Student Testimonials

"[Tuition] helped with motivation and preparation for exams and exam study. Learned better study techniques. Got a lot more done throughout the year and coming up to exams than if I hadn't done tutoring."

Year 13 Student, December 2009
Level 3 Biology, Chemistry, Physics & Statistics

“I think that without the tuition I received, I wouldn't have been able to get the grades that I did. For example, through tuition, I learned how to write NCEA answers in a concise way. This helped me to save time on the exam and gave me extra time at the end to re-check all of my answers.”

Ellen, January 2014
Year 13, Level 3 Biology, Calculus, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics

“Anna was brilliant and knew A LOT about physics. As she knows the NCEA system, she was able to help me plan out how I would answer a question and where to start, something I find particularly difficult in physics.
Something I find annoying at school is that in physics they don't tell you why a theory is the case, we are just expected to remember. Anna was able to explain why more than my teacher.”

Emma, January 2016
Year 13, Physics

“I learnt techniques on how to approach complex calculus questions, exam tips but mostly I learnt the methods required for answering questions. Calculus went from being the subject I struggled the most in compared to others and only getting achieved in the internal to me receiving the award for the top Calculus student in my class, getting all prelim exams at merit and passing all of my external papers.”

Alex, January 2016
Year 13, Calculus

"[My son] found going over the specific areas that he didn't understand [helpful]...again the ability to personalise teaching to his specific learning needs."

Mother of student December 2009
Year 12, Level 2 Chemistry

"Everything that Mel went over with me is so much clearer now. She went into detail to help me grasp the concepts I was struggling with. I felt a lot more confident going into my exams as a result of Mel's help. I am also fairly confident that my NCEA marks will have improved from my mock exams when I hadn't had any tuition from Mel."

Alice Christensen, December 2008
Year 12, Level 2 Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics

“Thanks Melanie, Jedd has done very well with English this year and has enjoyed his tutoring with Blake and English at school - which is a huge achievement!

We are keen for Jedd to have English tutoring again next year so please put him on your list of students who want tutoring.”

Jedd’s mother Stephanie, November 2015
Year 10, English

“My aim was to better my external scores and pass all of the papers in physics. Tutoring meant that I did a lot better in my externals than I thought I would- I thought I wouldn't pass any of them, but I passed all of them and got a merit in mechanics (the one I found hardest). It helped me recall information quicker and better in my exam and by having a tutor who knew the system I was able to learn little tricks to make questions easier to answer.”

Emma, January 2016
Year 13, Physics

“AHeadStart has been incredibly helpful and I definitely would have struggled in exams without the tuitions. AHeadStart overall is better that any of the other tutors I have attended in terms of learning and memorising, approach, time and location. I would recommend AHeadStart to my friends.”

Richard, January 2014
Year 12, Level 2 Biology, Chemistry & Physics

“Tutoring from AHeadStart is well worth it! I only went for 7 sessions but I gained lots of knowledge and confidence and achieved my goal of passing the MCAT with excellence.”

Lauren, January 2014
Year 11, Level 1 Mathematics

“For both Level 1 and Level 2 I received for English in both years Merit Endorsements which I am thrilled about and it is all thanks to AHeadStart and their amazing tutoring service as I know there is no way I could of achieved what I wanted to achieve without their help, encouragement and skills to learn what was expected of me. I would highly recommend them to anyone who is in need of tutoring, they truly help you succeed in the topics you need help with.”

Mikayla, January 2016
Year 12, English & Mathematics

“Hi Melanie, tutorials have been going really well this term! I’ve found tutoring has been helping lots and Robert definitely knows what he’s talking about and can answer every question I have for him.”

Ruby, July 2014
Year 12, Biology & Mathematics

“Hi Melanie! Just wanted to let you know I got merit in both Stats and Chem exams! Really happy and you helped me heaps so just wanted to say thanks. Now I’m off to Otago! Thanks again!”

Kim, January 2015
Year 13, Chemistry & Statistics

"I received my results for maths and have achieved all and also got two merits (in arithmetic and geometric sequences and non-linear graphs) :)  I would like to take lessons again this year. "

Donia Hend, January 2008
Year 12, Level 2 Mathematics

"Thanks and thank you, you really helped me!"

Ngaio, January 2009
Year 13, Level 3 Biology

“Hi Melanie. Thank you for your amazing tutoring. I appreciated hugely.”

Laura, November 2014
Year 13, Statistics

"I did OK in my exams. I only got one of the three science papers, but I did do better than I expected and I've passed with 106 credits and I'm very proud of myself. Thanks for all your help. Without it I wouldn't have achieved as much as I did."

Lexie McKellar, 2007
Year 11, Level 1 Mathematics and Science

"Tuition really helped me with physics and chemistry. In my chemistry and physics internals I found the tuition Melanie provided helped me work out harder problems and understand them, and therefore I was pleased with my results."

Georgie, December 2008
Year 12, Level 2 Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics

"My tutor was very helpful and went the extra mile by giving [me] lots of exam papers. I passed all my unit standards and internals - the ones I failed before I started tutoring. It was nice how everything was taught step by step. I had more understanding and wasn't rushed. Thanks."

Nastassja Schoeman, December 2008

Year 13, Level 3 Calculus

“The tutor was able to help me directly in certain areas of a subject that I struggled with, e.g. certain questions, which allowed me to learn what I needed to rather than go over the same things over and over again. The books with the past NCEA papers were extremely helpful and convenient and they played a good role in this. I find most other tutors, even private, are not very good compared to the tutoring I've had here.”

Richard, January 2014
Year 12, Level 2 Biology, Chemistry & Physics

“We are very happy with Claudia’s lessons and that her test results in class have improved considerably, with her end of year report and conversations with her science teacher supporting her growth in this subject.  Claudia’s confidence has grown heaps! 

Claudia is a quiet student who struggles to ask for help when she needs it, so the one on one lessons have been amazing for her.  Marwah is fantastic and Claudia just loves her, which makes her lessons a delight rather than a chore. 

Thank you for our short time with you last year and we really look forward to 2014 with AHeadStart.”

Claudia’s mother Trish, January 2014
Year 11, Mathematics & Science

"I wanted 2 say thank you because all of my results were good and I’m extremely grateful for all the help the tutors gave me XD."

Soliana, January 2012
Year 12, Chemistry, Mathematics & Physics

“I used to go to NumberWorks, I found that they weren't age appropriate- so many games, and the tutors didn't always know the answer or explain well. AHeadStart is much better; is age appropriate, and Anna could always explain the answer. Also I liked how AHeadStart came to my house because other people like at number works are loud and distracting.”

Emma, January 2016
Year 13, Physics

"There are many things I understand better due to tuition. Firstly and most importantly, I found the most improvement in my electronics and magnetism test compared to the section of electronics and magnetism in the end of year exam (I got full marks in that section compared to the 65% I got in the unit test). I believe I struggled with it when I did the unit test but I found it far easier in the exam due to the tuition lessons I had been taking. Secondly I remember the huge improvement in geology. Geology was probably one of my weakest science subjects but due to tuition I actually started to enjoy it. I think that is because I actually didn't understand it properly before I started tuition. I learnt that you can really dislike a subject because you simply don't understand it but on the contrary, once you understand the principles, it could be very enjoyable. I also got good marks for that in the end of year exam."

Shalini, December 2008
Year 10, Mathematics & Science