Areas We Cover
Online GCSE Tutoring in Shepherd’s Bush
One-to-one lessons for Year 10, Year 11 and resit students, £30 per lesson
Online GCSE tutoring in Shepherd’s Bush across every subject we teach. Most W12 enquiries arrive in the fortnight after mock results, holding a grade nobody expected, so this page is mostly about what that grade is worth.
Lessons run one-to-one over video and start from your child’s own marked paper rather than from a generic syllabus. Nothing useful happens until somebody has read the script properly.
The first session is free and it is a real lesson. Send the mock beforehand and you will get more out of the hour.
Bring these to the free session
- The marked mock paper, not just the grade.
- The exam board and tier for that subject.
- The target grade the school has set.
- Whether the mock was a full paper or a shortened one.
- What your child says went wrong.
What does a mock grade actually tell you?
Less than it appears to, and something much more useful than the number on the front. The grade is a summary. The marks are the information.
Start with what a November mock is. It is an unfinished course, sat by a student who has not revised in any organised way, often on a paper the department has chosen to be slightly hard on purpose. Reading it as a prediction is like judging a race from the first bend.
Then there is the grading itself. Schools convert mock marks to grades using last year’s boundaries, because this year’s do not exist yet. Real boundaries are set after the papers are marked each summer by the exam boards under Ofqual, and they move with the cohort. A mock grade 4 is a mark, dressed up as a grade, judged against a boundary that will not apply.
What the paper genuinely gives you is a map of where marks went, and every lost mark falls into one of three piles. Things the student did not know. Things they knew and explained badly. Things they never reached because the clock beat them.
Those three piles need entirely different work, and this is the whole reason a marked script beats a grade. Not knowing means re-teaching. Knowing but explaining badly means mark scheme practice, which is fast and often worth a grade on its own. Running out of time means changing how the paper is attacked, and nothing else.
One more reason not to compare with a friend at another school: mock timing varies. Hammersmith and Fulham publishes its calendar as guide dates only, noting that all schools and academies set their own, and the government term dates finder lists them one at a time.
Sorting a marked paper
| Where the mark went | What it needs |
|---|---|
| Blank or plainly wrong | Re-teach the topic. Slowest of the three. |
| Right idea, poor explanation | Mark scheme work. Fastest wins are here. |
| Method right, answer wrong | Accuracy drills, not more theory. |
| Not attempted, ran out of time | Change the order the paper is answered in. |
| Answered the wrong question | Command word practice. |
Only the first row is about knowledge. Most parents assume all of it is.
How much can a grade move after mocks?
One grade with focused work over two terms is normal. Two happens where one specific gap was blocking everything built on top of it.
The variable that matters most is not effort, it is timing. A mock read carefully in December leaves two full terms. The same paper opened in the Easter holidays leaves about eight teaching weeks, and by then the only realistic work is exam technique.
This is why we push families to book in December rather than March, and it is not a sales point. The honest version is that we can do considerably more for a student in December than for the same student in April, at exactly the same price.
| Acting in | What is realistically on the table |
|---|---|
| December | Re-teach gaps, rebuild technique, and still have time to practise both. |
| February | Fix technique and one or two gaps. Tight but workable. |
| April | Exam technique and timed practice. New content rarely pays this late. |
| May | Keep the routine steady. Nothing new. |
Our revision timetable guide covers how to structure the months in between, and how to revise for GCSEs covers the methods that actually work.
Which GCSE subjects can your child get help with?
All of them from this one page, each with a specialist rather than one tutor covering three.
Maths
Foundation and Higher tier, where method marks lost on correct answers are the commonest quiet leak. See GCSE Maths tutoring.
English Language and Literature
Reading questions, structured writing and the set texts, with timing practised deliberately. See GCSE English tutoring.
Combined and Triple Science
Three strands, three specialists, required practicals included. See GCSE Science tutoring.
Computer Science
Programming, algorithms and the written paper that catches strong coders out. See GCSE Computer Science tutoring.
Business Studies
Case studies, calculations and the evaluation answers where top marks sit. See GCSE Business Studies tutoring.
