John W.

John is a qualified secondary Science teacher specialising in Physics, with a PGCE and experience teaching in UK secondary schools and sixth forms. He has over twenty years of teaching and tutoring experience, supporting students across GCSE, IGCSE, A-level and IB in Physics, Maths and English Language and Literature.

In addition to his school teaching, John has taught academic writing and communication at university level in both the UK and Finland. He holds a PhD in Sociolinguistics, focusing on how academic arguments are structured and communicated, and has extensive experience helping students develop clear, well-organised written responses in essays and literary analysis.

John enjoys teaching Shakespeare and modern drama, comedy, Gothic and speculative fiction, and 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century literature. Texts include Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Richard III, The Tempest, Shakespeare’s Sonnets, A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Pride and Prejudice, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, An Inspector Calls, Of Mice and Men, A View from the Bridge, Educating Rita, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Nineteen Eighty-Four, Brave New World, Slaughterhouse-Five, Oryx and Crake, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed-the-Plow and The Shawl, as well as Sherlock Holmes stories, including The Hound of the Baskervilles, Roald Dahl’s fiction, and Ted Chiang’s short fiction, including Stories of Your Life and Others and Exhalation. He is also particularly interested in the close analysis of poetry and in exploring texts across forms and media, for example Shakespeare on the page, stage and screen.

John is also an examiner for IB English and Edexcel Physics, giving him direct insight into assessment criteria and how high-quality answers are evaluated. His background spans both STEM and humanities, allowing him to support students in developing precision in problem-solving as well as clarity in analytical and essay-based work.

John’s teaching places a strong emphasis on Socratic dialogue, using carefully chosen questions to help students articulate their thinking, identify gaps, and refine their understanding. Alongside clear explanation, lessons are built around working through ideas together, so that understanding develops through active engagement rather than passive absorption. Regular exam question practice ensures that strong exam technique develops alongside core skills such as formula selection and manipulation in Physics.

John creates a calm, supportive environment where students feel comfortable thinking aloud and working through uncertainty. Over time, this approach helps students become more precise, more confident, and better able to handle unfamiliar questions independently.