The second video is from a former student at Excel in Key Subjects. Esma Akkilic.

"Esma is now a mini-celebrity, after featuring in the Eurovision Song Contest. You can Google her name and you’ll see her dancing on the stage, on BBC. This tremendous young lady combines her music career with her A-level studies. Her musical talent is a welcome extra; we were only too happy to have been able to help her at a crucial moment in her life, in the final year of her GCSEs. She now has 4 A grades at AS level and is looking to achieve even higher at A2 – What a young woman!"

-Idris Mustapha March 2014

Below are more letters and notes of praise from other satisfied parents and students.

Hello Mr. Duffy,

I’m not sure if you remember me but I came for a session with you for C4 mathematics in the summer. I found the session very helpful and I told you I would keep you informed of my progress. Obviously the A-Level results were released some time ago so I thought I’d let you know how I got on. I achieved an A* in Biology, an A in Chemistry and an A in maths. I am now going to study medicine at the University of East Anglia who have now kindly switched me from the 6 year foundation medical degree to the standard 5 year medical degree.

Therefore, I would just like to say thank you for your help in the C4 session we did (in particular the help with vectors and the answers you e-mailed me). I’m certain without your help I would not have achieved an A in maths and I would not be studying medicine. Again a very big thank you and I hope you will be able to help others like me to achieve their dreams in the future.

Sincerest thanks,
Justin Dupey

Dear Dr. Cartmell,

I apologise for this late email in the wake of the A-Level exam results as I have been busy travelling and had to trawl deep into my inbox to find your email address to say big thank you for the Biology revision course you provided at Excel in UCL* a few months ago.

My result is a clear testament to your excellent teaching; I achieved full UMS in both Unit 4 and Unit 5 Biology exams and achieved an A* overall! I do not think that without your philosophies and wisdom about approaching exam questions that this would be possible. Getting a B at AS was not the best thing to help me want to achieve at least an A by the end of A2 and things didn’t look too good approaching a more applied year. Nevertheless, achieving full UMS this year, thanks to your thorough help, effectively got me the A* (my only A* amongst 2 A’s in Maths and Chemistry). I hope this upholds the excellent standards of students that you teach.

These grades have secured my place at Newcastle University to study Medicine which I’m absolutely thrilled about and my dream of becoming a doctor is ever so close.

To reiterate, thank you so much, I owe you my place at Newcastle University – I am deeply grateful. I hope you are well.

Yours sincerely,
Pierre Ezuma

“I couldn’t afford to send my son to private school but the investment I made in Excel in Key Subjects in the final year of my son’s GCSEs was a good one. Nathanael now has a scholarship and full bursary to a prestigious independent school to study A-levels”

-Mr Paul de Bernier – father of Nathanael

“I can only describe it as the light had gone on’. Colin’s science teachers at school have noticed the difference too and his predicted grades are very good”

- Mrs Granger

“I am really pleased with Jeremy’s confidence level. He is ahead of the game in class (at his normal school). The smaller class sizes have forced him to participate. Excel in Key Subjects has given him an extra bit of confidence and helped him in areas he’s struggling with”

- Mrs Delano

“Excel in Key Subjects has a much better working environment than school where you get more work done and the general quality is a lot better. I’m definitely coming back next year”

-Jeremy, an AS Maths, Chemistry and Biology student

“Colin’s predicted grades are good. He needed a boost and the personal tuition with great tutor pupil ratios has made a real difference. Colin has benefited greatly. At a relatively early stage Colin was saying ‘I understand’ in relation to aspects of Physics and Chemistry”

- Mrs Delano

“The difference at Excel in Key Subjects is that the teachers are interested in the individual not just the group. You are only as strong as your weakest link, and Excel in Key Subjects weakest link is fairly strong”

- Mr Paul de Bernier

“Funmilola’s academic performance has improved and with that her confidence too. The feedback from my daughter is that she gets a chance to understand topics that are either not widely covered at school or not covered at all”

- Mr. Awolade from Woodford

Below is a letter from the parents of one of our past students. No amendment has been made to their letter, except for deleting the full name of the student and her parents to safeguard their confidentiality. The girl in question goes to one of the top public schools (fee paying) – a school where IGCSE is offered in Mathematics, as opposed to GCSE, which is offered by over 95% of schools in England and Wales. Since these parents wrote to us in August 2007, we have enhanced the provision for maths and English. For Maths, we now have specialist IGCSE Maths teachers. In English Language, we now cater for the needs of specific examination boards – AQA, OCR and Edexcel (Students studying the Welsh examination board WJEC can also benefit).

