Testimonials

Matt is an outstanding tutor!
My son took his 11plus 10 years ago after tutoring with Matt and gained a place at DHSB. My twin daughters have just finished tutoring with Matt and I’m pleased to say yet another 2 successful scores that will enable them to pick their school.
Matt is a fantastic teacher! He provides the children with the skills they need for them to cope well in the exam to achieve the best mark possible.

Lisa Burrows

Matt was professional from the onset, being firm but fair with the children throughout the sessions. 

He teaches with great clarity and understands each child’s abilities almost from the start. I would recommend Matt highly for 11+ tutoring.

Josanne Stewart

My eldest daughter – Jessica – started 11+ tuition with Matt three years ago. Before choosing to go with Matt, I met up with two other 11 plus tutors. I quickly realised that Matt was my number one choice. Matt has a level of dedication and professionalism that stood out when compared to the other tutors I interviewed.

I soon discovered that Matt takes his responsibilities to his students very seriously. There is no detail too small for Matt; he covers every possible eventuality and there seems to be nothing that he does not know about passing the 11+. He is kind and patient, but treats his students as young adults too. He expects hard work, but rewards it with results.

Jessica passed her 11+ with flying colours, ranking 32nd out of about 350 students! She gained a place at Devonport High School for Girls, and is now in year 8, where she is doing extremely well. She loves the school (as do we) and is very happy there.

Two years later my second daughter – Lucy – was ready to start her own 11+ journey. This time there was no doubt in our minds as to who we would choose to tutor her.

Again, Matt’s calm, methodical teaching, and attention to detail stood out. Lucy always looked forward to her Saturday mornings with Matt, and it was never a struggle persuading her to go. Lucy also passed with flying colours, ranking 19th out of 378 students – also gaining her a place at Devonport High School for Girls!

Next year our youngest daughter Emily will start her own tuition with Matt. I have every confidence that Matt’s, meticulously planned, 11+ tutoring programme will yield the same fantastic results for her that it did for her two older sisters!

Nick Williams

Mr Bower is an excellent 11plus tutor. The main reason I chose him to tutor my daughter was that my daughter didn’t particularly enjoy doing her maths and I wanted her to take this opportunity of 11plus tutoring to enjoy learning new maths methods rather than focus on the exam practice on its own. Mr Bower is the exactly right tutor for her.

Very soon, she started to enjoy her maths and by the end of tutoring, she was confident that she’s good at it. Mr Bower never loaded exam papers for his students to tackle with pressure, but instead explained the questions with care and patience. He routinely went above and beyond expectations. We felt consistently supported throughout, especially when we didn’t understand some certain questions, we could always call him and he would be always there to explain the maths problem clearly. 

I am so grateful for his dedication to support my daughter throughout the tutoring which nurtured her with more confidence and inspiration as well as the pleasure to explore the knowledge of maths and English.

Now my daughter achieved an outstanding 23rd place in 11 plus exam. She’s so excited to go to her favourite grammar school. She’s confident with her future learning at a higher level.

Thank you Mr Bower and all the very best to your future groups.

Grace

I have just had a text from Tobey. His school handed out their SATS results today. I am beyond delighted to relay the news that he was the only person in his class to get full marks in his Maths SATS. 

I am immensely proud of him and grateful to you for all the help you gave him running up to the 11+. Without a shadow of doubt, your tutoring is what got him there, so thank you! 

This has me quite overwhelmed – if you get only a fraction of the joy that I got from this news, then this message will have also made your day!

Kind regards

Charles Knight

Our son began weekly tutoring with Matt.  He was not a clear 11+ candidate and he also lacked confidence in his academic abilities.  His Year 4 interim SAT scores were at the borderline levels which Matt had suggested would make passing the 11+ a realistic goal.

From the outset Matt’s approach towards the group of five boys was professional, encouraging and consistent.  The amount and difficulty of the work was challenging, but Matt broke down the elements into manageable chunks and as a result, it wasn’t too daunting or unachievable.  He always provided clear and comprehensive homework activities as well as individual feedback to pupils at the end of each lesson.

As the year progressed our son’s confidence grew and he steadily improved his knowledge and problem solving skills (especially in Maths). Unlike other tutors who require students to attempt whole papers from the outset, Matt did not introduce complete, timed tests until the boys had sufficient experience and skills to tackle them.

The consistent effort and workload required should not be underestimated by children (or their parents) and throughout the year our son required support/encouragement from us to complete the homework activities. However, Matt was always understanding if family events or special circumstances meant that occasionally work could not be finished/handed in on time.

We were delighted that our son passed the 11+ with a qualifying score and an ‘A’ grade.  Our son’s skills in Maths and English have been significantly boosted and he can approach secondary education with greater self-belief.  We would wholeheartedly recommend Matt Bower Tutoring.

