Background

Having received university offers from Oxford, Durham, UCL, KCL, Bristol and McGill, Sajjad

graduated with first-class honours in International History from LSE, having previously attended University College School in London (A-Levels: Pre-U French (A*), History (A), Pre-U English (A). GCSEs: History (A*), Latin (A*), English Lit (A*), English  Lang (A*), Maths (A), French (A*), Spanish (A*), Biology (A*), Chemistry (A*), Physics (A*)).

At the LSE he studied Napoleon, Russian history, Far Eastern history, US history, the extra-European world in the 20th Century and other topics of Early Modern history. His dissertation was on Japanese opium production during WW2. Sajjad’s A Level History (Edexcel) topics included American Dream: The USA, c1917-96, India, c1914-48: “the road to independence” and Rebellion and Disorder under the Tudors 1485-1603.

Sajjad has worked as a Research Assistant at the Phelan United States Centre, looking at 1970s US history with a focus on Henry Kissinger, has worked as a Legal Assistant and has helped direct a food startup in London. He is currently working towards a career in historical documentaries.

Outside of work Sajjad likes to play as much sport as possible, has a particular fondness for American sports and loves the opportunity to throw a football around at the park.

Teaching experience & Approach

Examples of Sajjad’s experience include supervising two younger children (year 2 and 4), primarily with their English homework, always maintaining a degree of fun in the sessions – a key skill when tutoring younger pupils. He has guided an IGCSE History pupil to an A* grade through a complete understanding of the styles of answers required for each type of exam question. He has tutored an A-Level History student, focusing on source analysis and essay structure to maximise scores and overseeing the progress of their coursework – they achieved an A grade, and relying on strong communication skills, Sajjad assisted two Spanish students in English (KS3 and iGCSE).

Why Tutoring?

I enjoy teaching and I consider private tuition to be a highly important aspect of academic success. I consider strong relationships with clients to be fundamental to successful tuition as a tutee needs to have faith that the extra time they are investing will amount to positive results.

I believe what makes me an excellent tutor is my own previous experiences as a tutee. I recognise that for many students, studying can be tiresome and additional lessons outside of school can be seen as even more tedious. I therefore believe that for younger students, it is necessary to make the sessions interactive and more fun in order for them to engage positively with their work, which in turn delivers positive results. For older students, it is essential to work on what the students feel they need help with. By GCSE age and older, a tutor should be a support figure who can advise on the more complex academic problems a student may face. Just as my former tutors did with me, I believe reviewing essays and explaining the methods of improving are fundamental to how a student can achieve the highest scores and be proud of their work.

My favourite book is Zadig by Voltaire