Background

Hazal graduated as the top student of her year studying BA English Language and Literature at Near East University, then matriculated at the prestigious King’s College London to study for MA Comparative Literature. Stream of consciousness narratives, nonlinearity, and oral literature as a form of resistance circulate within her research interests, and she is often drawn to themes of mental imprisonment, identity, and displacement. Hazal enjoys exploring literary pieces enmeshed with philosophy and has always been most interested in the works of Virginia Woolf, Nietzsche, Kafka, Samuel Beckett, and Adorno.

Whilst working as a private tutor over the past decade, Hazal also held teaching roles and acted as an educational consultant at private schools in Cyprus, covering English Language and Literature and World History at GCSE and A-Level and IELTS and university admissions at Sixth Form. She convened book clubs and drama groups to enrich the extracurricular activities offered to students. In addition, she volunteered with the women’s organisation KAYAD, helping teenagers and adults take their first steps into the English language.

Having taken translation studies at postgraduate level, Hazal participated in government-funded cultural projects working as a translator, editor, and community interpreter. She participated in the running of seminars on domestic violence in collaboration with the former first lady of Northern Cyprus and acclaimed international speakers, mediating cross-lingual communication. Recently, she has embarked on a new project of translating the biography and memoirs of the Turkish Cypriot artist Ismet Vehit Guney, who designed the modern Cypriot flag.

Since her teenage years, Hazal has enjoyed acrylic painting and art history and has taken part in art exhibitions. She writes poetry, and her work has been published in literary magazines. During holidays, Hazal frequents the hotspots of the Caribbean and Balearics and spends her free time exercising or listening to jazz.

Teaching Experience & Approach

Hazal works as a private tutor and educational consultant, delivering approximately 35 hours of in-person and online tuition each week. Her in-person lessons mainly take place in West London, e.g., Chelsea, Kensington, Holland Park, Acton, and Ealing, often taking on siblings at different levels and overseeing all academic progress; in tandem with that, she carries out regular online tuition to students across the UK, China, Hong Kong, Russia, and Qatar.

With over 10 years’ experience in education, Hazal supports students ranging from primary school to university and beyond. She has expert knowledge covering 7+ to 16+ entrance, scholarship exams and interview prep, and her students have won places at Harrow, Winchester, City of London, Latymer Upper, Dulwich Prep and Dulwich College, Francis Holland, Merchant Taylors’, Bolton School, and Perse School. She proficiently delivers all core subjects up to Key Stage 2 and while she specialises in English, she also tutors Art History and Philosophy in preparation for GCSE, A-Level and the IB exams.

With experience at all academic levels, Hazal maintains strong ties with her clients, seeing many through the entirety of the school system. For over a year, she has been tutoring English and Maths at Key Stages 1 and 2 and A-Level English, Art History, and university admissions whilst working with three children in one family. Further, she monitors their academic progress, liaising with schoolteachers and other tutors to ensure the children receive the best support in preparation for school and university applications.

She enjoys giving a push to her students and firmly believes that every child has the potential to succeed. One of her success stories comes from a primary school student who considered English his archenemy. After a few months of weekly online tutorials during the pandemic, the student published his first compilation of poetry. He expanded the project further by dedicating the proceeds to a charity that aided families affected during the lockdown. During that time, Hazal acted as his editor and prepared him for numerous interviews held by renowned media organisations, including the BBC and ITV, which invited him on their radio programmes. With the continuation of English lessons, the student also won a full scholarship, securing entry into his first choice of school.

At all academic levels, Hazal homes in on critical thinking and writing skills and encourages students to explore their own narratives. Having first read English and subsequently Comparative Literature, Hazal seamlessly transfers an extensive knowledge of textual information and literary theory over to secondary school and degree-level tuition. Most of her students notice a huge difference after a session or two in their ability and confidence to discuss topics within the classroom cohort and the way they perceive a piece of text.

Due to the nature of her voluntary work and previous teaching roles in schools, Hazal has been through extensive child safety training programmes and her DBS is updated each year. As an active tutor over the past decade, she has engaged with students diagnosed with autism and dyslexia who required specific teaching methods suitable to their learning. She regularly revises and refines her knowledge on how to assist special needs students and has been able to successfully help previous tutees improve their grades in a short period of time.

Throughout her academic experience, Hazal has been extremely fortunate to meet educators who cared for her learning as much as her parents. Their guidance and pastoral support have had significant effects on her motivation while growing up and even after she took tutoring as a professional career. Owing to their contribution, Hazal values the importance of quality education and the impact it makes at any level. Therefore, she endeavours to mirror their inspiration while working with her students.

Why Tutoring?