Abi Potter and Richard Hemming

I only have high praise for Matt Bower; he is a most effective tutor who prepared our daughter thoroughly for the 11+ examination. Throughout the process he kept a healthy perspective and struck the balance perfectly in order to get the best possible outcome.  In this instance it happened to be a very good pass and ranking in the September examination.  Both my wife and I are hugely grateful and more importantly so is our daughter who has her sights set on attending PHSG next year.

Harry and Kathryn Finnie

Matt Bower is an exceptional tutor, and I have no doubt that his expert guidance, support and encouragement was directly responsible for my daughter Emily scoring such a fantastic result in her 11plus exam and earning a place at the grammar school of her choice.

Throughout the last year, Mr Bower’s tutoring sessions have been well planned out and his preparation is meticulous, with carefully ordered topics and comprehensive worksheets supplied.

Mr Bower’s thorough and committed approach means his students go into the 11plus exam fully prepared and confident about what to expect, and his diligence meant I always felt sure my daughter had the best possible support to help her cope with what is a very stressful and challenging process.

Mr Bower’s teaching style was both encouraging and effective, and he is especially gifted at enabling his students to understand difficult maths work, which was enormously beneficial for Emily.

Whilst we are delighted that the tuition led to a good 11plus result, I will always feel the sessions were worthwhile for Emily regardless as they did so much to improve her maths, dramatically increasing her SAT scores at school, and most importantly, giving her so much confidence in her capability.

There are many 11plus tutors in Plymouth offering excellent teaching but Mr Bower routinely goes above and beyond expectations. Emily and I felt consistently supported throughout, especially during the last, stressful few months before the exam, when Mr Bower was always available for extra one-to-one tutoring sessions, to talk through any concerns, or even just to help me explain a difficult maths problem when I was marking a practice paper with Emily.

I have no hesitation in recommending him wholeheartedly, and I will always be grateful that my daughter had such a dedicated and caring tutor to nurture and guide her through the 11plus experience.

Mary O’Leary

We would like to thank Matt for supporting our son through the 11+ process. We are pleased to announce that he has passed with an A letter. Matt was pivotal in preparing our son for his exam. As the exam follows a different format than that taught in school, he ensured our son understood the process.

Each lesson was planned to ensure all areas were covered. Towards the end, Matt ensured that any areas our son was anxious about were revisited. Throughout the whole time, our son felt supported as Matt works in a relaxed but professional manner. We also felt supported as Matt would explain anything we asked. We would like to thank Matt for all his support throughout the process. In a few years´ time, if we feel our youngest child is a candidate to do 11 + exam, we would not hesitate asking Matt to tutor him also.

Vicky Bailey

Matt Bower came highly recommended to us from friends and asking him to tutor our son Harry has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. Harry reacted so positively to being tutored in a small but effective group and his passion for learning grew and grew throughout the year thanks to Matt. Matt has been instrumental in improving Harry’s ability in English and it has been such a pleasure to watch Harry grow in confidence and ability in this area. Harry really enjoyed his ‘Wednesday tutor group’ and got so much out of it. I have already recommended Matt to many friends because I feel that Harry would not have achieved such a result had it not been for Matt’s enthusiasm, manner and teaching style. Harry now has his place in DHSB and we are so proud.
Thankyou Matt, we are indebted to you and a quote from Harry to end this reads:
“Thankyou Mr Bower for all your help with my 11+, you have been awesome!”

Matt Bower has worked patiently and tirelessly with obvious efficiency and experience to enable our daughter at least the chance to succeed in English and maths. He has improved her confidence and her attainment levels in maths went up 4 sub levels in one year. He contributed towards her gaining a thirst for knowledge and self motivation to improve. As a result an increase confidence that had a knock on effect of a massive jump in ability. Thank you for the great job you have done to boost Darcie`s confidence. We are indebted to you.

Our daughter responded very positively to Mr Bower’s tutoring, particularly Maths where she had previously found some of the concepts difficult. Mr Bower has a relaxed, supportive style but is genuinely passionate about his pupils´ education and well-being. Our daughter enjoyed the tutoring sessions, which were held in a group environment, and worked well with the other girls. I feel the peer group all helped each other with their studies.

When it came to the 11+ exam, our daughter was well prepared and went into it feeling calm and relatively stress free. I would thoroughly recommend Mr Bower and don’t believe our daughter would have achieved such a result had it not been for his considerable help and support.

As a school governor and a parent who, like any other, wants the best for my child, I agonised for some time over the best sort of support I could give my daughter to help her pass the 11+.

I bought the parents’ guides, considered online tuition, and spoke to numerous people who’d been there before, including several professional educators.

We parents don’t take these decisions lightly.

The overwhelming consensus was that while tuition shouldn’t be necessary in an ideal world (and was unheard-of when I took my own 11+ more than 40 years ago), it’s effectively standard practice today.

So while it might be virtuous to give our children no advantages and let them take their chances in the highly-competitive world of the 11+, that would only work if everyone else did the same.

