Cambridge Postgraduate in Teaching / Headhunted by Oxford University / Head of Education / Biology - Key Stages 1 – 5, 7+, 11+, 13+, GCSE, A-Level

Find out more about Josh

• When did you develop an interest in your chosen field and in private tutoring?

  “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. – Nelson Mandela
  
  My passion for teaching did not begin in a classroom — it began with the quiet, life-shaping realisation that, had I remained where I was born, I might never have reached one.
  I was born in India - a country of immense brilliance and promise, but where access to opportunity is still often dictated by geography, gender and class.
  At the age of nine, I moved to England. That single journey transformed my life. Suddenly, doors opened: to excellent schools, to extraordinary mentors and ultimately, to postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge and working for the University of Oxford.
  It was not truly my talent nor my skills that changed my life — it was ultimately access.
  That insight changed everything.
  It was through that lens that I first recognised the quiet injustice at the heart of global education; that where you are born has a hugely profound impact on everything in your life; whether it be the school or University you attend (if such institutions even exist where you were born), the quality of education that you receive, your job, your income, your overall quality of life, your social status, your final station in life and the hopes, dreams and opportunities that you pass onto your children.
  I came to see that the area you were born in heavily impacted the potential you could live up to. You may be a child with a dream in the slums of Delhi, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro or the villages of Africa but that dream would be extinguished as soon as it was born. Oxford, Cambridge and other glowing institutions shimmered on the horizon, but they were, quite literally and metaphorically, out of reach and heartbreakingly distant.
  Today, that is no longer true.
  
  I am very proud to be at the forefront of the democratization of education and the ubiquity of information.
  We now live in an age where a child with an internet connection and a dream anywhere in the world can, through me and other educators like me, access the same knowledge and opportunities as a privileged student at any of the most globally-revered educational institutions in the world at the absolute zenith of academia and human achievement in the 21st Century.
  This, for me, is more than a profession — it is a quiet act of global educational justice. One student at a time, I am helping to dismantle the barriers I once narrowly escaped. And in doing so, I am reminded daily that education is not merely about knowledge; it is about liberation.

• Tell us more about the subject you teach, the topics you like to discuss with students (and possibly those you like a little less).

  “The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.” — C.S. Lewis
  
  I teach a wide range of subjects — from English and Law to Biology and Business Studies — but what unites them is not the syllabus, nor the textbooks, nor even the exam boards. It is something deeper: a belief that true learning begins not with content, but with you as the learner.
  
  My foremost responsibility as your tutor is to uncover the very precise way you think, learn, and flourish — to illuminate the path that is uniquely yours. Ultimately, your learning journey with me will be as unique as your fingerprint.
  
  I’m willing to bet that you began your educational journey at the age of five and that you will most likely spend nearly two decades in academic institutions in your lifetime.
  
  I’m further willing to bet that, in all that time, no-one has ever taken the time to sit with you and determine exactly for you “How do you best learn?” I find it astonishing that, in the thousands of hours that you have been learning, no one has ever determined this for you. Without that knowledge of yourself, how can you possibly thrive through the lifelong journey of learning and study that lies ahead?
  
  That’s why the very first thing I explore in our lessons is your individual learning styles. Once I unlock these for you from the full spectrum of eight, I will base your whole bespoke learning journey on your intrinsic intellectual signatures.
  
  What do I mean by ‘individual learning style’? Firstly, there are eight different ‘learning styles’ and I tailor my approach to match yours; for example, some students thrive under ‘verbal-linguistic’ teaching where they respond best to language, both written and spoken. For these students, I would base their learning journey on reading, writing, storytelling and debating in our lessons.
  Some other students’ learning style may be ‘visual-spatial’ and I would use plenty of images and videos in their educational journey and set tasks based on solving puzzles, interpreting visual media and recognising patterns.
  
  No matter what subject I’m teaching — whether it’s analysing Macbeth’s fatal flaw or explaining the role of mitochondria — the true subject is always you, the student. And this is where group learning falters.
  
  I know that, thus far, all your education has been in a group format where your valiant teachers were increasingly overwhelmed with catering to all your fellow students and you in ever-expanding classrooms.
  In a classroom of 10, 20, 30 or more, even the most ambitious teacher must restrict themselves to teaching to the level of the student who is struggling most in the class or facing the most challenges. This means that you do not receive the 1:1 attention you need to flourish. In fact, the onus is on you to change the very unique way you learn to adapt to the teacher and the group.
  
  But, in 1:1 tutoring, that paradigm is reversed. The responsibility is now mine and the onus is on me. My job is to adapt to you — to discover how you best learn and retain information, how we can reduce your stress while improving your grades, how we can make revision and learning not just tolerable but joyful.
  
