Coaching for pupils who need help understanding where their marks are going — and what to do differently next time.
This is not another worksheet programme. The focus is on diagnosing the thinking behind repeated mistakes, strengthening the methods pupils can reuse, and helping them become more independent under examination conditions.
What the coaching is for
The aim is not simply to cover more content. It is to help the pupil understand the paper, recognise what is being tested, explain the thinking behind an answer and correct the process that keeps producing the same mistakes.
What we may work on
English
- understanding what each component is testing
- Paper 1 planning, task fulfilment and writing decisions
- Paper 2 grammar, vocabulary and language patterns
- breaking down comprehension questions before answering
- Oral thinking, organisation and communication
- assessment strategy and recognising where marks are being lost
Science
- understanding concepts rather than memorising isolated answers
- recognising plausible distractors in Booklet A
- identifying the concept being tested
- using evidence from the question
- using CER for Booklet B: Concept → Evidence → Relate
- answering with greater precision
How a session works
The pupil's screen is the main lesson space. The pupil attempts first. I observe, question and diagnose. The pupil then corrects and explains the improved thinking.
Online coaching should not become a private webinar
I do not want the pupil watching me do all the thinking. Teacher screen-sharing is mainly for short modelling when a new idea needs to be made clear. Most of the lesson should involve the pupil attempting, highlighting, explaining, editing and improving on the pupil's own screen.
Who targeted support may suit
This may be useful when a pupil:
- is stuck at a plateau despite knowing the content and doing the practice
- makes careless or repeated mistakes but cannot explain why they happen
- knows strategies in theory but cannot retrieve them reliably under examination conditions
- lacks confidence in their own ability despite being more capable than their scores suggest
Another kind of support may be more useful when a pupil:
- still needs substantial foundational teaching
- is not yet doing regular independent practice
- is not ready to reflect honestly on mistakes and try a different process
What this is not
The goal
Good coaching should gradually make the pupil less dependent on coaching.
The aim is for the pupil to become better at recognising clues, choosing a method, checking reasoning, correcting mistakes and deciding what to do next.
Get in touch
Tell me briefly where your child is now, what you are hoping to address and which subject you are looking at. I can then tell you whether this kind of targeted support appears suitable.