Oxford Science Studies Summer Revision Courses

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Summer Revision Courses
Why Choose Oxford Science Studies? With new revision courses springing up around the UK each year, how can you chose between them and find the right course for you? Here are some questions we would expect to be asked. What is the average group size? Our average group size during our last three revision courses over the past 12 months is just under three students to one tutor. We believe this is the smallest in the UK. For this year’s Easter courses we expect the average group size to be between 3 and 4 students. What is the maximum group size? Our maximum group size is 7 students, although this rarely occurs and would only be necessary for a few core tutorials during the course. Are the A-level courses exam board specific? Yes. This does not necessarily mean that each tutorial will be exclusively geared towards one exam board, as there is often considerable over-lap between different exam boards. However, we guarantee that every tutorial will cover topics from the specific exam boards and modules selected by each student. If we are not absolutely certain that all students in a group are compatible, we will prefer to separate the group and teach by individual tuition if necessary. To illustrate how seriously we take this, over 30% of our classes are taught by individual tuition, mostly in the non-sciences. Unlike most revision course providers, any of our students receiving individual tuition will not have their contact hours reduced or their tuition fees increased. Can you put me in touch with any previous students? If, after having read this information, you have any doubts regarding the quality of our courses, we will be glad to put you in touch with students who studied the same subjects as you during one of our previous revision courses during the last year. About half of our new customers find us via family and friends' recommendations, so we do not need to be too selective as to whose name we give you! What about CIFE? We are sometimes asked why we are not members of an organisation called CIFE, the Conference for Independent Further Education. This is the professional association for the 34 private sixth form and tutorial colleges in the UK which operate throughout the year. The executive committee of CIFE is made up of the Principals of some of these colleges. CIFE does not include specialist providers of revision courses, such as ourselves. What the students say During the past 12 months we have run three revision courses during the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays, with nearly 300 students in attendance. Here is what they thought of our courses.

	Good	Fair	Poor

Overall impression of course	98%	2%	0%

Quality of teaching	100%	0%	0%

Relationship with tutors	96%	4%	0%

Improvement in exam grades	95%	5%	0%

Overall enjoyment	95%	5%	1%

	Yes	Maybe	No

Would you recommend OXSS?	96%	4%	0%

What the papers say From The Daily Telegraph, 15th December 2001, page 15. Parents & education section, 'Any questions' column: A reader writes: Could you recommend an A-level revision course over the Christmas holidays? John Clare, Education Editor replies: A four-day course starting on January 2 and covering most subjects at GCSE and A-level, is offered by Oxford Science Studies, a well-established and reputable body. Teaching, mostly by Oxford graduates, in classes no bigger than six, covers the core elements of each subject, with an emphasis on study skills and exam technique." Our Summer School was featured in The Independent last year, (12th April 2001, page 9) in an article entitled "Summertime and the studying is easy": "For students who know which university they want to go to but are nervous about passing their exams there are plenty of crammer courses that offer the chance to improve revision techniques. Dr Mario Peters runs the Oxford Summer School and provides a selection of intensive revision courses for sixth-form and GCSE students. He finds that there is a big demand for his courses. "The days of cramming three or four A-level subjects into the end of a two-year course are a thing of the past, and by sacrificing one or two weeks of their holidays, students can return to school primed and full of confidence." Teaching is based on the tutorial system employed by Oxford University involving small study groups each with their own tutor. "We really try and focus on individual students. We find out which modules they want to do and pick out topics." Yasmeen Aslam, 18, went to the Oxford Summer School for a week's intensive revision programme. She was given tuition in Chemistry and Biology and stayed at Somerville College for a week. She decided to do the course because she was about to enter the last year of her A-levels and wanted to start the next year prepared and able to grasp concepts. She thinks it was a worthwhile experience. "The tuition was fabulous. I got an A in one of my modules in January and a lot of the exam techniques I learnt there I applied. Also I had quite a few problems last year with organising my time and I learnt about time management.


	Student Testimonials "I am writing to you to thank you. I attended your revision course during the Easter holidays aimed at GCSE students. I studied Chemistry and Physics and I found it helped me enormously as the lectures clarified many aspects of these subjects, which I found to be the weakest of my GCSE subjects. I am pleased to inform you that I achieved As in both of these subjects. As a dyslexic I find revision hard, with so much information to take in at once. The course helped me revise all my subjects allowing me to apply the skill I learnt by breaking down subjects into smaller sections. This helped me so much I achieved 3 A*s, 5 As and 3 Bs at GCSE which I am thrilled with. Without the revision course I do not think I would have gained the confidence in my science subjects and would not have done so well, therefore I would like to thank you. I appreciate the hard work that you put into running the course as it has helped me and I am sure it has helped many other students like myself " (Francesa K, Buckingham)