One-to-One Tuition
  • University Admissions Tests Preparation £125/hour

    STEP, MAT, TMUA and others.

  • A Level Maths and Further Maths Tuition £125/hour

    For UK and International A Levels.

  • Interview Preparation and Mock Interviews £125/hour

    Both Oxbridge and non-Oxbridge interview preparation for Mathematics and Mathematics-related courses.

  • Personal Statement and UCAS Application Help £125/hour

    For Maths and Maths-related courses.

Book a Lesson

My name is Nicole Taylor (creator of NextStepMaths.com); I’m a Mathematics Graduate from the University of Cambridge and a STEP marker.

I have always been actively engaged in outreach and online tuition. The enjoyment of helping students to achieve their academic goals and succeed, whether that be with A Levels, University Admissions tests, UCAS Applications or University Interviews, is what motivates me to create the resources and content on this website, as well as offer one-to-one tuition. 

 I am a firm believer of hard work and practice, practice, practice. In my opinion, anyone with the right mindset and work ethic can achieve top grades. All it takes is an effective approach, a good attitude and sometimes guidance and support – which is where my one-to-one tuition comes in. It is my job to help introduce an effective structure into your revision and work, enhance your understanding of material and fill gaps in knowledge, develop your problem solving skills and mathematical intuition, but most importantly, to give you the self-confidence to put in the work and feel well prepared for your exams. 

I graduated in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge, notoriously the hardest mathematics degree in the UK, with a 2.1. You can see my Part II exam break down and certification of degree below.

I achieved 4 A*’s at A-Level in Maths (283/300), Further Maths (288/300), Chemistry and Physics, along with all A*’s and 9’s at GCSE. I sat STEP 2 and STEP 3 in which I achieved 1,1 respectively and sat TMUA where I scored 8.4 overall (with a 9 in the first paper). Additionally, in my first three further maths papers, I scored 75/75, 74/75 and 74/75,  so I know exactly what it is students need to do in order to gain top marks in their A Levels and University Admissions tests.

Throughout my degree and beyond, I have gained a variety of tutoring and mentoring experience:

  • For the last 3 years, I have been offering private online tuition for A Level Maths and Further Maths, Entrance Exams (such as STEP, MAT and TMUA) and Cambridge Interview Preparation. During this time, I have honed my use of technology so that the sessions I provide are of a top quality standard and feel just as authentic and interactive as in-person tuition.  Additionally, I have built up a bank of invaluable resources (some of which are offered for free on my website), so that the students I tutor have an excellent variety of questions and problems to work through. 
  • During my degree, I was an Access Mentor as part of an outreach programme (Slipstream, formally known as Project Access), which is dedicated to increasing the number of students from state schools and disadvantaged backgrounds admitted into Cambridge. In this role, I worked with both prospective applicants in year 12 and current offer holders in year 13. With the applicants, I helped with their personal statements and strengthening their application, interview preparation, mock interviews and in some cases, STEP preparation for those who were very keen. For the offer holders, I supported them with STEP preparation: working through STEP questions and highlighting key tips and tricks for several styles and types of STEP question, thus allowing them to perform much more strongly in the exam.
  • In the second year of my degree, I was assigned the role of Mathematics Gateway Adviser for Murray Edwards College’s Gateway Programme where I mentored the first year mathematics students at Murray Edwards College. This involved supporting them both academically, offering subject-specific advice, and pastorally, ensuring that they didn’t suffer from “imposter syndrome” and that they felt like they belonged at the University of Cambridge.
  • In the summer of 2021, I volunteered at Murray Edwards College STEP Summer School, supporting Year 12 students with mathematical problems and offering advice about university applications and personal statements.
  • I marked the 2022 STEP 2 and STEP 3 papers, so have seen first hand the pitfalls students fall into, the common mistakes and I know what makes a good STEP solution.

My hourly rate for online tuition is £125 per hour long session.  You may notice that my rates are higher than those of other tutors. This is because it reflects my qualifications in having graduated from the University of Cambridge with a 2.1 in Mathematics, and my experience in successfully helping students in all aspects of the admissions process to top universities; whether it be preparing them for the admissions tests, coaching them for the interview or helping them achieve the qualifications they need to meet their offer. Just read my reviews to see what my students and their parents have to say about my teaching.

In addition, the support I offer to my students doesn’t end once the lesson is over – I am happy to answer questions from students in between sessions, over email or WhatsApp.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a free taster session to see whether my online 1-1 tuition is the right choice for you, please use the “Book a Lesson” button at the top of the page which will direct you to my enquiry form below. I will respond via your preferred contact method as soon as possible.

One of the most important things to ask yourself when looking for tuition for you/your son/your daughter is whether online tuition is the best option for you. As a result, I have written an article which covers this, as well as explaining how online tuition works and what equipment you need so that you can make an informed decision when enquiring about tuition. I also cover what students should do in and outside of online lessons to ensure they get the most out of them. Read the article here.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange an initial taster session and/or book a lesson, please fill out the enquiry form below and I will contact you as soon as possible via your preferred method of contact.    

Every tutor has their own unique style of teaching and how they approach the topics they teach. For this reason, I have detailed below my personal approach to each in the drop down menu:

I have an entire page dedicated to my STEP Tuition, so please see here for more information on how the sessions would work.

Many students believe that since part of MAT is multiple choice, that it is an easier admissions test. However, each one is a problem solving exercise and it is important to tackle each efficiently. With one-to-one tuition, you will learn the best approach for answering these multiple choice questions, helping to maximise your total mark as well as giving you more time to spend on the longer and more involved questions later in the paper.

We will work through both the multiple choice and long answer questions in depth, developing your problem solving techniques and building your confidence when tackling questions, thus enabling you to perform much more strongly in the exam.