  Tutoring, at its best, is not transactional — it is transformational.
  
  Because ultimately, whether you’re taking your first steps at nursery or preparing for Oxbridge, the real subject I teach is you with precision, patience, and a passion for who you are becoming — and I take that responsibility very seriously indeed.

• Did you have any role models; a teacher that inspired you?

  "The greatest minds are those who lift others by the light they carry."
  Yes — I have been fortunate to stand in the light of many remarkable figures. But none shaped my soul as enduringly as my grandfather.
  He was a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in India, helping women with their pregnancies and giving birth through the 1940s, 50s and 60s — a time when women’s bodies were cloaked in silence, and their suffering routinely ignored. In a world where caste, class, and patriarchy ruled, he opened his doors — and his heart — to every woman who came seeking help. He did not see labels. He saw need.
  And he responded, without fail.
  He brought countless children safely into the world. But more than that — he returned dignity to women who had been stripped of it by a society that often viewed them as vessels, not voices. He fought through rampant fear, ignorance and misogyny and he taught me that knowledge is not power unless it is shared — and that the highest use of intellect is service.
  When I think of what it means to teach, I think of him. His quiet courage. His clarity of purpose. His refusal to look away when others did. It was not just medicine he practised — it was humanity.
  That is the legacy I carry. I do not teach to impress. I teach to liberate. I teach to restore belief in the self. I teach to make the light he carried burn on, in others.

• What do you think are the qualities required to be a good tutor?

  “To teach is to touch a life forever — but only if you touch it at exactly the right place”.
  A great tutor is not merely a source of information, but a craftsman of transformation. We do not stand above our students, but besides them, torch in hand, illuminating paths the student never thought they could walk — let alone run.
  
  After over 15 years of experience across every age group, background and academic level, I’ve learned that the most essential quality in a tutor is precision of perception.
  
  You must see your student not as a generic vessel to be filled, but as a complex, completely unique mind to be understood. You must have the ability to step into the mind of your student and see what they see — not just their errors, but their effort; not just their gaps, but their gifts.
  
  I understand that no student is generic. You arrive in our first lesson with your own private world: shaped by how you’ve been taught, how you’ve been praised, how you’ve been made to feel when you fail.
  You also arrive with your own learning fingerprint — a unique constellation of strengths, anxieties, cognitive habits and untapped brilliance. A good tutor’s first task is to decode that constellation. Not to teach ‘at’ the student, but to build around them. That means listening deeply. It means adapting fluidly. And it means never letting your method matter more than their outcome.
  A great tutor is also a strategist. We reduce pressure, not pile it on. We demystify what seems overwhelming. We build confidence not by empty praise but by helping you experience what it feels like to truly grasp something that once seemed impossible.
  Above all, a tutor’s job is not to create dependency, but to grow freedom. My goal is never just to get a student through the next exam. My goal is to ensure they never need me again. I must strive to awaken your capacity to learn without me. Empowerment, not dependence, is the finish line.
  Because once I have taught you how to really learn — confidently, independently and joyfully — then you can now go anywhere you want without me.
  The best tutors are invisible by the end. Not because we were unimportant — but because you are now empowered enough to have earned your independence and never need me again.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places." – Ernest Hemingway
  Over the years, I have had the privilege of teaching some of the most extraordinary students — not because they excelled at exams or gained prestigious scholarships or secured entry to Oxbridge but because they fought battles few would see and still found the courage to keep learning.
  Many of these students are neurodivergent or have special educational needs. They may be autistic or have Asperger’s syndrome or cerebral palsy or live with any number of other neurodivergent or physical conditions.
  They navigate not only the academic hurdles we all face, but also complex personal and neurological challenges that require immense resilience and adaptability. I often work with such students pro bono (free of charge), not as charity, but as tribute — because their strength demands recognition.
  One boy in particular will stay with me forever. He lives with a very rare neurological condition known as Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder — his internal clock shifts forward by an hour every single day.
  You and I wake and sleep with the sun and our lives follow predictable rhythms; this boy lives in a perpetual twilight — constantly drifting out of sync with the world. One week, he sleeps at midnight. The next, at noon.
  There is no permanent day or night for him. He can never attend mainstream school or work, never participate in ordinary routines, never rely on the structure that most of us take for granted.
  And yet, he studies.
  With wit, with perseverance, and with a grace that humbles me every time we speak.
  He attends online lessons at 3 a.m. if that’s when his body is awake. He smiles. He jokes. He wrestles with algebra and devours science articles, even as the world demands he “fit in” to a system that was never made for him.
  He has taught me more than I could ever teach him: about the power of human adaptability, about the profound dignity of choosing to learn even when the world isn’t built for you, and about how education — true education — must meet the learner where they are, not where the system expects them to be. The true purpose of education must never be to reward conformity and it must also understand that, sometimes, the true lessons are not always on the syllabus.
  This is why I do what I do. Not for grades or accolades. But for the quiet victories — the ones that no one else sees — when a child facing unimaginable odds still chooses to fight and learn and flourish.