“Dear All, This is just a note to thank you for all the help and confidence you gave R during her Saturday school and during the two days she spent with you at half term this year (she started with you on 24 February). As mentioned previously, we sent R to you to build on her existing successes in the mocks and to ensure her revision was not all left to the last minute and we are glad to say, it worked! In Double Award Science, she went up from the AA she received in her January mocks to A* A*. In IGCSE Maths, she went up from B to A and in English Language and Literature, she maintained the AA she managed in the mock but with an A* in the English Analysis and Argument paper. We feel that, had she been studying the same board as most of your students for English and had she been following the maths GCSE course, rather than the IGCSE course which is a more complex syllabus, she could perhaps have attained A* in those subjects too. That was the only drawback with your courses in that you are not wholly geared up for different English Boards or for the IGCSE in mathematics. However, we have to say she did very much enjoy the English classes – all the classes she attended with you in fact – so that must have been good for her confidence which of course is a real boon.

To anyone with children coming up to GCSE, we would say, start early and go to Excel in Key Subjects as soon as you can! Actually, a Christmas course in the GCSE year would be of more use than the Easter course you already offer as it would help children with their mocks too and the earlier one prepares the better. Ideally, a child should attend courses at Christmas and Easter but the earlier the better in our view. Your introduction of a half term course in May, just before the exams, was a good innovation but, unfortunately, R’s IGCSE maths exams had already taken place just before. Overall, we were extremely pleased with R’s GCSE results as she attained 5 x A* in Ancient Greek, Latin, French and Double Science and 4 x A in Mathematics, Geography, English Literature and English Language plus a B in Art. As she is taking Greek, Latin, French and Art A level with Italian GCSE, she will not be attending any more of your classes and sadly has no younger siblings so we cannot avail ourselves of your services again unless you happen to diversify into the arts. We highly commend what you do and feel you offer excellent value for money but would warn anyone to send their child early! Please convey our sincere thanks to all those who taught R. Kind regards to all.”

- Mr & Mrs H from Hampstead in London

The following interviews were conducted by a journalist from a local newspaper. We have not altered the content in any way or form. It is a honest and complete statement from parents – nothing added, nothing removed – just the names quoted as the first letters of each name.

“I saw an advert in the Camden New Journal, and I thought, that would be great for Christopher to help him, with science and maths in particular, it was those subjects he needed help with. He’s thoroughly enjoying himself, and it’s spurred him on to do summer university during the holidays. EIKS are very, very nice people, very well informed. I was hoping the class size would be small, which they are, one-to-one, compared to what they have in school, large classes. Christopher has been talking to me about it, they are very honest and open about everything, if he’s not doing well, they will tell me, they’re pretty good people. My expectations have definitely been met this year – it remains to be seen next year, when there are GCSEs for real and he gets into the nitty gritty of exams. I know he would have struggled with maths but he’s very confident now. The classroom can be disruptive, but Excel in Key Subjects don’t have that problem. All some kids want to do is get on with it. Excel in Key Subjects are upfront and straight, when you read reports, they will tell the truth, and you don’t beat about the bush. That’s great, not all people are honest like that, as a parent you want the truth. I would rate them as a 10 all round, I’ve not had any lie from them and I’ve seen Christopher improve so much, he’s happy and confident, he can go to school and say – I can do that – and the other kids can’t, he’s ahead and that makes him feel more confident, he’s achieving. They have done wonders for Christopher. Next year is a big year for him. For what they charge, they’re doing an excellent job, I can’t afford it, but it’s worth it; that bit of extra money you might otherwise spend on yourself or something stupid. I don’t have any recommendations for anything else they could do to improve Excel in Key Subjects. Parents are always welcome, knowing you can go any time is really great. It’s not like the school, with EIKS you are allowed in lessons, any time, you don’t even have to give notification. If Chris was late they would call and tell me, or if he had to do homework, they’d call. I would definitely recommend it, I have already recommended it to one of his friend’s dad. I’d thoroughly recommend it, they’re great, they ring you and keep you informed.”

