About
Michael Carragher. Economics & Business Tutor.
A-level Examiner, qualified teacher and Kingston upon Thames-based tutor with 18 years in real classrooms.
I have been teaching Economics and Business for eighteen years, and tutoring privately for twelve. I trained as a teacher in the UK after a BSc and MPhil and have worked across independent, grammar and state sixth forms throughout that career.
I started Seven Skills Tutoring because I wanted to spend my time doing the part of teaching that makes the biggest difference: working one-to-one with students who need a clear plan and someone in their corner. Most of my work is A-level Economics and A-level Business, but I tutor across GCSE, IB and undergraduate Economics too.
I am still examining. I mark live A-level and GCSE Economics papers each summer, which means everything I teach about exam technique is based on what students are actually getting marks for right now, not what worked five years ago.
Qualifications & experience
The credentials behind the tutoring
- BSc, MPhil, PGCE. Specialist Economics and Business teacher.
- Qualified teacher (QTS). 18 years in real classrooms across independent, grammar and state sixth forms.
- A-level and GCSE Examiner. Marking live papers each summer.
- Enhanced DBS certificate. Up to date.
- 12 years tutoring privately. Mostly A-level Economics and Business.
- UCAS administrator and reference writer. Hundreds of references each cycle.
- Mentor. Student teachers and Early Career Teachers.
Approach
How I actually work
Diagnostic first
The first session is an honest assessment. What does your child already know, where are the gaps, and what does the exam board actually reward? Everything follows from that.
Exam-board specific
AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, CIE and IB are taught and marked very differently. I tutor and run workshops by specification, not generically.
Real case studies
For Business especially, I lean on live business news and case studies. Mark schemes reward applied analysis and so does this approach.
Schools and institutions
Where my students come from
My tutees come from a wide range of schools across London and Surrey: independent schools (Westminster, Kingston Grammar, Surbiton High, Hampton, Lady Eleanor Holles, King's College Wimbledon, ACS Cobham, Reed's, St George's Weybridge), grammar schools (Tiffin, Tiffin Girls'), academies, sixth-form colleges (Esher College, Woking College, Richmond College) and high-performing community schools.
This breadth means I know how each curriculum is taught, where each exam board's mark scheme is generous and where it is harsh, and which Russell Group economics, finance and business courses look for what at offer stage.
Book a free 15-minute consultation
A short conversation is usually enough to see if I am the right fit for your child.