Here is a selection of useful educational links, including schools, tuition agencies and exam boards.
Special offer: Bespoke Tuition has kindly offered a FREE 45-minute online tutorial if you quote ‘Nick Dale’ when you contact them.
Schools
Types of school
The terminology for schools in the UK can be quite confusing, so here’s a quick guide.
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- Private schools charge fees and are not run by the Government, although they have to follow certain rules. They are also known as independent schools, and the most famous ones such as Eton and Harrow are- confusingly – known as public schools
- Grammar schools are state schools and don’t charge fees, but they are academically selective and have a very good reputation. There are only 164 of them left.
- Comprehensive schools make up the vast majority of free state schools and generally have the worst reputation, but there are exceptions.
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- Faith schools have to follow the national curriculum, but they can choose what they teach in religious studies and may have different admissions criteria and staffing policies to other state schools, although anyone can apply for a place.
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- Free schools are Government-funded but aren’t run by the local council, which means they have more control over staffing and curriculum. However, they’re ‘all-ability’ schools, so they can’t use academic selection processes like grammar schools.
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- Academies are state schools that are funded by the Government but run by an academy trust, a charity that controls how funds are spent and how the school is managed.
- City technology colleges are independent schools in urban areas that are free for pupils to attend. They’re owned and funded by businesses as well as the Government and specialise in practical and technical skills.
- Special schools are schools for children aged 11 and over with special educational needs. They can specialise in one of four areas: communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, or sensory and physical needs. Within each area, they can go further, for instance by catering specifically for children with autism or visual impairments.
The Independent Schools Council has a searchable database of private schools here, but I’ve listed the major ones in the Greater London area and elsewhere.
Greater London
Abercorn School
Alleyn’s School
Bancroft’s School
Channing School
Charterhouse Square School
City of London Freemen’s School
City of London School
City of London School for Girls
Dulwich College
Eltham College
Emanuel School
Eton College
Francis Holland School
Garden House School
Godolphin & Latymer School
Guildford High School
Hampton School
The Harrodian School
Harrow School
Highgate School
Ibstock Place School
James Allen’s Girls’ School
King’s College School
Kingston Grammar School
Knightsbridge School
Lady Eleanor Holles School
Latymer Upper School
Marymount International School London
Mill Hill School
North Bridge House School
North London Collegiate School
Notting Hill and Ealing High School
Palmers Green High School
Putney High School
Queen’s College, London
Royal Grammar School
South Hampstead High School
St Benedict’s School
St Dunstan’s College
St James Independent Schools
St Paul’s Girls’ School
St Paul’s Juniors
St Paul’s School
Surbiton High School
Sylvia Young Theatre School
The Harrodian School
The Latymer School
Tiffin School
University College School
Westminster School
Westminster Under School
Wetherby School
Whitgift School
Wimbledon High School
Wycombe Abbey
Outside London
Ampleforth College
Badminton
Bedales
Benenden School
Blundell’s School
Bryanston
Charterhouse
cheltenhamcollege.org
Cheltenham Ladies’ College
Fettes College
Gordonstoun
The King’s School Canterbury
The Manchester Grammar School
Marlborough College
Millfield School
Oundle School
The Perse School
Roedean School
Rugby School
Sherborne Girls
Sherborne School