- Mrs P – son joined us when he was in Y10

“I put Tami in for her welfare, I believe she has improved a great deal since then. I’m very pleased that EIKS have given her lots of homework, that’s very good, we try to encourage her to do her homework in time. But I don’t think there’s enough feedback as to how she’s getting along, it’s not very nice to ask every week. It’s a good idea to just send a letter, so we can see how she’s doing and then we can encourage her even more, we can see where she’s going. She has improved a great deal, I’m hoping to put her back again, if she can improve even more that will be a great achievement for her. It’s up to her, we can push her so much but after that it’s up to her. Having a class from 9.00- 3.30 is very good, there’s enough time for child to learn then. I’ve seen other Saturday schools, they teach for one hour, two hours, and that’s not enough, they’re not really achieving anything. I’m very pleased with EIKS – we have recommended it to a few people and one or two have joined up to it. I haven’t had any contact with the school staff myself, once or twice Mr Mustapha phoned and spoke to my wife.”

- Mr P – daughter in Y10

“I saw it advertised in the Metro so I sent him along for help in Chemistry and Biology. I wanted him to have some revision, before his exams, just because it’s very helpful having classes. The teachers at EIKS were amazing. Obviously at school it’s hard to get personal attention, due to class sizes, he had some gaps in his knowledge and some trouble areas, but that’s all been remedied. He said to me, there are certain topics he did struggle in, he was ill and missed classes at school. It was what it expected, definitely, sending him along has improved his standard. I would definitely recommend it, by the very fact that the teachers are very good, the biology teacher has actually written a book. They’re amazing, very encouraging, and explain things in a clear manner. There’s a lot of follow up support, such as past year exam papers and notes. The teacher gave out their email address for queries, and said that at any point students can email and ask questions, that’s a very good service. We were very lucky, his classes were very small. He’s just taken his exams last week, and he’s happy with how it went.”

- Mrs E A –son in Y11

“I like the way they allow people to pay in instalments, it’s a hefty bulk to pay and to spread the cost is very useful. Yes, I think it’s a good idea if they had more classes in the session. I saw it in the Camden journal. It’s good, it helps children to overcome the problems they have, if they didn’t understand something in school, they may understand when they have one-to-one tuition. Then they have the chance to discuss the problem with tutors, and this builds confidence. My daughter told me that everybody has to contribute in the class, which I think is very good. It’s good that they have a small number of children, there’s less than the numbers in the school classes, there’s about 12 children in each class. I think it’s a bit expensive, but if you want to achieve something then you have to pay. My daughter had an exam yesterday, science, and she said it was easy. She said she remembered all the formulae from EIKS and didn’t find it that hard. They keep you informed about your child’s progress, which is good. I like the time, Saturday daytime, except it’s a bit early, from 9am, maybe if it was from 10am and finished a bit later on that would be better. I feel that it’s still ok though. Yes, if I talk to a friend I would recommend it, I keep telling people it’s good. I would also like my other daughter to attend, because my daughter has found it useful. One of the teachers called me about the year 10 module. After my daughter went to EIKS they called me, the teachers said she did very very well, and she missed an A by a few marks, about four. I believe it’s the help from EIKS. Yes, I’ve noticed an improvement, her English was a D last year and this year she has may get an A or B, these are her predicted grades at school. So you can see from D to B, there’s a big improvement. And that’s although she missed some of the classes, because I didn’t have enough money for them. Rather than finishing early, I think it’s good if they had more classes. My daughter is going to go back again when she’s at sixth form, I want to encourage her to go, and I also want her sister to go too.”

- Mrs Atkinson – daughter in Y11

“When I started Excel with ten weeks to go before my retake A Level English Exams, I felt extremely unsure in a subject which I had grossly under-achieved in, considering up until year thirteen I was an A-grade student. Having received a C in my final grade I felt that I would require a huge amount of help to obtain the A that I felt I so wanted and needed. When I first started my lessons I was extremely happy with the help I received, and just how forthcoming it was in an atmosphere of enthusiasm and intelligence. The English teachers that tutored me during the ten weeks were knowledgeable and extremely encouraging, and the general management exuded a huge amount of tolerance and patience. In the run-up to my exams I was given probably the best revision help I have ever received, and so was able to get through my exams with the minimal amount of stress that so usually accompanies this period. When I heard that I had achieved my A-grade in English A-level I felt that the majority of congratulations should really go to Excel in Key Subjects for their on-going support and excellent teaching.”

- Margo – an A-level English student