My sole motivation is to know that each generation bears a promise of a better future through mediators such as teachers. Any contribution I can make to the development of a young individual fills my heart with hope and optimism. I value intellectual and cerebral growth and observe that societies which develop critical thinking and artistic skills offer happier and more stable futures. Further, I believe that through literature, art, and critical thinking, we become more human, more responsible, and better people even. This is why I devote most of my time and energy to teaching.

Testimonials

“Hazal had an excellent relationship with our daughter since day 1. She has made English enjoyable and interesting for our daughter who has a very short attention span. We are very pleased to be working with her and feel confident that we are well-prepared for the 11+ exams.”
Parent of 11 Plus student, London Consortium candidate

“Hazal has worked as a tutor for the family for the last 6 months and we have noticed real progress with both girls since she started. We contacted Hazal to focus on English and 11+ preparation for a 9-year-old girl attending Garden House school in Chelsea. As English is not her first language, she needed lots of support with extending her vocabulary, improving her spelling, comprehension and creative writing. From the first lesson, they had a great bond. Hazal is warm, funny but also firm when she needs to be, this means that Michelle is always keen to go to her lessons and spend time with her. Michelle has made great progress since they started working together at the beginning of the year. Hazal is always encouraging, and her teaching style motivates Michelle to try her best and work hard. They have been working with a variety of materials to help Michelle improve in all aspects of her English and also start working towards her 11+ exams. Hazal always provides a detailed progress report at the end of each month to show which areas they have focused on and what progress has been made Hazal has also started to work with Michelle’s elder sister in preparation for her English Literature A-Level exams. She has helped her a great deal and she is also very happy with her work. She has helped her build her confidence in an area in which she was previously struggling, and they will continue to work together until her final exams.”
Parent of two girls, 11 Plus and A-Level

“We contacted Hazal in preparation for 11+ English, Reasoning, and interview prep. Hazal did a great job in preparing our daughter for the exam. She was friendly, professional and exposed Alicia to a variety of exam-style questions in preparation for the exam. Furthermore, our daughter has become more confident whilst working with Hazal and secured offers from Godolphin, North London Collegiate, Putney High, City of London, and Francis Holland. We are very pleased!”
Parent of 11 Plus student, secured offers from Godolphin, North London Collegiate, Putney High, City of London, and Francis Holland

“Hazal taught my son English and Verbal Reasoning. She is a committed tutor who taught enthusiastically and in a manner that maintained my son’s interest. She was always so generous with her time and built a lovely relationship with my son, which ensured he really enjoyed the lessons. My son has secured places at Merchant Taylors’ and Mill Hill.”
Parent of 11 Plus student, secured offers from Merchant Taylor’s and Mill Hill

“Hazal is a great tutor! She is knowledgeable and well prepared; I highly recommend her. Only after 3 lessons my sons test results improved at school, and she is helping with the ISEB 11 + preparation and Latymer School Admissions”
Parent of 11 Plus student

“I have reached out to Hazal to get help prior to my son’s 11+ exams. Our first choice is Westminster, and we were looking for someone to help our son improve his inference and descriptive writing skills. Hazal has been able to offer a wealth of resources – despite the fact that we have exhausted anything that was available online and in print. Hazal has been incredible at teaching inference and writing skills to our son and we have been very happy with his progress. We highly recommend her as an 11+ tutor.”
Parent of 11 Plus student, secured place at Westminster School

“Hazal has been a phenomenal teacher and offered me incredible support throughout my English Literature AS course. Not only has her sophisticated arguments and critical perspectives helped me better understand and evaluate the texts we were studying but at the same time, the eloquence of her speech and concision of her ideas has helped elevate my writing as a whole. What Hazal has taught me goes beyond understanding and analysing the set texts, she has provided me with the skills to formulate my own arguments and to scrutinise the meaning behind different literary pieces. It is truly a pleasure to attend her lessons in which we engage in thoughtful discussions over the text and practice writing techniques.” ­
English Literature A-Level Student

“I have been working with Hazal for just over 2 months and I’ve already noticed a huge difference in my writing and ability to discuss literature; she is very patient and encourages me to share all of my ideas. We go over the material that will help me in exams, but she also gives tips that improve my performance in class. In that sense, I find our lessons incredibly helpful to build confidence. Hazal is very passionate about literature and committed to delivering quality education. She is well-informed about the syllabus, and I always look forward to our lessons! Overall, Hazal is truly such a good teacher and a very kind person, which is more than I could have hoped for.”
English Language and Literature International Baccalaureate Student

“Hazal has been an incredible help over the past two years! I first consulted her to seek help with a philosophy paper I was to write on the theory of the sublime. Having attained the highest mark in our cohort after having a couple of sessions with Hazal, I decided to work with her during my third year. She has been a great help while I was writing my dissertation – not only in terms of teaching English and guiding my writing but also by providing a wealth of knowledge in postcolonial theory and phenomenology, which has enriched my third-year papers. I cannot recommend her highly enough!”
Architecture BA Student