Our tutors - james green

James - Classics and english, University of oxford

Hello! I’m James, and I graduated with a First Class BA in Classics and English from Exeter College, Oxford. I’m now reading for an fully funded MSt in Classical Languages and Literature at Trinity College, Oxford. Over my time at Oxford, I have earned three university prizes/scholarships for my exam results (topping the year in my first year) and six college prizes/scholarships for my work and contributions to college life. When not working on my course, I keep myself occupied with Latin verse composition and maintaining my Spanish. Outside of my studies, I have held numerous positions of responsibility within university and college sports clubs and societies, acted as a student representative to various faculty committees, and sung in a college choir.

Before coming up to university, I was educated at Berkhamsted, where I attained A Levels in English Literature (A*), Latin (A*), Spanish (A*), and Mathematics (A*), the last of which I studied independently. I also secured full marks in an EPQ on Darwinism in Thomas Hardy, full marks in an HPQ on Parliamentary Sovereignty, and top grades across all my GCSEs (including an FSMQ). Keen to move beyond the curriculum, I enjoyed success in multiple Oxbridge essay competitions while at school, and kept myself busy with drama, music, debating, and sport. In my final year I was Head Boy.

I have been tutoring for several years now in all four of my A Level subjects as well as university admissions, I am a qualified ESL teacher, accredited with a CELTA (Pass A), and for two weeks a year I work as a Course Tutor at the UK’s leading Latin summer school (the JACT ‘Latin Camp’) having worked there previously for two years as the Director’s Assistant. I have been grateful to receive very positive feedback from students and parents alike, and particularly gratified to see the impact of my tuition on examination outcomes and University offers. For the last four years I have also been involved with running a children’s charity, of which I am now a trustee.

A distinctive feature of my tutorial approach is to encourage students at all levels to make connections between subjects. In my experience, tackling languages and literatures in parallel can generate a far deeper understanding of the relevant concepts. For instance, in the past this has meant teaching English and Spanish grammar at GCSE level alongside each other. I am convinced of the benefits of thinking beyond strict curriculum divisions in this way for the intellectual development of students at any stage in their school career, and I therefore welcome clients who would be interested in tuition in more than one of English, Spanish, and Latin concurrently.