A team of qualified tutors, each teaching their own subject, one to one and online. Every session is built around seeing the pattern behind past-paper questions: the same handful of moves, dressed up differently every year. From £25 an hour, and no lock-in.
First session free · no card needed · full refund if you’re not happy after the first month
The subject changes; the pattern rarely does. If any of these sound like your evenings, that's the normal starting point — not a sign anything has gone badly wrong.
Homework is fine, the textbook is fine, then the exam question is phrased differently and everything falls apart.
One topic didn't land in October, and everything since has been built on top of that gap.
Hours of re-reading notes and copying out worked examples, with the same mark coming back each time.
Higher Maths and Physics are a long way from most parents' school days, and trying often ends in an argument.
The confidence goes before the marks do, and after that they stop trying the hard questions at all.
A grade nobody expected, a few months until the exam, and no clear plan for what to actually do about it.
Almost none of this is about ability. It's about not recognising what a question is asking for, and that is a teachable skill.
Twelve subjects, primary through to Advanced Higher. Sessions run online over video with a shared whiteboard, so location doesn't matter.
Algebra, trigonometry, calculus and the exam technique that turns method marks into full marks.
Mechanics, electricity and waves, taught as problem types you learn to recognise on sight.
Bonding, moles and reaction rates, with the calculation questions drilled until they are routine.
Cell biology and genetics, plus how to structure extended-response answers the marker can actually award.
Software design, data representation and databases, with real code rather than just theory.
Systems, electronics and mechanisms, taught by someone studying engineering at degree level.
Critical essays, textual analysis and folio work, approached the same way as everything else here: what is the question actually asking, and what does the marker need to see.
Source questions carry a fixed set of command words, and each one wants a specific shape of answer. Learn the shapes and the marks follow.
Politics, social issues and international relations, with the source-handling technique that decides most of the paper.
Physical and human geography, plus the map and diagram skills that are worth easy marks once they are drilled.
Case-study papers reward structure over recall: know the command words, apply theory to the business in front of you, and the marks are there.
The portfolio carries most of the marks, and the written studies paper rewards a structure you can learn. We work on both.
I founded Magpie Tuition and I still teach on it. Each tutor here teaches their own subjects in their own right, all to the same lesson structure. I will tell you at the free session exactly who your child would be matched with, and why.
Founder & tutor · MEng Structural & Fire Safety Engineering, University of Edinburgh
Lead tutor · MEng Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, University of Edinburgh
Tutor · Architecture, University of Edinburgh
My son was struggling with Higher Maths and Physics to the point his school projected a fail. With Rayan’s excellent tutoring approach, he easily passed both subjects… often went the extra mile to provide extra support in the form of marking past papers and working past his allocated time slot.
I have not studied maths in over 14 years and Rayan has been super helpful and patience as a tutor. I also can contact him when studying alone and stuck on a question, he is very quick to respond. Rayan has made the lessons motivating and showed me I can do it.
My daughter has attended tuition sessions for the last 12 months. Rayan has definitely helped building my daughter’s confidence in maths to another level thanks to his fantastic tutoring, encouragement and support. My daughter will carry on these sessions.
No minimum commitment. Pay per session, cancel with 24 hours' notice, and the rate never changes mid-term. And if you're not happy after the first month, you get a full refund.
The FAQs below are the ones that come up most. If yours isn't here, the free session is the place for it.
Yes, and in some ways better. Sessions run over video with a shared whiteboard, so for maths and the sciences we are both writing on the same working at the same time, and for the essay subjects we can mark up the same text together. Everything we do is saved and sent afterwards for revision. There's no travel at either end, which makes a weekly slot far easier to keep during a busy term.
That's the normal starting point. The first session is diagnostic, and in most cases what looks like "behind in everything" turns out to be one or two specific gaps that everything since has been stacked on top of. We fix those first, and the rest tends to come back faster than expected.
Yes. I'm a member of the PVG scheme for regulated work with children. The free session is always with me, and I'll tell you directly if another tutor on the team would be a better fit for a particular subject or level.
No. There's no contract and no minimum. Pay per session, cancel any week with 24 hours' notice. A block of ten is available at 10% off if you'd prefer to pay upfront, but it's entirely optional.
It costs nothing and needs no card details. We look at where they're struggling, what the school has said, and what a realistic target looks like from here. By the end you'll know whether it's a fit, and if I don't think tuition is the right answer, I'll tell you that. If you do go ahead and aren't happy after the first month, you get a full refund.
Either works. Plenty of parents prefer a first conversation on their own, especially if confidence is part of the problem. If your child does join, it's a low-pressure chat rather than any kind of assessment.
Rarely too late, but the work changes. With a term or more we can properly rebuild the underlying topics. With a few weeks the focus shifts almost entirely to past papers, marking-scheme technique and the highest-frequency question types, which is where the quickest gains sit anyway.
Yes. Access courses, career changes and college entry requirements all come up regularly, and there's no upper age limit on any of it.
A laptop or tablet, a reasonable internet connection, and ideally headphones. A graphics tablet is a nice extra but not required. A phone camera to photograph written working does the job perfectly well.
A free first session to see if we're the right fit, with no obligation. Message Rayan on WhatsApp or send a quick enquiry and we'll set up a time that suits you. We reply within a day.
Not happy after the first month? You get a full refund.
Fastest way to ask a quick question about a level, a time, or whether it's a fit.
Message on WhatsAppOpens a chat with a message ready to send.