How parents describe Anna
“Ellie went from dreading Tuesdays to asking if she could stay longer. She got a 7 in her maths GCSE, two grades above her prediction.”
— Rachel, parent, Ludlow
Anna Whitcombe is a qualified secondary maths teacher. She taught in the classroom for fourteen years before going independent in 2021, and now tutors maths and combined science from Key Stage 2 to GCSE from a study room on the edge of Ludlow, and online.
In Anna's own words
I taught maths in secondary schools for fourteen years. In 2021 I left to teach one child at a time.
In a class of thirty you can see the moment a child stops believing they can do it. What you rarely have is the ten quiet minutes it takes to go back and find out why. I wanted those ten minutes.
So I set up a study room at home on the edge of Ludlow and began taking pupils on their own, or in small groups of up to four. The maths is the same maths. The difference is that nobody is waiting, nobody is watching, and there is time to go back as far as we need to.
If your child has decided they are no good at maths, that is where we start. The grades come once the belief has come back.
Anna Whitcombe, maths and science tutor, Kestrel Hill Tuition
When a child has stopped believing they can do it
“Calm, kind and properly expert. Our son actually looks forward to maths now.”
— Priya, parent, Leominster
A session begins with whatever your child brings: a page of homework, the topic school covered this week, or nothing in particular. Anna asks them to show her how they would start, and listens. Nobody is put on the spot and nothing is marked.
Then she slows down. Most children who freeze on maths are stuck on something small and some way back, often from a year or two earlier. Anna works backwards until she reaches the last place things made sense, and builds forward from there at the child's own pace.
Confidence comes first. A child who believes they can do it will try the next question, and the grades follow from that. Read what other parents noticed first
The study room on the edge of Ludlow
One quiet room at my home, with the hills through the window and a lamp on in the evenings.
Children work at the desk by the window, on their own with Anna or in a small group of up to four. It is a few minutes from the centre of Ludlow, and families come from across south Shropshire. Anna sends directions when you arrange your first visit.
Sessions run Monday to Thursday, 15:45 to 19:30, and Saturday mornings, 09:00 to 12:30.
If the drive is too far, the same sessions run online at the same price. Finding the study room
Underneath the parents' words
Qualified, experienced and checked
Five plain facts a parent is entitled to ask about before their child sits down with any tutor.
- Qualified teacher status (QTS) The same qualification a teacher in a school holds.
- Fourteen years teaching secondary maths In the classroom, from Key Stage 3 to GCSE, before tutoring.
- Independent since 2021 Tutoring from the study room on the edge of Ludlow, and online.
- Enhanced DBS check, on the update service The criminal-record check schools require, kept current and open to check.
- 4.9 from 63 Google reviews Parents' and pupils' own words. Read them
Come and see for half an hour
Bring your child for thirty minutes, in the study room or online, and see how they get on with me. Nothing is paid before you decide.
Anna teaches Monday to Thursday, 15:45 to 19:30, and Saturday mornings, 09:00 to 12:30. Spaces change each term; ask, and she will tell you which evenings are currently free. See the evenings with space