Helen Lewis Tutoring

Helen Lewis Tutoring

Preparing Healthcare Professionals for the OET with Essex business support

Specialising in preparing healthcare professionals for the Occupational English Test ahead of pursuing medical careers in English-speaking countries, Helen Lewis of Helen Lewis Tutoring offers personalised, one to one support tailored to each pupils needs – preparing students from all over the world to excel in their exams and begin practising in healthcare settings with confidence with Helen's signature OET Ready Course, which carries six hours of continued professional development hours.

 To grow the business and expand her connections, Helen found support from a range of business support organisations in her home county of Essex including the Federation of Small Businesses, Launchpad Southend and Backing Essex Business.

Founded by Helen Lewis in 2021, Helen Lewis Tutoring specialises in training international healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, to pass the Occupational English Test (OET) required for practicing in English-speaking countries. An official Preparation Partner of the OET, Helen’s journey to creating her tutoring business began after over 25 years of teaching both in the UK and abroad.

Having moved back to the UK in 2019 after teaching English in Japan for 15 years, Helen knew she wanted to do something different. Having had experience working in secondary schools and Universities, she got back into teaching – and found herself working alongside this marking test papers for the Occupational English Test. This sparked the possibility of a new venture for Helen – the opportunity to work with students one-to-one, preparing them for the Occupational English Test as a tutor, and using her experience as a teacher to make a difference.

Learning more about the test itself, Helen found herself exploring the idea of turning this into a business – transitioning from being an employee in the public sector to running and building her own online tutoring business.

From her own experience in teaching, Helen knew she had an approach to tutoring that would resonate with many studying for the OET. With a focus on building the confidence of her pupils, Helen’s tutoring methods vary from language skill development that emphasises the importance of grammar, contextually appropriate language and expressions to connecting spoken phrases with written questions and paraphrasing. Her exercises can include role plays that are relevant to medical professions, as well as conversational to not just help pupils to excel at work, but also to be comfortable conversing in English if they are relocating to an English speaking country too.

Equipped with the experience and methods to make her tutoring invaluable to her students, Helen began to gain success stories and overwhelmingly positive reviews from past pupils that she had supported in preparing for and taking their OET. To make Helen Lewis Tutoring a sustainable venture and enable her to make the business profitable, Helen found herself seeking out any available support for businesses in Southend.

‘Healthcare is really serious, and people need to learn the right English so they can be safe to practice. But the process of getting there doesn't need to be heavy and boring. In fact, it can have some levity and have some fun and joy and pleasure in it, then that makes a difference. But something that's often said in my reviews is that people feel very comfortable with me and they feel that they can be themselves they can take risks and take risks means, trying things, levelling up quicker.’

Having predominantly worked in the teaching and public sector, Helen had the knowledge to make her business offering appealing to potential pupils – but had no experience of running her own business. Getting in touch with Ann Scott from the Federation of Small Business in Essex, Helen was signposted to even more local support available to her; from business support organisations such as Deyton Bell, EPIC Ltd, and to the Backing Essex Business programme.

First connecting with Ben Cluett, The Southend Business Navigator from Southend City Council, Helen was introduced to the wide variety of business support available in Essex. From Ann Scott at the Federation of Small Business, she learned about the wide range of resources and information from business support organisations in Essex – including mentoring from Vicky Elliot Porter at EPIC Ltd, free programmes from Deyton Bell, and fully funded support, advice and events from Backing Essex Business.

Eligible for 12 hours of free advice and support under the programme funded by Southend on Sea City Council, Helen began to work with John Sargant, Business Advisory Manager from Backing Essex Business, to sort through where she needed support in the management and development of her business.

‘The big thing that John gave me was confidence. He was a really good listener, very supportive and was good at sort of pushing back and challenging me gently.’

Needing a structured business plan and a new perspective on the business, John helped Helen to begin viewing her tutoring services from a business angle – creating a SWOT analysis to drive future decision making and realise her unique selling points to focus on.

Through the support sessions, John was able to provide insights into Helen’s marketing strategies, including increased visibility of her positive reviews on TrustPilot from past pupils and her experience in teaching that would encourage future pupils to reach out to her.

Also created in the free business support sessions was an in-depth business plan document, which proved instrumental in Helen securing grant funding for video production – enabling Helen to market the business in a new way and enhancing her online presence. Using his own business management experience, John also encouraged Helen to invest in her own online platform and creation of ready-made courses – helping Helen to diversify the business and open up more potential income streams.

‘John listened to where I was at now, and helped me make some decisions about how to move on. We made a business plan together. That was instrumental in me securing some grant money to make videos, and those videos are now in the process of being made. It was very empowering to talk with him.’

Motivated to grow the business and continue this momentum, Helen became even more involved in the Southend business community and the healthcare sector – getting the name of her business out there for any potential clients and opportunities. Having recently received a new CPDSO accreditation too, Helen is on a roll and thinking toward the future, where she might like to expand operations to a private Limited Company, and aim for a level of standardisation that embodies her teaching methods that other tutors can adopt, too – potentially growing a team.

To learn more about Helen Lewis Tutoring, visit Helen Lewis Tutoring’s website

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