• What were the difficulties or challenges you faced or are still facing in your subject?

  Honestly? Technology. Despite investing in top-of-the-range hardware and ultrafast full-fibre broadband that could probably power a small spaceship, it’s like Zoom senses when I’m in my flow and goes, “Nah, not today.”
  But tutoring teaches you flexibility, and I apply that to tech disasters too. We laugh, we reboot, and we carry on — because nothing, not even a spinning rainbow wheel of doom, gets in the way of a good lesson. Like The Terminator said “I’ll be back”!

• Do you have a particular passion? Is it teaching in general or an element of the subject or something completely different?

  Absolutely — and that passion is Operation Prometheus.
  
  I founded this flagship charitable initiative to provide free tutoring, mentoring, and academic support to children, young people and adults experiencing hardship due to poverty, conflict, displacement or exclusion. This is a global mission to deliver educational justice — one that offers learning as a lifeline to those navigating some of the most harrowing circumstances imaginable.
  
  We reach out to those in the depths of despair — never with judgment, but with open hands and open hearts. Forever free from politics and division, we take no sides and draw no lines. Instead, we offer something far more powerful and transcendent: the gift of knowledge.
  
  By providing learning as a lifeline, we spark hope and light the way forward with courage and limitless opportunities.
  
  Our mission is to share knowledge as a lifeline and to empower these people to break free from difficult circumstances, igniting their hearts and spirits with hope.
  
  Our mission is to provide these courageous children and adults with lifelong skills and a sanctuary from the turmoil, chaos and heartache of their situations.
  At present, we are honoured to teach students in the heart of the war zone in Ukraine, as well as in marginalised communities across the UK and beyond. These are students who attend lessons amidst air raid sirens from temporary shelters with soldiers on the street outside. And still, they show up — with courage, curiosity, and boundless heart.
  Our work is entirely apolitical, borderless and unconditional. We don’t ask where you come from — only where you want to go.
  
  This is my passion because I was fortunate enough to receive a world-class education. I attended elite schools and universities that changed the trajectory of my life. Operation Prometheus is how I give back — by offering others the same chance to rise, learn and thrive, no matter what shadows they are walking through.
  
  We have seen firsthand that education can be a sanctuary from chaos. A weapon against fear. A light in darkness.

• What makes you a Superprof (besides answering these interview questions :-P) ?

  “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett
  What makes me a Superprof is not just what I teach, but how I teach — with precision, personality, and purpose. I bring a rare blend of professional depth and human connection to every lesson.
  Over 15 years, I’ve taught in some of the most demanding environments imaginable — from elite academic institutions to war zones, from students preparing for Oxbridge interviews to those learning by candlelight in the middle of airstrikes.
  I’ve coached the future leaders of tomorrow and mentored those who weren’t even sure they’d still be alive tomorrow.
  That breadth has taught me one thing: education must never be one-size-fits-all.
  Before I became a full-time educator, I led a specialist unit tackling organised crime — from human trafficking and modern slavery to drug supply and weapons smuggling. The pressure was relentless, the stakes often life or death. But in that world, as in education, it was clarity, calm and compassion that mattered most. These are the same values I bring into every lesson.
  This is the difference my students feel immediately: my lessons are a zero-judgement zone:
  Humour is very much part of my method; It defuses fear, fuels curiosity, lowers your anxiety and creates a space where you’re free to think aloud, fail boldly and grow fast.
  Mistakes are not embarrassments or weaknesses; I want you to feel free to fail early and often as each failure is data — and we use this invaluable data to “fail better” and learn faster.
  When the world feels unjust or revision becomes overwhelming, our lessons offer not just instruction, but refuge — a place to laugh, to vent, to regroup. Bring your swearwords, your sassiness, and your secret suspicion that your teachers know absolutely nothing — this is definitely the space for honesty, humour and rebuilding confidence from the chaos. Because I know that sometimes what you need most is to simply be heard.
  I don’t believe in performance tutoring or box-ticking exercises. I believe in the power of bespoke strategic learning: I adapt to your truly unique cognitive style, strengthen what’s strong and rebuild what feels broken.
  I believe in the quiet craft of building trust, adapting to your truly unique learning style and guiding you — not just to a better grade, but to greater confidence, intellectual independence, and self-belief. Only then can you blaze your own trail to become hugely successful and profoundly impactful in your chosen sphere and ensure for yourself a legacy that is adorned with enlightenment and unparalleled achievement.
  That’s what makes a Superprof.