Aiden O'Connor

GCSE & A-Level Tutor, former Pearson Examiner

Aiden O'Connor has been tutoring GCSE and A-Level students in Greater Manchester for over ten years, focusing on Mathematics, Physics and English Literature. He spent four years as a Senior Examiner for Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics, marking over 4,000 scripts and chairing standardisation meetings — giving him a granular understanding of mark schemes and examiner expectations that he now channels directly into his teaching and writing. Aiden trained at the University of Manchester (BSc Mathematics First Class Honours, PGCE Secondary Mathematics and Physics at Manchester Metropolitan University) and later collaborated with Manchester City of Learning on a blended-learning pilot that reduced revision session drop-out by 34% across three secondary schools in Salford. He writes about GCSE and A-Level revision strategy, OCR and AQA past-paper analysis, and how to decode mark scheme language to maximise method marks. His specialty topics include non-calculator Paper 1 fluency for GCSE Edexcel, algebraic proof and circle theorems for Higher tier, and examination technique for Year 11 students targeting grade boundaries between 5 and 7. He is a strong proponent of interleaved practice over blocked revision, citing Robert Bjork's desirable difficulties research, and has written a 16-page guide on spaced practice for mathematics that is distributed free to students at three Manchester secondary schools. Outside tutoring, he volunteers as a STEM ambassador with the Raspberry Pi Foundation. He also mentors newly qualified mathematics teachers across Greater Manchester, focusing on mark-scheme fluency and the practical vocabulary of examiner expectations that university subject training rarely covers in adequate depth.