St Edward’s Oxford
Stowe School
Tonbridge School
Uppingham
Wellington College
Winchester College
School open days
John Catt’s School Search – Calendar of Open Days at Independent Schools
Tuition agencies
Adrian Beckett Tutors
Athena Tuition
Bespoke Tuition (just quote ‘Nick Dale’ for a free 45-minute online tutorial)
Bigfoot Tutors
BOFA 11 Plus
Bonas MacFarlane
Bright Young Things Tuition
British Home Tutors
Carfax Private Tutors
Childcare
Dulwich Tutors
Enjoy Education
Explore Learning
First Class Tutors
First Tutors
Fleet Tutors
Gabbitas
The Golden Circle
Harrison Allen
Holland Park Tuition
Ivy Education
Kensington & Chelsea Tutors
Keystone Tutors
Kings Tutors (mention ‘KingsNickDale’ when you book a lesson to get a 5% discount on the hourly rate)
Knightsbridge Tutors
Kip McGrath Education Centres
Laidlaw Education
Learn Happy London
Libra Tutors
Mentor & Sons
My Private Tutor
Osborne Cawkwell
Personal Tutors
ProTeacher
Scoodle
Search Tutors
Select My Tutor
Shawcross Bligh
Simply Learning Tuition
Superior Learning
Superprof
Tavistock Tutors
Titanium Tutors
The Tutor Trust
Top Tutors
Tutopia
Tutor House
Tutor Hub
Tutor Hunt
Tutorfair
Tutorful
Tutors International
UK Study Centre
UK Tutors
Westminster Tutors
Exam boards
AQA
Edexcel
Falcons Interview
ISEB
OCR
Pearson Schools & FE Colleges
English
123 Help Me – Much Ado About Nothing
15 Best Children’s Books of All Time
Amazon Children’s Books Store
Apptitude – Free resources for tutors (Facebook)
Apptitude – Free resources for tutors (LinkedIn)
AQA Year 11 Guide to GCSE Writing Section
BBC Bitesize – Writing to persuade, argue and advise
Common spelling mistakes
Creative Writing tips at 11
Descriptosaurus, by Alison Wilcox
Dictionary.com – Word Dynamo
English Revision Aid 1
English Revision Aid 2
English Revision Aid 3
English Revision Aid 4
English Revision Aid 5
English Revision Aid 6
English Revision Aid 7
English Revision Aid 8
English Revision Aid 9
English Revision Aid 10
Mr Heath’s Class – Super Sentence Openers
Online Literature – WB Yeats
Parapal
Phrasal verbs (Off2Class)
RFP Evaluation Centers – Flesch Reading Ease Readability Score
Spark Notes – A View from the Bridge
Spark Notes – Doctor Faustus
Spark Notes – Dracula
Spark Notes – Emily Dickinson
Spark Notes – Jane Eyre
Spark Notes – Lord of the Flies
Spark Notes – Of Mice & Men
Spark Notes – Othello
Spark Notes – The Canterbury Tales
Spark Notes – WB Yeats
Standards Schmandards – Readability Index Calculator
University of Bristol – Punctuation exercises
University of Ottawa – The Parts of Speech
University of Ottawa – Conjunctions
University of Ottawa – The Structure of a Sentence
Wikipedia – Jane Eyre
Wikipedia – The Pardoner’s Tale
Word list for Years 5 and 6
Maths
James Billot – Speed Distance Time Test
Math Warehouse – Angles of a Polygon
Maths Revision – GCSE
Maths Revision Aid 1Maths Revision Aid 2Maths Revision Aid 3Maths Revision Aid 4Maths Revision Aid 5Maths Revision Aid 6Maths Revision Aid 7Maths Revision Aid 8Maths Revision Aid 9Maths Revision Aid 10Maths Revision Aid 11Maths Revision Aid 12
My Maths
Times tables questions
Wiki Answers – Diagonals of a Polygon
Wikipedia – Trigonometry
French
About.com – Imperfect Subjunctive
About.com – Subjunctive
Duolingo
French Tutorial
This Is Language – French videos and transcripts
Wiktionary – French frequency lists, words 1-2000
Sailing
Aztec Sailing – Admiralty Charts
Aztec Sailing – Theory Class
British Offshore Sailing School – RYA Day Skipper Syllabus – Tidal
RYA – Day Skipper
RYA – Shore-based Instructors
Sail Train
Visit My Harbour – Cowes Harbour
Dyslexia
Dyslexia.org – Spelling Rules
Dystalk
Special Direct.com – SEN Supplies
Wikipedia – Synthetic Phonics
Other
BBC Learning
Department for Education (QTS)
Department for Education (writing assessment)
Internet 4 Classrooms – MS Word Keyboard Shortcuts
Khan Academy
LNAT Practice Tests
Pass the QTS Skills Tests
Primary Resources
Steve’s Learning
TES – Teaching Resources
TES – Classroom Toolkit
TES – The secret world of the über tutor
Twinkl
Wikipedia – Keyboard Shortcuts