Feedback from SQA MAY 2025 EXAMS

Gary has proven to be an outstanding tutor for our son. It’s been a pleasure to hear them solving problems together and it’s been good for Dto have Gary to support and challenge him.

D got an A in Advanced Higher Mathematics today—two years early. Given he could not attend over 1/3 of his school classes, having Gary to backfill made all the difference! Thank you Gary… on to STEP and Advanced Higher Mechanics and Stats now.

Ian G — Parent of Advanced Higher Student (2025)

D has got 3 A1s in her Advanced Higher exams. She got 97% in Mathematics based on the raw scores, and similar scores in Chemistry and Physics. She also won prizes for 1st in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at her secondary school, and was awarded the overall Science Dux.

Thank you for your support and the role you played in her excellent performance.

Parent of D — Advanced Higher Student (2025)

Zach got an A in Maths and his first choice for university. He is really pleased.

Thanks for all your help. It made a huge difference.

N — Parent of Advanced Higher Maths Student (2025)

Everything went really well. I got an A in Maths, so thank you for all your help and support. Couldn’t have done it without you.

I met my conditions, so I’ll be off to Edinburgh this time next month.

I — Advanced Higher Maths Student (2025)

A got an A for Higher Maths. Thank you so much for all your work with her—it really paid off!

Lorna — Parent of Higher Maths Student (2025)

Just got my results and I got all 3 As. I’m over the moon with my Maths A, especially with my months out of school due to illness.

Thank you so much for your help—wouldn’t have been able to do that well without you!

C — Advanced Higher Maths Student (2025)

D got a C in his Advanced Higher Maths exam, which we’re happy to see.

Thank you for the support—we feel sure that the extra tuition from yourself helped him pass, as it was a difficult subject. He’s going on to study engineering, so I’m sure the extra maths tuition will give him a good grounding.

Sarah — Parent of Advanced Higher Maths Student (2025)

Feedback for 24/25

“Gary has been extremely helpful in guiding my son towards his Advanced Highers in Maths. His teaching methods have been great, improving my son’s approach towards tackling questions and improving his confidence. I would highly recommend Gary.”

Arunava — SQA AH 2025

“Gary provided over 8 months of online tuition for my daughter during her Higher Maths. He was excellent from start to finish. My daughter grew in confidence and valued his insightful, methodical approach. He was well-versed in the SQA marking schemes and really added value with tips on what to focus on. I would highly recommend him.”

Lorna — SQA Higher 2025

Dear Gary,

(I have submitted the message below through the FirstTutors website as well.)

Thanks for your tutoring of James for TMUA this year. I think he told you already that he found the first paper very different to previous years and very difficult. The second one was “fine”. You probably know that from this year the tests are administered, and I think set, by Pearson VUE for the first time. On asking James afterwards if more preparation would have been helpful he didn’t really think so, since the types of questions seemed so different to those on past papers. So, he did the best he could on the day with the practice he had done and approaches and knowledge from his study and tutoring with you.

The scoring system seems to have changed this year as well, norming around 4.5, with some universities stating that a score of 5.0 this year is taken to be equivalent to 6.5 last year (and in previous years).

James got his result this morning. His score was 6.2. This seems to be about the 20th percentile. He hasn’t heard back yet on whether he has an interview at the college he applied for in Cambridge, to do Computer Science, but this score might well help his application. Many of the people doing the TMUA would be applying for maths degrees at other universities and perhaps this would drag the average score upwards.

So, thank you very much for your help. It seems to have been a strange or transitional year for the TMUA and we hope that this result will help James with his application.

Best wishes,

Denis — TMUA Preparation 2024

“Thanks again for all the work you have done with Matthew. He has now had a second prelim and has scored 94%. He feels now in a strong position to take on the exam. To that end, we would now like to pull back from the major focus on maths as we need to focus time and financially on giving him extra support in English. Sadly, we cannot do everything and this result of 94% in second prelim gives us great confidence that he has listened and learned well.

We really appreciate the time spent with Matthew and the resources shared, and think that as he does not rate his maths teacher in school, you have provided a great source to ask questions of. I thank you for being such a good support. I will continue to recommend you where I can as your online setup is perfect to fit in with family life.

We may be back for some more support in S6 as he will look to take on AH Maths. I know Lucy valued your help a lot during that year.”

