Personalised Homeschooling, GCSE, IELTS & Life in the UK Test Preparation, and General English Classes from a qualified teacher. Whichever your goal is, count on me to make it happen!

Find out more about Dan

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I’ve been teaching ESOL since 2010, and what hooked me wasn’t simply teaching English — it was seeing what happens when someone suddenly gains the confidence to use it. Over the years I’ve taught learners across different ages, backgrounds and educational settings, including primary, secondary and SEN. Private tutoring appealed to me because I could stop teaching “the class” and start teaching the person. Whether someone is learning English, being homeschooled or preparing for the Life in the UK Test, I can ask: What do you actually need? What’s getting in your way? And how do we get you there? That’s the kind of teaching I enjoy most.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach and the topics you enjoy discussing.

  With ESOL, I love teaching English that people can actually use — conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and practical communication for work, travel and everyday life. With homeschooling, I enjoy finding the explanation that finally makes something click. If a worksheet isn’t working, we don’t worship the worksheet — we change the approach. And with Life in the UK preparation, I enjoy turning what can look like a mountain of dates, people and facts into something organised and manageable. The part I enjoy least? Pure memorisation with no context. If a learner understands why something matters, they’re far more likely to remember it.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  Yes — two History teachers really stayed with me: one in Year 10 and another when I was at college. What made them memorable was that they rarely seemed to teach from a textbook. Instead, they would tell the history as if it were unfolding in front of us.Through their subject knowledge and their power of storytelling, a lesson didn't feel like a list of dates and facts, but instead a journey that I would embark on, as if they were telling us about something that happened 10 minutes ago, but in reality, they were simply teaching what they were passionate about. And nothing is more inspirational than a teacher who's passionate about what their subject.

• What qualities are required to be a good tutor?

  A good tutor needs patience, adaptability, empathy and the ability to communicate clearly — but also the ability to read the person in front of them. That is something my background in acting has helped me develop enormously. Acting teaches you to listen properly, notice subtle reactions, adapt to different people, communicate with clarity and confidence, and stay present in the moment. Those skills transfer directly into teaching. If a student looks confused, hesitant or disengaged, I don’t just keep talking and hope the explanation eventually lands. I change the wording, use a different example, ask a question or approach the idea from another angle. Acting has also taught me how important voice, expression, energy and storytelling are when communicating. A tutor can know their subject inside out, but if they cannot bring it to life or make a student feel comfortable enough to engage with it, that knowledge can only go so far. For me, great tutoring is a balance of subject knowledge, observation, communication and human connection.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or teaching.

  One of my favourite kinds of teaching moments usually starts with the sentence: “I can’t do this.” I remember working with a learner who would hesitate before almost every answer because they were so worried about being wrong. Even when they knew the answer, they would look at me first for reassurance. So I started deliberately giving them more thinking time instead of jumping in to help. One day I asked a question, waited, and they answered correctly. I didn’t immediately confirm it. I asked: “Why do you think that?” They explained their reasoning — and halfway through their own explanation, they smiled because they realised they didn’t actually need me to tell them they were right. That little change from “Is this right?” to “I think this is right because…” is one of the biggest victories in teaching.

• What difficulties or challenges have you faced in your subject?

  Confidence is often harder to teach than grammar. I’ve met English learners who understand far more than they speak because they’re terrified of making mistakes. Homeschooled learners sometimes arrive convinced they are “bad” at a subject because one particular way of learning didn’t work for them. And Life in the UK students can open the handbook, see the amount of information involved and immediately think, “How am I supposed to remember all of this?” My job is often to shrink that problem and shed a light on their capabilities.

• Do you have a particular passion?

  What I enjoy most is seeing someone become more confident in something they previously found difficult. That could be an ESOL student suddenly speaking more freely, a homeschooled learner finally understanding a topic they had been struggling with, or someone preparing for the Life in the UK Test realising that the material is much more manageable than they first thought. I also really enjoy finding different ways to explain the same idea. If one approach doesn’t work, I like the challenge of finding another one until something finally clicks. That moment when a student goes from “I don’t get it” to “Oh, now I see!” is still one of the most satisfying parts of teaching for me. I think that’s what keeps the job interesting too — no two students learn in exactly the same way, so no two lessons ever feel quite the same.

• What makes you a Superprof?

  In my teaching journey across a wide range of settings, ages and backgrounds, I've learned something invaluable: Plan the lesson — but teach the person. Some students need things broken down more slowly, some need more examples, and others simply need a bit more confidence before they realise they already understand more than they thought. In my face-to-face sessions, I’m also very energetic and dynamic. I like to keep the pace of the lesson moving, ask lots of questions, keep students involved and make sure there’s a sense of momentum. That energy often rubs off on the students too — they become more engaged, more willing to participate and more confident in having a go. I think that combination of adaptability, enthusiasm and genuine interest in the student is what I bring to my lessons. I want students to feel supported, but I also want them to feel that we’re really doing something together and making progress.