Birmingham Tutors
Kaplan Birmingham's tutors are widely acknowledged to be the leaders in their field combining years of industry and training experience. Some of the Kaplan tutors based at Birmingham include:
Stuart Pedley-Smith
ACCA
Stuart trained in the accounts profession before moving into industry, and then into training. He has marked professional exams at the final level, served on the ACCA Exam Review Board and worked with the ACCA in the development of the syllabus.
Stuart specialises in teaching Financial Management subjects and the CIMA Case Study (formerly TOPCIMA) and taught Matthew Broughton, who came first in the world in the TOPCIMA exam in November 2008.
Stuart is also approved as a Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and uses these skills, amongst others, to deliver the national and local Kaplan Masterclasses, in subjects such as Exam Confidence, Memory Techniques and Exam Focused Learning.
Stuart won the prestigious ‘PQ magazine Tutor of the Year’ award in 2008, nominated by his many students and has also been nominated for CIMA’s Tutor of the Year award in 2010. He has recently written a book dedicated to passing exams, called the 'E Word: Kaplan's Guide to Passing Exams'.
What students had to say about Stuart:
"From the very first T4 class I could tell that Stuart was dedicated to ensuring that we not only passed the exam but also learned skills that would aid us all in our future careers. His lecture style was excellent as he was able to make a serious topic amusing whilst ensuring we learned the key points of the case and how we needed to apply our knowledge gained. I found Stuart to be easily approachable and extremely helpful. I failed the last mock and he took time out after the class to sit and read my report and advise accordingly. It may seem obvious to say I would not have passed without Stuart but that is the truth. He is totally dedicated to his career and to ensuring he does his very best for his students. I would recommend him to any students in the future." - Andrew Roberts
"I was taught by Stuart for P9 and T4 Case study. I found that Stuart was very knowledgeable and took time to ensure that you could grasp the subjects taught. I am particularly grateful for the time in T4 Case study, when Stuart spoke to me individually on how to tackle the examination, I had felt very pressured by the whole experience of T4 Case study/Computer assessment and Stuart gave me the confidence to complete the exam, which I passed first time." - Michelle Kattenhorn
"Stuart was absolutely fantastic. I don't think we could have had a better tutor for the case. He was encouraging, gave highly constructive advice and was always approachable. His advice was always thought provoking, insightful and useful. If it wasn't for him I don't think I would have got the mark I did." - Michaela Powell-Rees
"Stuart’s enthusiasm is infectious and helped to bring the T4 Part B case study to life, this helped enormously in making the final exam an enjoyable experience. He made the contents of the course understandable, manageable and ultimately passable. Stuart helped me make it count on the day when it mattered." - Paresh Darbar
Vicky Taylor
ACCA
Vicky studied her ACCA qualification with Kaplan and not long after qualifying, decided to move from accountancy to lecturing. Vicky’s unique style has made her one of the most popular tutors in Birmingham, and resulted in her winning the prestigious ‘PQ magazine Tutor of the Year’ award in 2007 after just 2 years of lecturing.
Vicki has a bubbly and outgoing personality and is passionate about guiding her students to success. She is a Neuro-Linguisitic Practitioner, a specialist in the science of how the brain works and how people communicate and invents fun and exciting ways to help students understand the complicated tax topics, in which she specialises.
Clare Finch
BA (Hons) CIPFA
Clare trained and qualified with KPMG before embarking on a lecturing career over 20 years ago. She has played a leading role in Kaplan Publishing material, combining her skill as a lecturer with her flair for writing.
Clare specialises in Financial Reporting and has lectured both in the UK and overseas for Kaplan. She brings unique skills and experience to the Kaplan team with her CIPFA qualification. Clare authored a book, ‘A student’s guide to IFRS’ which has recently reached number 5 in Amazon’s top accountancy books.
Brian Benton
LLB Hons Lond, Law Society Qualifying Examination / Solicitor
Brian was formerly Head of Law at a large Birmingham College and he now lectures for Kaplan Financial on the law subjects for ACCA, CIMA, ATT and ACA. He also marks externally for the professional bodies. He has been lecturing for over 20 years and has extensive knowledge of his subject.
Brian is also a local magistrate and brings real-life examples to the class.
Brian has taught two ACCA F4 first in the world prizewinners in the past 2 years: Yizhe Wang in June 2008 and Shuang Liu in December 2009.