A Boost in Your Child's Confidence

Our GCSE and A-level courses are aimed at helping young people to have a better grasp of fundamental concepts and question-answering skills (exam technique). As a consequence, they achieve higher exam grades. Our focus is on the core academic subjects of Maths, English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Our GCSE Science programme includes Triple and Combined (double) Science.

Higher Exam Grades is what we are all about at Excel.

The success of our programmes over the years allowed us to introducing a Grade Guarantee scheme in 2008. You can enquire more about this scheme – including the courses to which the grade guarantee applies and the terms and conditions.

Features & Benefits of the Flex programme

• Customised live video online teaching – one-to-one
• Access to practice questions and assessments
• Customised course content
• Access to other videos to reinforce knowledge
• Access to solutions to questions with step-by-step problem solving
• Handwritten work marked and feedback provided
• Flexibility in scheduling lessons 

Ho we make online learning effective – by Idris Musty

I was one of those parents who were very sceptical about online learning, and I still am to some extent. This is because, sadly, the blunt truth is that, for so many young people, online learning is not all very productive. The reason for this is that young people are often not compelled to engage.  However, the experience gained during the pandemic has enabled us to put measures in place to ensure that the student is fully engaged. The other reason why online lessons may not be as helpful is that there is too much typing, instead of handwriting.

The reality is that examinations are done with students handwriting with a pen on paper. The way young people learn must largely reflect how the examination is done. Learning online provides an opportunity for students to have access to more quality teachers without the geographical location being a hinderance. However, the learning process and the student’s experience must be impactful and make a significant difference to performance. Two of the ways in which we have made online learning effective are detailed below.

Both student and teacher using their video camera during live lessons

Our teacher/tutor will use a video camera so the student can see the teacher when they are teaching, except when they are sharing a presentation with the student, in which case the student can see their screen. We insist that the student uses a video camera too, so that the teacher can see her or him. Body language is very powerful, and is an essential aspect of the learning process

More handwriting and less typing – digital detox!

Questions are not answered in the exam by typing. In this course, most question-answering or problem solving is done by handwriting, using a digital pen and everything is stored directly in the cloud so there are no issues of lost work, “the dog ate my work” kind of thing! Students are also allowed to practise questions by just handwriting on paper, scanning the work or taking a picture and submitting it digitally.

The discrepancy between handwriting and typing cannot be overemphasised. There is a difference in speed and quality of presentation. If measures are not put in place to ensure that the student does more handwriting in their everyday work, this can cause problems during the exam, leading to a loss of marks. Boys are particularly more vulnerable in this respect – a harsh lesson that I've learnt with my own son! 

Idris Musty

BSc. PGCE

Director of Studies

More on features

• Live, one-to-one teaching by video
• Tutors and teachers are competent, enthusiastic and are genuinely interested in the student
• Work is set, with guidance to helpful resources
• Flexibility in scheduling lessons
• No worries about travelling issues

Register your child now for one of our courses, or just call us and let's begin the conversation on how to turn the dream into reality.

High-quality online teaching by the most competent of teachers

At the beginning of the lockdown due to the pandemic, all our classes moved online, using mainly Zoom and Microsoft Teams. In addition to the fact that our lessons are taught live, most lessons are recorded and students can revisit recorded lessons for future reinforcement of knowledge and revision. 

Our purpose-We support aspirational parents and their teenagers to boost performance and fulfil their academic potential. We are all about helping to make dreams a reality and we are very proud of our record of achievement since 2004.

Below is what one of our former students, Esma, has to say:

"I was predicted a D in Maths but I managed to prove teachers at my school wrong, and, through the help I received at Excel I achieved an A*. The same goes for science:  I was hopeless in school, but, thanks to Excel, I got an A".

After her GCSEs and A-levels, Esma went on to study at LSE and then Cambridge University    

Our view on what she has said: Esma is obviously not hopeless as she has said above, and we've not performed any miracle by providing her tuition to help her achieve top grades. She already has it in her, and we were just the catalyst that helped to bring out the best in this bright young lady.