For the first time this year, we’ve launched the MyTutor Tutor Awards. We know how much tutors mean to teens, and the real change they can make to their lives. On GCSE results day this year, we asked parents and students to nominate their tutor for one of two categories – Best Success Story and Best Results. This gave everyone the chance to sing their tutor’s praises and tell us exactly why they should win. Over 1000 parents wrote in to nominate their tutors for the awards, and it was no easy task to narrow them down to two winners.
The prizes were awarded by our judging panel which was made up of…
Anne-Marie-Huby, Founder of JustGiving
Bertie Hubbard, co-founder and CEO of MyTutor
And Ruth Murray, a teacher at Wirral Grammar School for Girls, who we’ve partnered with as part of the MyTutor Schools Programme
The entries were amazing, touching and inspiring. They really brought home how powerfully tutors can impact students’ lives, well beyond just doing well in exams.
After careful deliberation, our esteemed judges made their decisions. Here are the winners for each category…
🏆 Best success story 🏆
And the award goes to… Sorcha H!
Well done Sorcha!
Tutor Sorcha is an English and History tutor at Lancaster University. She tutored Taylor in GCSE History and helped boost his self-belief as well as his grades. Taylor’s mum told us,
“My son has learning difficulties but Sorcha refused to allow that to be a barrier. Often children who aren’t high fliers academically aren’t given as much respect, support or understanding as their peers, but Sorcha made Taylor believe that he could achieve realistic grades. She was always there, in excess of the tutor slots, with a gentle guiding hand. And when we asked her to tutor a second subject, she approached that with the same professionalism and consideration. Our only regret is we didn’t find her sooner. She tells us she is going to be a History teacher – any school that gets her in their team will be very fortunate.”
🏆 Best results 🏆
Congratulations Oscar!
The winner is… Oscar H!
Oscar is a Medical student at Birmingham University. He tutored Dylan in A Level Maths, where he went from a predicted D to an A* on results day!
“Oscar was a very good tutor who made learning fun and enjoyable for Dylan, but made sure that the content was all covered in detail. I have no doubt that the transformation of Dylan’s Maths grade from D to A* over the period of a year and a half was strongly influenced by Oscar’s lessons.”
Our winners will each receive a MyTutor goodie bag and a £100 Amazon voucher. It was really difficult for our judges to decide though as there were so many inspiring stories. Check them out below – which do you find the most in
🏅 Best Success Story – the shortlist🏅
Max is an Economics & Management student at St Andrews University. He tutored Ciara in Maths GCSE this year. Here’s what her mum had to say…
“Max gave my daughter the confidence to ask questions and made maths fun for a 15 year old. My daughter was a bright and confident girl until she was seriously bullied in school. She withdrew, didn’t engage in class and her grades dropped. She didn’t want a tutor but we insisted on a trial and we got Max. He took the time to understand the areas she was struggling in and made Maths fun. We will be continuing on with Max this year for her GCSE’s and hopefully she will meet if not exceed her target grade. Thank you Max!”
Hettie is a GCSE German tutor
Tutor Hettie is a Modern Languages student at Birmingham University. She tutored student Dess in GCSE German. Dess’s mum wrote in,
“Before we met Hettie, Dess had zero confidence with German at all. She would burst into tears every time her teacher spoke German to her! She was in a small class and everyone else was on course for a 9, so Dess felt really inadequate. Hettie was patient, kind and supportive and helped Dess to grow in confidence and do her very best – which she did!”
Rebecca is a Maths GCSE tutor
Rebecca is a Philosophy student at Exeter University. She tutored Harry in Maths GCSE. His mum told us,
“Harry has always found school difficult. From an early age teachers managed to instil in him a sense that he can’t because he’s not clever. Rebecca has shown him that he can and that he is perfectly clever. She has succeeded where most teachers have failed. More, she has rebuilt a young person’s self esteem and learning confidence which had been severely knocked by a succession of teachers. She is a very competent young person who I am sure will do incredibly well in whatever she chooses to do in life.”
Arwen tutors Chemistry and Biology at GCSE level
Tutor Arwen is a Medical student at Newcastle University. She tutored Sarah in Biology and Chemistry at GCSE, and they’ve continued their tutoring to A Level this year too. Sarah’s mum said,
“We were going through a huge transition through a major move, and my daughter had missed a significant amount of schooling. Not only that Sarah was seriously bullied in her previous school so she was going through a lot. Arwen never judged my daughter and was the kind and helpful tutor who guided Sarah step by step on everything. I am very grateful to her and hope we can access her again for A Levels as she is part of my daughter’s success.”
🏅 Best results – the shortlist 🏅
Tutor Ben is a Physics student completing a Masters at Durham University. He tutored Michael in A Level Physics. We loved his mum’s story about how Ben ended up helping Michael with all of his learning, not just Physics…
“Ben helped to nurture my son’s confidence in the subject and supported him so effectively it enabled him to develop a new level of information processing and deduction. Whilst the sessions were designed to directly benefit my son in Physics, the positive experience provided by Ben also improved my son’s general outlook on his other A level subjects too.
The structured, yet relaxed, approach of the sessions and homework tasks were great enablers to transform my son’s perception of his own ability. “What would Ben do?” became a standard phrase in our household in my son’s renewed approach to problem solving. The end results of this have enabled my son to successfully gain a place at Plymouth University supported by a much greater ‘can do’ attitude. Ben’s interaction with my son has made more of a positive impact than I would ever have imagined.”
“What would Ben do?” became a standard phrase in our household in my son’s renewed approach to problem solving.”
Charlotte is a Science and Geography tutor
Science tutor Charlotte is studying for a PhD at Glasgow University, and she also has degree in Natural Sciences from Durham University. Her Chemistry A Level student, Laura, sang her praises,
“I was really struggling with my chemistry and last summer, I got an E grade for my AS exams. I felt really low and was going to give up Chemistry, but decided to give tutoring a try. I clicked with Charlotte instantly, she is genuinely an amazing tutor, always ready to offer support and went above and beyond what she needed to, giving quick replies, extra work and new explanations for topics I struggled to understand.
With all of Charlotte’s support, I was really pleased to gain a B grade for A Level Chemistry and I am looking forward to starting at my first choice university. I am really glad that I didn’t give up, as I wouldn’t be in this position.”
Rachel is an Italian GCSE tutor
Tutor Rachel is a Classics student at Cambridge University. She tutored Devika in GCSE Italian this year. Devika’s mum told us,
“In the last 6 months Devika has picked up Italian so quickly with Rachel’s support and mentoring. Rachel has made the lessons interesting and really supported Devika to gain confidence in speaking Italian fluently. She has learnt so much within such a short space of time that is now planning to do A levels in Italian. Please note that Devika only new very basic Italian (from holiday travel) before she started her online classes with Rachel. Therefore I honestly feel that Rachel has been an incredible teacher to Devika and definitely deserves an award for Best Tutor”
Lucy is a GCSE Sociology tutor
Lucy is a History and Politics student at Nottingham University. She tutored Aminah in GCSE Sociology this year. Aminah’s mum said,
“Lucy was a fantastic help to my daughter. In just a few lessons she brought her grade up from a 2 to a 7!!!! She was thrilled with her GCSE result. All thanks to Lucy!!!”
We’d like to say a huge congratulations to our winners, all of our runners up and to the hundreds more tutors who were proudly nominated for the awards by their students and their parents. We’re very proud of them too.
If you’d like to find an amazing tutor for your teen, we can help you find the perfect match. Have a look for a tutor on our site and message some you like the look of, or give us a call on 0203 773 6024 if you’d like a helping hand.