bowdoin College's Upward Bound program. His college application essays have been featured in The Road to Yale (2017) and on various college admissions websites.
Since Yale, Jared has received an MA in Music Education and Vocal Performance from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and alongside tutoring, Jared works as a professional opera singer and music facilitator. He also was the recipient of the Yale Glee Club Service Through Music Fellowship, allowing him to live in Jerusalem and serve an Assistant Conductor and Dialogue Facilitator for the Israeli-Palestinian Jerusalem Youth Chorus. .
At UES, Jared specializes in tutoring both the Math and the English sections of the ACT and the SAT. Using a student-centered approach, Jared particularly cares about the needs, interests, and strengths of the students, rooted in the belief that the best path to academic success is full student engagement and commitment. His dialogic pedagogy constantly balances the enjoyment of the student with a deep understanding of concepts, ultimately making the content very approachable.
Jared teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
Yinka Banjo
After earning his BSc in Biological Sciences at UCL, Yinka left the UK to join a Chinese tech startup on a scholarship from the British Council. Since his return in early 2018, Yinka has continued to pursue his passion for technology through participation in hackathons across the capital where most recently his team had the opportunity to pitch to investors and VCs.
A keen believer in the power of education to transform and access to a quality education being a fundamental human right, Yinka began his life as a private Tutor helping underprivileged students obtain top grades in STEM subjects. Since then, Yinka has amassed over 1000 hours worth of tutoring experience across GCSE, A Levels and university entrance exams with a particular affinity for US standardized tests.
Yinka’s passion for teaching is a direct product of his passion for learning and he always endeavours to not only help students improve their attainment, but to also cultivate a genuine desire to know more. Yinka believes in meeting students exactly at their point of need, using language and strategies which are bespoke and centered around their unique requirements.
Outside of his work as a Tutor, Yinka can normally be found rebooting his computer after writing buggy code.
Yinka teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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SSAT: all levels
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ISEE: all levels
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.
Lori teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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A-Level/GCSE: Maths
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AP: Calculus
Ezra Harker Shaw
Originally from Scotland, Ezra is one of our most experienced tutors and teaches the full spectrum of US standardized tests including the ISEE, SSAT, SAT, and ACT, as well as UK tests including Common Entrance exams. Since graduating with a 1st Class English Degree, Ezra has gone on to obtain a MA in Russian Literature from UCL and is currently undertaking a PhD on Collaboration in Literature.
A tutor for nearly ten years, Ezra has taught the SAT and ACT in top schools around the UK including City of London Boy's School, Uppingham, Marymount and LAE Tottenham. As part of UES, Ezra has helped their students gain places at top colleges in both the USA and UK. They particularly specialise in working with students who have dyslexia or other learning difficulties.
A published poet, Ezra runs poetry workshops and also teaches English & Creative Writing at university level. Their experience with writing and literature helps inform their teaching style, as they teach students to think critically while encouraging students' talents and building their confidence. Using this wealth of experience, Ezra is able to tailor their teaching in order to be effective when working with students of all different ages and backgrounds.
Ezra teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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ISEE and SSAT: English at all levels
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Specialist Subjects: English Literature
Maria Blesie
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.
Maria teaches:
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ACT: all sections
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SAT: all sections
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