Autumn term Thursday and Saturday one-to-one slots have opened for GCSE and A-level maths. Ask about a slot
Auden Works Tutoring
A tutor and a student working through written problems together at a shared table

One-to-one maths & physics

The hour is for thinking, not for copying notes.

I am Nell Auden, a private tutor working with students from Year 10 through to upper sixth. Every session starts from the question a student actually got stuck on, and ends with something they can do on their own.

Format
One-to-one only. No groups, no shared screens with other students.
Where
Online with a shared writing tablet, or in person at your kitchen table.
Length
60 minutes for weekly work, 90 minutes in the run-up to exams.
A student writing worked solutions into a ruled notebook during a tutoring session

About the tutor

Fifteen years of marking the same three mistakes

I taught secondary maths and physics before moving to tutoring full time, and I have marked enough scripts to know that most lost marks are not knowledge gaps. They are method gaps: the line that was skipped, the unit that was dropped, the diagram that was never drawn. That is what we work on.

  • How I teach

    You do the writing. I ask the questions. If I am talking for more than a few minutes at a stretch, something has gone wrong with the lesson.

  • What I ask of students

    Bring the work you found hardest — a failed test, a half-finished problem set, a topic that never made sense. Blank pages make for a slow hour.

  • What parents hear from me

    A short written note after every third session: what we covered, what is improving, and what to leave alone for now.

Subjects & levels

What I teach, and how far

I keep a narrow list on purpose. These are the papers I know line by line, including the mark schemes and the places examiners are strict.

  • Maths

    • GCSE
    • AS
    • A-level

    Algebraic fluency first, then the topics that carry the heaviest marks: trigonometry, sequences, calculus technique and the wordy problem-solving questions that students tend to leave until last.

    Boards: Edexcel · AQA · OCR

  • Further Maths

    • AS
    • A-level

    Complex numbers, matrices, polar curves and differential equations, taught alongside the core paper rather than as a separate subject so the two reinforce each other.

    Boards: Edexcel · AQA

  • Physics

    • GCSE
    • A-level

    Mechanics and fields for students who can do the maths but cannot yet see the physics, plus required practicals and the six-mark explanation questions that need structure more than content.

    Boards: AQA · OCR A · Edexcel

  • Entrance papers

    • Sixth-form entry
    • Admissions tests

    Short, intensive blocks for unfamiliar question styles — multi-step problems with no scaffolding, and timed papers where the skill is deciding quickly which question to attempt first.

    Usually booked as: six to eight sessions

How a term runs

From first conversation to end-of-term review

Tutoring works when it is predictable. Here is the shape of it, so you know what you are agreeing to before you enquire.

  1. 01

    A short conversation

    Fifteen minutes, no charge, usually with a parent and the student together. We work out whether I am the right fit and which subject to start with.

  2. 02

    A diagnostic session

    One full session spent on a mixed set of questions. It tells me where the method gaps sit rather than where the syllabus says they should be.

  3. 03

    A fixed weekly slot

    The same day and time each week for the term, so it becomes part of the routine. Half-term weeks are skipped unless you ask to keep them.

  4. 04

    An end-of-term review

    A written summary and an honest recommendation: continue, change subject focus, move to fortnightly, or stop because the work is done.

Between the sessions

The hour is not the whole of it

Everything below is included in the session fee. None of it is an extra, and none of it needs chasing.

  • Typed notes from the session, with the worked lines we did together kept intact.
  • A set of between-session questions, chosen short enough to actually get done.
  • Past papers marked to the official scheme, with the marks shown line by line.
  • A written progress note to parents after every third session.
  • One stuck-question message a week, answered between lessons at no charge.

Weekly availability

Autumn term, one-to-one slots

Teaching windows by day for the current term
DayTeaching window
MondayFull — waiting list
TuesdayLate afternoon, online
ThursdayAfternoon & evening
SaturdayMorning, in person
SundayNot teaching

Exam-season intensives are scheduled separately in the spring, usually as 90-minute sessions. Tell me the exam date in your enquiry and I will say honestly whether there is time to be useful.

Questions

Asked before the first session

If something here is not covered, put it in the enquiry form — a direct question gets a direct answer.

Is there a trial session?
The first diagnostic session works as the trial. It is a normal paid session, but there is no commitment to a term afterwards — plenty of families do one and decide the timing is wrong, which is a reasonable outcome.
How does an online session actually work?
We use a shared whiteboard with a writing tablet on my side, so you see every line as it is written rather than a finished answer. The student needs a laptop, paper and a pen; a tablet is useful but not required. A copy of the board is sent afterwards.
What happens if we need to cancel?
Tell me by the evening before and the session moves to another slot that week if one is free, or is simply not charged. Same-day cancellations are charged, with the obvious exception of illness.
Do you report back to parents?
Yes — a short written note after every third session covering what we covered, what is improving and what I would leave alone for now. Older students sometimes prefer to pass this on themselves, and I am happy to do it that way if everyone agrees at the start.
Will you help with school homework?
We will use it, but we will not simply get it finished. Homework is the most honest evidence of where a student is struggling, so it makes an excellent starting point and a poor destination.
Can a student join partway through a term?
Usually, if a slot is open. Mid-term joiners start with the same diagnostic session and pay only for the weeks remaining. Close to an exam I will tell you plainly if there is not enough time left for the work to make a difference.

Enquire

Tell me who I would be teaching

A few details are enough to say whether I have a suitable slot. Parents and students are both welcome to write — I reply to every enquiry, including the ones I cannot take on.

If the answer is no, I will say so quickly rather than leaving you waiting on a maybe.

Replies usually go out within one working day. Nothing you write here is shared with anyone else.