Which is why Government Ministers and others who would like all pupils to have the same chance in life will still shift Heaven and Earth – or even move home – to get their children into what they believe to be the “best” schools.

For though it might be socially responsible to send your bright child to the local sink school to help improve the quality of its intake, I’ve yet to meet, or hear of, a parent who would put idealogy before their child’s future.

That’s why I decided to give my daughter tuition for the 11+ – and why I thank my lucky stars that she had Matt Bower as a tutor.

She’s just sailed through the 11+ and risen 73 places between the mock and the actual exam – a superb result that reflects a year of hard work but would not have been achieved without the support, encouragement and expertise of Matt Bower.

He teaches in very small groups and makes learning challenging and fun. Unusually, perhaps, I’ve sat in on almost all of his lessons through the year, and I can report that any parent would be delighted to see how enthusiastic and comfortable the children are with his style of teaching.

He fills them with confidence, uses praise where appropriate, and improves their understanding by asking them to explain concepts to the rest of the group.

And he teaches through the school holidays, believing that it’s vital to keep up the momentum that’s usually lost between the end of one term and the beginning of the next.

The atmosphere in the tuition room Mr Bower has installed in his garden is warm, supportive and professional – and never once in the entire year did my daughter show the slightest reluctance to go to her 11+ tuition, even though many of her friends were out enjoying themselves instead.

I’m not easily pleased (ask my wife!) and I’ve even written a book about complaining, so when I say I couldn’t fault a single thing Mr Bower did or said in all the time he taught my daughter, I mean it.

If Matt Bower doubled his prices, his tuition would still be excellent value, and parents would still be queueing to get their children into his 11+ classes.

He was recommended to me, privately, by a head teacher, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I echo that recommendation, and hope that many other children will have the benefit of his tuition before they sit the 11+.

My daughter learned in a relaxed atmosphere with a terrific tutor who stretched her abilities. She reached her full potential and exceeded her expectations – delighted!

Ms N Williams

My son flourished whilst being tutored by Mr Bower towards taking his 11+. The tutoring was professional and friendly, enabling  Callum to study at ease with a clear and focused study plan which lead to Callum entering the exam with confidence. Callum achieved a qualifying result. We are very happy and very grateful for the continued and consistent support throughout. I would and have highly recommended Mr Bower and hope my younger son can be tutored in the near future.

With much gratitude and thanks,

Michelle and Callum

Mr Bower was so great for my daughter and really contributed to her success in gaining a place in DHSG. She enjoyed being taught be him, was relaxed and gained so much confidence. Mr Bower always did more than was expected and is totally committed to his students; I would not hesitate in recommending him. Thank you.

Sam and Molly

Matt acted as a distance learning tutor for our daughter as we were living abroad the year before taking her 11+ test.  Matt’s support was superb.  On a weekly basis he would send us that week’s learning materials along with the week’s homework.  I would then spend the time going through the materials with my daughter.  I often had questions, wanted advice on how to help my daughter with specific concepts and Matt, without fail, would get back to my queries with comprehensive advice and tips. Matt was great as a distance learning tutor and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to anyone else!

Liz Monks

We can not say thank-you enough; our daughter went from struggling with her confidence in maths to achieving a score high enough to gain a place in a grammar school. Jessica enjoyed her time learning with Mr Bower and has since stated she misses his sessions. I have already recommended Matt to our friends whose daughter is now being tutored by Matt and I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone in the future.  Thank-you once again.

Sarah, Mark and Jessica

Mr Bower has tutored both of our boys successfully through the 11 plus exams.

He had a professional approach and was always conscious of the aim, but managed to achieve this with a smile and humour thus making the experience more enjoyable for our children.

I would have no hesitation in recommending Mr Bower to anyone who wanted to give their children the best chance of passing their 11 plus.

We will be forever grateful for his help and the head start he has given our children.

Tim Prout
Director
Kay Transport Ltd

Mr Bower is an excellent tutor, he was very patient with our daughter and helped her achieve her potential for the 11+ exam in a calm and relaxed atmosphere.  Her confidence has grown and her levels have been brought up at school.  We would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending him to others and we are extremely grateful for all the help and support he gave to Lucy during his time tutoring her – a massive thank you from us all!

Joanne and Alex Aitken

My two sons had both been tutored by Mr Bower. One who will be going into year 10 at DHSB and my youngest joining year 7 in a couple of weeks. He was very professional but also made both Sam and Henry feel at ease whilst they were learning. Hoping he will still be going strong when my three year son approaches his 11+. Many thanks to you.  

Vicky Gibson

Mr Bower tutored my son for his 11 plus.

I found him to be conscientious, polite and friendly and was always on time.

My son enjoyed his tutoring very much; he found that Mr Bower explained everything really well. He passed his 11 plus and will be going to DHS Boys in September.

Julie McDonald

My son enjoyed learning with a patient tutor who helped him to reach his full potential in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Mrs S Bridges