Anne-Marie — SQA Higher 2024

Morning Gary, just thought you’d want to know that you got C (my son) from a predicted C/D in maths to an actual A in his results this morning. Thank you so much for all your help! Hugely grateful!

Kathy — Edexcel A-level 2023

Hi Gary,

Hope you are well and enjoying the sun up in Scotland!!

I just wanted to share some good news, that I achieved an A* in A-levels maths!!!

I am beyond happy with this result and I wanted to thank you, as I really appreciate the help and guidance you gave me throughout these past 2 years.

I am now off to the University of Bath to study chemical engineering.

Thank you again for helping me achieve this. 😊

Dipen — Edexcel A-level 2022

Gary worked with my son for over a year, helping him to prepare for Higher and Advanced Higher Maths, TMUA and STEP exams. Gary was punctual and reliable, he established a good, professional working relationship with my son, the sessions were student led, stimulating and there was a very successful outcome. I would have no hesitation in recommending Gary as a tutor for students who have advanced level mathematical skills and who are interested in pursuing STEM subjects at top UK universities.

Francis — TMUA 2021

And below is an email from Francis’ son

Hi Gary,

I’ve just received my results for the TMUA — I got a 7 (7 in paper 1 and 6.9 in paper 2). Doing some rough calculations, this puts me in roughly the top 15% of candidates, so I’m super chuffed. I’ve also been invited for an interview on Monday.

Thank you so much again for your support! I’ve got an interview for Cambridge on the 6th and Imperial on the 8th, which is going to be a bit stressful, but I’m sure I’ll get through it in one piece.

B — TMUA 2021, Computer Science applicant

Here is ChatGPT’s summary of my First Tutors Feedback page:

Parents and students regularly recommend Gary for his approachable manner, strong subject knowledge, and effective teaching. He supports learners at all levels—from building core numeracy skills to preparing for university entrance exams. Time and again, feedback highlights his ability to boost confidence, explain challenging topics clearly, and help students achieve meaningful results.

⭐ Core Strengths Highlighted by Multiple Parents & Students
Clarity & Patience: Repeatedly praised for explaining complex concepts clearly, with a calm, patient approach that encourages questions

Boosting Confidence: Your tutoring consistently helps students gain confidence before major assessments

Exam-Focused Preparation: Parents note your familiarity with SQA marking schemes, A-levels, IB HL needs, and TMUA and STEP formats, providing targeted strategies and effective exam-style practice

🎯 Remarkable Student Improvements
From D to A in Higher Maths after short-term tutoring
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Several Nat5 and Higher Maths students improved from C/D grades to A grade
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Advanced Highers & University-level preparation also featured, particularly helping ease students into advanced topics and exams based on problem solving eg TMUA, STEP,

💡 Teaching Approach & Flexibility
Personalised, student-led sessions: You customise lessons to individual needs, adjusting pace and focusing on areas of struggle
.
Engaging online delivery: Clients find your Zoom and whiteboard setup effective; with one person mentioning it feels “like having a tutor in the same room”
.
Reliability & professionalism: Across the feedback, you’re described as punctual, organised, flexible, and responsive .

📘 National 5 / Higher Maths (SQA)
“Gary is an excellent maths teacher… Our 16 yr old daughter (preparing Highers) summed up her experience by saying ‘Gary is a fantastic teacher.’” — Gaëlle
“My daughter received a C in her prelims, but after eight lessons with Gary, she achieved an A in her Higher exam.” — Pilar
“Gary worked with my son for over a year, helping him to prepare for Higher and Advanced Higher Maths… the sessions were student led, stimulating and there was a very successful outcome.” — Francis

📗 A-Level Maths
“Gary has great knowledge of the whole A-level Maths syllabus… the online lessons are engaging and very productive.” — Nigel
“After my son’s D in his year 13 mocks… Gary really helped him with his understanding of the content and achieved an A in his actual exam.” — Kathy

📒 IB Maths (HL)
“We were impressed with Gary’s ability to adjust to the different curriculum… and still able to get our son to exactly where he needed to be.” — Julien

🧑‍🏫 General Praise for Teaching Style
“Very patient with me and explains everything really well.” — Ana
“He would talk about the principles behind [each question], which helped to deepen your understanding.” — Dipen

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