Cambridge English graduate with 15 years' experience tutoring English Language and Literature

My two boys have been working with Nico for almost two years - they are now 16 and 13 years old. One of them was preparing for entry exams at top UK IB schools and the second one was also bridging the non U.K. to U.K. English studies before he also entered a top U.K. school. They are both native English speakers who were educated abroad in a French Lycee.
I couldn’t recommend Nico highly enough in terms of ability to connect with children with very different characters and communication skills, patience, expertise in explaining English grammar, composition of essays, ability to express oneself in writing (and not only). When I saw an essay written by my older son for one of his exams - I seriously couldn’t believe my eyes - it was excellent. I credit Nico with that to a large extent. Absolutely outstanding!

Nico is an excellent English language & English litrature teacher. He helped my son in English Lit and Language IGCSEs and he got 9 and 8.
He is a very dedicated, extremely professional and well experienced in GCSEs. My son enjoyed his sessions and was looking forward to working with him.

Nico is an excellent and inspiring tutor. He taught my son for one year to prepare him for GCSE English. Andrew achieved an 8 in English Literature and high 7 in English Language whereby the previous year he had gotten Cs in his English. Nico helped to develop Andrew's communication skills, confidence, maturity and approach to studying which also boosted his scores across other subjects. I highly recommend Nico. He is a first class tutor!

Nico’s tutoring transformed my son’s approach to English, and without a doubt, his GCSE results (he received a 9 in English Language and an 8 in English Literature). My son looked forward to his sessions, which were engaging and supportive. When asked, Nico provided thoughtful and excellent advice on A level subject choices. We could not have had a better experience and cannot recommend Nico highly enough.

Nico helped my daughter with her English language & literature GCSEs this year & boosted her grade from an 8 in her mocks to 9 in a relatively short period of time. She was struggling to increase her scores especially in English language but with well structured sessions he got to the heart of the issue & really helped her structure her revision & understand what was needed. He is very realistic and honest. I highly recommend Nico.

Nico is an excellent tutor who manages to motivate, create confidence and encourage self esteem with his students. He has supported my son through his A levels and degree and I cannot recommend him more highly.

Nico did a tremendous job in helping my daughter crystallise her university choices and then coached her in writing her UCAS statement. The result was her getting all of her uni choices.. incredible job. He's also a pleasure to deal with and goes above and beyond with whatever's needed. Highly skilled and knows exactly what he's doing.. very highly recommended!

Nico was recommended to us by my daughters school to help her prepare for GCSE English. My daughter is very bright and able, but had come to totally doubt her ability to write. The situation was so bad that 18 months ago she got no mark for her English exam; she preferred to write nothing at all than to risk being judged for writing something she felt sure would be rubbish! Her teachers and I knew that she was capable, but it was all locked up in her head.

Nico worked patiently with my daughter to develop strategies that she felt comfortable with for approaching writing activities and to grow her confidence. This Summer, all their hard work paid off with our daughter achieving a grade 9 in English! Even better than the GCSE grade is the new confidence my daughter now has in her abilities.

Nico is the best tutor I have ever had. I had Nico tutor me for both English A level and English Literature Undergraduate. Both times, with his help, I achieved the results I was aiming for.

If you want in depth teaching on any novel, poem, fiction or non fiction book, Nico will help you learn and understand the text inside-out.

Alongside helping you thoroughly learn any specific work you bring to Nico, he will always constructively challenge you with further, more complex ideas that help you develop an even stronger academic argument and understanding.

I cannot stress enough the quality of Nico as a tutor and teacher!

In just seven hours spread over two weeks, Nico helped turn our son’s school-assessed (summer of 2020) English Language GCSE grade 6 into a grade 9 in the Autumn exam. Nico quickly assessed and established areas for improvement, focused on those areas with a laser-like efficiency and delivered practical solutions to be used by our son with confidence and speed. Before receiving assistance from Nico, our son had been struggling with applying himself to timed English Language past papers, not really knowing (or caring) what he needed to do to improve. However, after each session with Nico, he was noticeably more positive, relaxed and even relieved. It sounded as if the exam itself was almost pleasurable. We cannot recommend Nico highly enough.

I think I would struggle to find a tutor sharper, clearer and more diligent than Nico. He combed through a recent article of mine, which I was preparing to submit to a peer-reviewed literary journal. His corrections and his feedback––on the intricacies as well as the overall structure of my argument––were very helpful. I highly recommend this dedicated, incisive individual.

Nico had previously tutored our eldest son and assisted him in achieving an A* in English Literature and A in English Language in 2017. With our younger son Rohan we contacted Nico just 4 months before his exams and Nico worked with him on GCSE AQA English Literature and Language, including the texts The History Boys, The Tempest, and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Love and Relationships poetry. With Nico’s help, Rohan achieved Grade 8 in English Language and Grade 6 in English Literature and secured a place at Hampton School. We are all so elated!

With hindsight we should have contacted Nico far sooner to achieve even higher grades but Rohan was being stubborn and would not accept assistance. We found Nico to be an amazing tutor who tailored his teaching method to suit both our sons. He is very experienced, professional and friendly with a structured and organised approach to his lessons. We are truly grateful to Nico for all his help and cannot recommend him enough!

