My favourite tutoring memory of 2025 starts with one of my Year 10 maths students, Oscar. Specifically, a topic we conquered that used to completely shut him down; index laws. In his half yearly exam he completely stuffed them up, and knew it. Every time they came up, you could feel the hesitation. He would second guess himself, rush, and almost expect to be wrong before he even started. It was easily his weakest area, and more than that, it was something he had quietly decided he was just not good at.

So, we slowed everything down and changed the way we worked on it. We took the pressure off getting the answer right and focused just on the process. We isolated index laws and stayed there, rather than jumping between different topics. He talked me through every step out loud, and I corrected his misunderstandings in real time. I made him explain his reasoning back to me so that he could start trusting his own thinking. We also completed very intentional homework and targeted questions; everything had a purpose. With that level of focused work, it would have actually been really difficult for index laws to not become his strongest suit.

Week by week we could see the changes; fewer silly mistakes, more willingness to have a go and less fear when exponents appeared on the page. The improvements were quiet but consistent, and his confidence grew naturally alongside his skills.

By the time his yearly exam came around, index laws were no longer a problem. In fact, they were his best area!! He did better in them than in anything else and by the end, watching him move through those questions calmly and confidently was one of those moments that really stuck with me. Not because of the mark, but because of the belief shift I watched happen inside him, in real time.

He started trusting himself, he spoke with more certainty and began backing his answers more instead of apologising for them. That confidence didn’t just stay in his maths, either. It showed up in how he carried himself into our lessons and in how he spoke to me.

Honestly, it’s the best part about tutoring. Yes, we help our students do better in their exams but ultimately, we’re really helping them change how they see themselves. When our students turn their weakest points into their strongest, the academic growth is legit, but the personal growth is even more powerful.

Thomas Koutavas