3rd year medical student with 3210/band 1 UCAT score, teaching UCAT to any level!

Find out more about Ilyas

• 1) When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  I began tutoring for a local company in Oxford in April 2024, and I really valued the ability to help students with their goals/learning, and seeing real improvement was incredibly rewarding for me.
  
  From this point, I wanted to shift my focus onto aiding students with medical exams/applications (such as UCAT/interview prep), as it is such a competitive process. I enjoy helping to strenghten their chances of achieving their goal of medical school, which I was fortunate enough to do myself.

• 2) Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  Within my science teaching, I specialise in chemistry/biology (as I took these forward to A level and currently attend medical school), so my knowledge in these topics is extremely in depth and relevant.
  
  In terms of UCAT/interview prep, I base my lessons on the students needs, and previous progress/difficulties. This means I can provide the most amount of help to each individual student, maximising scores and confidence in the examination modality.

• 3) Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  My greatest role model would be my mum!! I was so lucky to be so supported by her throughout my application process, and I often reflect on how important meaningful/gentle encouragement is in studies.

• 4) What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  As said before, I feel providing good quality and thoughtful support is extremely important. Anyone can read information off a power point, but what makes a teacher valuable is their ability to understand the particular students needs, and channel this into effective education.

• 5) Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  The one that comes to mind is my experience of UCAT revision myself, where close to the exam I actually burnt myself out and had to take a full day off revision. This is an important lesson I tell my students, as I constantly stress the value of ‘work smart not hard’ (as cliché as it is!), and it has helped me tailor my advice to avoid this happening to others!

• 6) What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or still facing in your subject?

  As mentioned above, the difficulty I faced was not pushing myself too hard in regards to revision, and being able to take time away from work. In the long run, I have learnt a good work-life balance allows for more effective learning (but when I was in school, this was often a struggle for me!!).

• 7) Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  My biggest passion is probably physical activity. I have been going to the gym for many years, and at university frequently play football/tennis/squash. I also recently got into running (and am currently training for my first half marathon!!)

• 8) What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

  I think the fact I have managed to help a wide range of students in the past has allowed me to learn the best way I teach, and the best way students with different needss learn.
  
  I feel confident that I can do my best to help students from any situation to excel in their studies, and love seeing things go well for them! :))