Nicholas has helped me achieve an A* in my a-level english coursework, this would not have been possible without him and after all our prep I managed to get 59/60. He adapted the way he taught to how I learn and all our lessons were extremely helpful for me! My overall understanding of the subject increased and Nico also helped me with how to revise appropriately for my other subjects too, cannot recommend him enough!

Our daughter, with a Dutch background, was keen to apply and be accepted to, a range of first-rate boarding schools in the UK, including Wellington, St Edwards, Malvern and Ardingly. We were lucky to find Nicholas Philips. Nicholas did a fanatsic job in preparing our daughter for her applications. This included preparation for the different tests, both multiple choice and open exam papers. He also coached and prepared her for the various interviews. Nicholas is professional, experienced and very pleasant. Thanks to Nicholas our daughter was accepted on all 4 schools she applied to. For additional information, do not hesitate to contact me at jdvankarnebeek@gmail.com.

Our son Sam really enjoyed working with Nicholas. Sam found English Literature dry at school. He is bright but struggled to engage with the subject and with essay writing. Nicholas really helped him to understand and enjoy his set books and poetry, and to structure his thoughts so he could put pen to paper. He got an A in his GCSE and was thrilled, as were we. Nicholas was patient and calm. He also brought extensive knowledge of literature and passion for the subject. He knew how to bring out the best in Sam and build his confidence. We would recommend him to anybody!

Nico tutored for about 6 months in various subjects including English Literature, and I couldn't recommend him highly enough. He's patient, calm, very knowledgable and works with you to make sure you get the results you need.

Nicholas is just great; he doesn't just look at the task ahead but also goes above and beyond through understanding how to get the best results from you. He has not only helped improve my work but also my drive and focus to do and be the best that I can be.

Nicholas is just great; he doesn't just look at the task ahead but also goes above and beyond through understanding how to get the best results from you. He has not only helped improve my work but also my drive and focus to do and be the best that I can be.

I have worked with Nico for 3 or 4 years now. He has helped me prepare for multiple university tests such as the IELTS, or the entry test for Oxford, and interviews. I believe that my overall English level has gotten better over the years, mainly thanks to our frequent lessons. Nico is a patient teacher, who lessens to the needs of his student and helps you achieve your goals methodically. His company is very enjoyable and he always has great texts/poems/books to propose as a work base. I currently live in France and still talk to him on a regular basis, in order to maintain my current English level, and to discuss captivating texts and articles with him.

Nico is completely trustworthy. Having one on one sessions helped me to enjoy English literature. Nico listened to my ideas and helped me transform them into high quality essays for my A level. I would definitely recommend him of you want a tutor who is patient, thoughtful and organised. I found him very easy to talk to - I never felt embarrassed or stupid. I was amazed at the standard of work I got to with Nico's tutoring. He can help make complex critical ideas accessible and dense poems comprehensible. Not only did he have a through understanding of every text we studied, he also helped with more practical matters if that's what I needed (like revision strategy and organisation). Thank you very much Nico!

Our daughter Julie had a great experience working with Nicholas. He prepared her for test-essays for her UKiset, and she achieved an excellent score. Nico is pleasant, patient and professional. He knows how to engage students and bring them to a higher level, in a short time. We were more than satisfied, and would recommend Nico to anybody!

Nico helped me prepare for a job interview presentation for a teaching fellow position. His insights and suggestions were vital and made me feel more confident presenting. Once briefed, Nico was able to identify the important aspects of my presentation and gave invaluable suggestions on how to present them to convey my message. “Start with the most important items - don’t forget, the attention span of the listener is short so best to deliver your main message early on ”. Nico is very approachable and eloquent and made me feel very comfortable during our session. His pedagogical skills are remarkable and I cannot recommend him highly enough. The interview went very well and I am pleased to report that I have got the position! Thank you Nico!

From CC to A*A

In summer 2018, our son did really well in his IGCSEs at a leading English boarding school, but fell short in English Language and Literature, in which he attained two ‘C’s. Eager to improve his grades, especially with American college applications in mind, he decided to re-sit both English Language and Literature.
He had thirty hours of tutoring with Nico, spread over two terms before re-sitting the exams. To our immense delight, second time round he achieved AA*. We were all delighted and he is now on track for his US college applications.

Unprompted by us, my son has described Nico as ‘an amazing teacher’, who who helped him focus his energy specifically on what the exams asked for, something he has struggled with in the past. For our part, my husband and I found Nico to be personable and easy to communicate with. From the start, he ‘got’ what it was we were looking for and, most importantly, he was able to deliver. Like me, he’s also a major Jane Austen fan, which is a big thumbs-up in my book.

I’ve asked Nico if he can work with our younger daughter, who begins her GCSE course this year, and would enthusiastically recommend him to other parents seeking professional tutoring services for their teenage children. A huge thank you from all of us!
Christy

Having used Nico for five consecutive years should say enough. Nico’s excellent tutoring helped my mediocre writing English pass the test to get into my school of choice at the age of 13 and then to achieve a top grade at GCSE level. I am very grateful for his patience, passion and positive energy. I recommend him highly!