Humanities
History, Geography and Religious Studies, where a specialist is available.
And if the summer paper still falls short?
The subject follows the student into sixth form or college, under a national funding rule rather than a school decision.
The 16 to 19 maths and English condition of funding, updated in July 2026, requires anyone aged 16 to 19 on a study programme without grade 4 in maths and English to keep studying it. A grade 3 means a GCSE route. Grade 2 or below allows Functional Skills level 2 as well.
Locally, West London College runs adult GCSE English and maths at its Hammersmith and Fulham college, daytime and evening, free for eligible learners aged 19 and over without a grade 4.
The two series
- November takes Maths and English Language only.
- Around ten weeks from results, so it converts a near miss.
- All other subjects wait for the following summer.
- Providers decide entry timing, so ask rather than assume.
See GCSE resit tutoring and the exam dates page.
How does a lesson built on a mock work?
The paper goes on the shared whiteboard and the tutor works through it question by question with the student, out loud.
Send the marked script
Photographs are fine. The board and tier alongside it, if you have them.
Free one-to-one session
The tutor works through the paper with your child and sorts the lost marks into the three piles.
You get the diagnosis
Not a grade prediction. A list of what is causing the loss.
Weekly lessons against the mark scheme
Timed questions of the type that went wrong, marked as an examiner would mark them.
Track the pattern
The same three piles, re-counted every few weeks. Progress is visible or it is not.
The full process is on our how it works page.
What does a GCSE tutor in Shepherd’s Bush cost?
£30 per lesson, one to one, with no registration fee and no package to commit to first.
How many lessons depends entirely on which of the three piles is biggest, which is why we will not quote a package before reading a paper. Technique problems are often three or four lessons. A missing topic that everything else rests on is a term.
Ask us to confirm lesson length so an hourly rate elsewhere can be compared properly. Our guide to GCSE tutoring costs covers the market.
What £30 covers
- A full one-to-one lesson with a subject specialist.
- Planning against your child’s board, tier and mock paper.
- Timed practice marked against the real mark scheme.
- Feedback in the three-pile language above.
- A tutor change if the match is wrong.
Send us the mock
A photograph of a marked paper says more than a paragraph. We reply during the day.
- Year group and subject.
- The marked mock, if you can get hold of it.
- Exam board and tier.
- Target grade and who set it.
- Days and times that work at home.
Prefer to talk it through? WhatsApp us, or use the contact page.
Send an enquiry
Frequently asked questions
My son got a 4 in his mock. Is that his predicted grade?
No, and treating it as one is the common mistake. A November mock is a snapshot of an unfinished course sat by a student who has not revised properly yet. It tells you where the marks are going, not where they will end up.
What should I actually look at on a mock paper?
Not the total. Go question by question and sort the lost marks into three piles: things not known, things known but badly explained, and things not reached because time ran out. Those three piles need completely different work.
The school gave a grade but not the paper. Can I ask for it?
Yes, and you should. A grade without the script is almost useless for planning. Most schools will send the paper home or let you see it at a parents evening if you ask directly.
How much can a grade realistically move between the mock and the summer?
More than parents fear and less than students hope. A grade is normal with focused work over two terms. Two happens, usually where a specific gap was blocking everything above it. Anyone promising more than that in the spring is guessing.
Which GCSE subjects do you cover?
Maths, English Language and Literature, Combined or Triple Science, Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate subjects, Computer Science and Business Studies, plus humanities where somebody is free.
Do you have a tuition centre in Shepherd’s Bush?
No. Every lesson is online and the business is registered in Feltham. Local schools are named as context only.
What does it cost?
£30 buys a full one-to-one lesson, with no joining fee and no set of lessons to purchase first.
When is the best time to book after mocks?
December, while the paper is fresh and there are still two terms left. Waiting until the Easter holidays halves what is possible.
Book a free GCSE session in Shepherd’s Bush
One free one-to-one session, no card details and no obligation. Bring the mock paper and you will leave the hour knowing what is actually costing the marks.