I am often asked whether I offer tuition for the computer science questions in MAT, and the answer is yes, I do. Computer science and maths have a large overlap, especially in MAT where there is almost a more mathematical and algorithmic approach to the questions. As a result, I can help you with the logical reasoning behind these often challenging questions.

My sessions take place over zoom, with the use of an online interactive whiteboard which allows both the student and I to write real-time and work through questions, feeling as authentic as in-person tuition.  At the end of each session you will receive a copy of the neat lesson notes and homework will be set for the following session – often the work you do to consolidate outside of the sessions has the biggest impact on your success. In addition, my support does not end at the end of a lesson, I am happy to answer any questions my students have in between sessions via WhatsApp or email.

Many students believe that since TMUA is entirely multiple choice that it is an easy entrance exam to score highly on. However, each question is a problem solving exercise and many questions require a competent understanding of mathematical language. With one-to-one tuition, you will learn how to understand the technicalities of relevant mathematical terms (for example, necessary and sufficient) and develop your problem solving skills, preparing you for the exam. We will work through the multiple choice questions in depth, filling gaps in knowledge and honing your ability to apply maths you’ve learned to new situations.

My sessions take place over zoom, with the use of an online interactive whiteboard which allows both the student and I to write real-time and work through questions, feeling as authentic as in-person tuition.  At the end of each session you will receive a copy of the neat lesson notes and homework will be set for the following session – often the work you do to consolidate outside of the sessions has the biggest impact on your success. In addition, my support does not end at the end of a lesson, I am happy to answer any questions my students have in between sessions via WhatsApp or email.

Achieving top grades in A Level Maths comes from effective preparation and practice. With focused one-to-one tuition, I can help you improve your understanding of concepts taught to you in lessons, fill gaps in your mathematical knowledge, guide you towards the work you should be doing outside of lessons so that you can master each topic and help you to structure your revision, thus allowing you to reach the A/A* grades.

I achieved 283/300 (A*) in my A Level Maths exams and 288/300 (A*) in my A Level Further Maths exams, so I know from experience how to gain almost every mark in an exam and what revision techniques are the most successful for achieving top grades. But more importantly, I know how to support you so that you can do the same.

We will work through a significant number of practise exercises and exam questions, both routine and challenging, developing both your confidence and good exam technique. It isn’t enough to just know the maths; you need to be able to successfully apply the techniques in a range of contexts, giving clear and well-structured answers that hit all the points on the mark scheme. 

My sessions take place over zoom, with the use of an online interactive whiteboard which allows both the student and I to write real-time and work through questions, feeling as authentic as in-person tuition.  At the end of each session you will receive a copy of the neat lesson notes and homework will be set for the following session – often the work you do to consolidate outside of the sessions has the biggest impact on your success. In addition, my support does not end at the end of a lesson, I am happy to answer any questions my students have in between sessions via WhatsApp or email.

Achieving top grades in A Level Further Maths comes from effective preparation and practice. With focused one-to-one tuition, I can help you improve your understanding of concepts taught to you in lessons, fill gaps in your mathematical knowledge, guide you towards the work you should be doing outside of lessons so that you can master each topic and help you to structure your revision, thus allowing you to reach the A/A* grades.

I achieved  288/300 (A*) in my A Level Further Maths exams, so I know from experience how to gain almost every mark in an exam and what revision techniques are the most successful for achieving top grades. But more importantly, I know how to support you so that you can do the same.

We will work through a significant number of practise exercises and exam questions, both routine and challenging, developing both your confidence and good exam technique. It isn’t enough to just know the maths; you need to be able to successfully apply the techniques in a range of contexts, giving clear and well-structured answers that hit all the points on the mark scheme. 

My sessions take place over zoom, with the use of an online interactive whiteboard which allows both the student and I to write real-time and work through questions, feeling as authentic as in-person tuition.  At the end of each session you will receive a copy of the neat lesson notes and homework will be set for the following session – often the work you do to consolidate outside of the sessions has the biggest impact on your success. In addition, my support does not end at the end of a lesson, I am happy to answer any questions my students have in between sessions via WhatsApp or email.

Starting a personal statement is often the hardest part, but an extra dimension of difficulty is added when the statement has to be tailored to an elite university. Having been through the process myself and having successfully helped many students do the same, I have the expertise to give you the head start you need to get your application UCAS-ready within the tight time frame required for Oxford and Cambridge. 

This process is especially difficult for non-UK students who may not be used to this system, especially when English is not their first language. I can help with the nuances of the English language, help to improve sentence structure so that your personal statement reads more  academic and professional, as well as assisting with what content the top universities want to see in your application.

If you would like help with writing, editing or proof-reading your personal statement / UCAS Application, please use the “Book a Lesson” button at the top of the page.

Preparing for a Maths Interview at Cambridge can be daunting, but with the right type of preparation and support, you can significantly improve your chances of performing highly in them.

As someone who has experienced the whole Cambridge interview process and has supported handfuls of students through interviews, I know first hand what to expect from an interview, what qualities interviewers are looking for in applicants and many top tips for a strong interview. 

With this one-to-one preparation, you will be exposed to carefully selected questions, similar to the style of Cambridge Interview questions to help develop your problem-solving techniques and mathematical intuition. In addition, after each session you will receive a copy of the session notes plus comprehensive feedback so that you know what to work on and can improve your performance in future sessions. You will be challenged similarly to how you would in a Cambridge interview, thus in turn maximising your chances of a strong performance in your interview.

My sessions take place over zoom, with the use of an online interactive whiteboard which allows both the student and I to write real-time and work through questions, feeling as authentic as in-person tuition.  In addition, my support does not end at the end of a session, I am happy to answer any questions my students have in between sessions via WhatsApp or email. 

Reviews