Prepared for Hauwa Muktari, St Gregory's Catholic Science College
Thank you for our conversation. Here is how I would prepare your four students for the TMUA in January, and for the ESAT if one of them sits it instead, working alongside you and the maths department.
Your four students are aiming for Imperial, and they will sit the test between 4 and 8 January 2027. Imperial only considers a candidate's first score, so this sitting is the one that counts.
Strong students sometimes hold themselves back from aiming this high. What changes that is seeing, week after week, that the hardest questions come down to methods they can learn and recognise. That is how I teach: I have worked every TMUA paper and tagged each question with the method that cracks it.
Every past paper fully corrected and tagged by method, with a personal week-by-week plan that adapts as they progress.
The four students together, working through the methods that decide the most marks, then timed questions and full papers.
You and your colleagues follow each student's work on the platform, so the school stays part of the preparation.
The school tutor account shows each student's work as it happens, the same view I use to prepare each session.
Illustrative example. Method names are real; the student and the times are not.
From early November to the January sitting. Click on each step below.
A short diagnostic for each student, their personal plan set up on the platform, and the school tutor account opened. Each student books their test.
Paper 1 first: the recurring methods, worked through together in the sessions, then practised on the platform between them.
Logic and proof questions, timed sections, and each student's own error patterns, fixed one by one. Test booking closes on 21 December.
Complete past papers under timed conditions, reviewed together. Sessions over the break are scheduled with the students.
A last session in the days before, on strategy and calm. Results reach the students on 8 February 2027.
Both tests are covered. If one student sits the ESAT, their platform is set up for it and the group sessions still serve them.
Imperial sets the modules by course. For example:
The ESAT version of the platform covers all five modules, built from the official NSAA and ENGAA archive.
Source: Imperial, ESAT.The same programme in both, from early November to the test. Only the number of sessions a week changes.
One hour a week · 8 group sessions
Standard value over £5,000
Two hours a week · 16 group sessions
Standard value over £8,000
Once a week already gets a lot done: eight focused sessions, with the platform carrying the work in between.
Twice a week, at least two days apart, brings each method back a second time before it has faded. That second pass is what turns a method the students understand into one they use without hesitating, against the clock.
| Total for the whole programme | Weekly option | Twice-weekly option |
|---|---|---|
| Platform for 4 students, with the school tutor account | £2,000 to £2,400 | £2,000 to £2,400 |
| Group tutoring with me | about £3,000 | about £6,000 |
| Standard value | £5,000 to £5,400 | £8,000 to £8,400 |
| St Gregory's rate | £4,000 | £6,000 |
One fixed price for the whole programme, from early November to the January test, set well below the standard value so it fits a school budget.
If any of the four is invited to interview, I can prepare them with mock interviews: unfamiliar problems worked through out loud, as on the day, with feedback straight after. Format and price to agree together.
Four students at a similar level, preparing for the same test, learn a great deal from each other: each one hears the others' questions and mistakes, and they keep each other going. Each student still has their own plan on the platform, and the tutor account shows each one's work separately.
Their platform access is set to the ESAT, with all five modules. The TMUA and the ESAT mathematics modules draw on much of the same A-level material, so the group sessions serve them too, and the ESAT-specific work goes through their own plan on the platform.
Three things: make sure each student books their test well before 21 December (after any bursary request), keep an eye on the tutor account, and keep encouraging them. If they join the sessions from school, a quiet room helps.
On Zoom, after school, at a time that suits the four students and the school. Sessions over the Christmas break are agreed with them in advance.