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PS English — Real English for Real Life

What our students say

Teaching one-to-one since 2001 has given us hundreds of student stories. The ones below are the kind of thing we hear most often: a real situation at work, at university, or in everyday life, and the change that came from working with the same teacher week after week.

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A longer story

I had been working in English in London for nearly fifteen years before I came to PS English. My English was good enough to keep my job and good enough to be polite at dinner, but in meetings I was guessing. I would prepare what I wanted to say in advance, miss the moment, and then sit silent for the rest of the hour.

My teacher at PS English did not start with grammar. We started with a real meeting I had coming up that week. We mapped out the structure, worked through the language I would need, and rehearsed the difficult moments until they stopped being difficult. We did the same the following week, and the week after that, and at some point I noticed I was no longer preparing in the same way. I was simply talking.

Three months in, my manager told me I had become the person she relied on to chair the difficult meetings. That had never happened in fifteen years. I am still with PS English now, two years later. The lessons are honest, useful and exactly what I needed.

Yuki T. Senior project manager, Japanese national, working in London
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Stories by situation

Most students arrive here from a service page, so the stories are grouped the same way. Jump to the situation closest to your own.

Business and Professional English

Students who came to us to perform better at work: in meetings, in front of clients, in presentations, in interviews, in everyday office life.

I had a presentation to give to the senior leadership team in six weeks and I was dreading it. My teacher rebuilt my structure, worked through the language with me line by line, and rehearsed the difficult moments until they stopped being difficult. The presentation went well and I have stayed on for weekly lessons since.
Hiroshi K. Product manager, London
Find out more about English Presentation Skills
I am a lawyer in the City and I had been getting by for years. The English I needed was not the English in a textbook. It was the English I needed in a partner meeting on a Thursday afternoon. PS English understood that from the first lesson.
Lawyer French national, working in the City
Find out more about Business English
I was offered a senior role that involved chairing a fortnightly leadership call. I was honest with my manager that the call was the part of the job I was most worried about. I worked with PS English on the language of chairing, on managing interruptions, and on handling the awkward moments. Six months later, no one remembers I was ever worried about it.
Director Spanish national, working in London
Find out more about English for Meetings

Exam Preparation

Students preparing for IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge BEC.

I needed a high TOEFL score for a graduate programme in the United States and I was running out of time. My speaking section was the problem; I had memorised templates that did not fit the new 2026 format. Two months of weekly one-to-one lessons rebuilt my approach around real, spontaneous English, and my speaking band went up by more than a full point.
Akiko T. Graduate applicant, online from Manchester
Find out more about TOEFL Preparation
I had taken IELTS twice and stalled at a 6.5. I did not need a different textbook; I needed someone to listen to my speaking, read my writing, and tell me honestly what was happening. My teacher at PS English did exactly that, and I sat the test again seven weeks later with a 7.5.
IELTS candidate Polish national, online
Find out more about IELTS Preparation

English for University

Students preparing for, or already on, a degree at a UK university. Tutorials, seminars, lectures, essays, vivas.

I had passed IELTS with a 7.5 and I thought I was ready. Three weeks into my Master’s at a London university, I realised I was understanding maybe half of every lecture and saying almost nothing in seminars. Two months of weekly lessons with PS English turned that around. My teacher worked through the actual readings and lecture notes with me, and we practised the phrases I needed to enter a discussion. I am now the student in the seminar who asks the question everyone wanted to ask.
Postgraduate student Chinese national, studying in London
Find out more about English for University
My essays kept coming back with the feedback that they were not critical enough. I did not really know what my tutors meant by that. My PS English teacher and I worked through three of my essays together and the penny dropped. The next essay I wrote came back with the best mark I had ever had.
Undergraduate student Italian national, studying in the south of England

Speaking Naturally and Pronunciation

Students who already knew the words and the grammar, and wanted to sound more natural, more confident, and more recognisably fluent.

I have lived in the UK for twelve years and my English is fine, but I always sounded like a learner. I came to PS English to fix that, and within a few months I had stopped translating in my head and started sounding like someone who lives here. My British colleagues noticed within weeks.
Engineer German national, working in the north of England
Find out more about Speak English Naturally
I did not need grammar lessons. I needed someone to tell me which sounds I was getting wrong and to drill them with me until they were not wrong any more. PS English was the first place I had found that took pronunciation as seriously as I did.
Doctor Brazilian national, working in London
Find out more about British English Pronunciation

Online English Coaching

Students learning entirely online, from across the UK and occasionally further afield.

I live in Edinburgh and I work full time. I had given up on the idea of one-to-one lessons because I assumed they all happened in London. PS English meets me online on a Wednesday evening, with the same teacher every week, and the lessons are as good as anything I would get in a classroom.
Marketing manager Portuguese national, online from Edinburgh
Find out more about online coaching
I was sceptical that online lessons could be as good as face-to-face. Six months in, I am not sure I would go back. My teacher uses the screen and the chat box brilliantly and I have a written record of every lesson to look back at.
Consultant Korean national, online from Birmingham

Face-to-Face Lessons in London

Students who chose to meet their teacher in person at our central London base.

I tried two of the bigger central London language schools before I found PS English. The teaching was fine, but I had a different teacher every term and I was sitting in a class of eight other students with completely different goals. At PS English I have one teacher, one hour a week, and lessons built entirely around the work I am doing. After six months my colleagues started commenting on the change. That had never happened before.
Lawyer French national, working in the City
Find out more about lessons in London

More stories in this category are being collected now. We would rather show you one real one than pad the page.

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Independent reviews

Our students leave their reviews on Google. The rating and the most recent reviews are shown below in full, straight from the source.

Excellent
Based on 63 reviews
M Mariana Alves 18 June 2026

Patrick is a brilliant teacher. My meetings at work used to worry me and now I speak first instead of waiting…

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K Kenji Watanabe 11 June 2026

I moved to London last year and needed real, everyday English. Friendly lessons, honest feedback, no pressure…

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S Sofia Rinaldi 2 June 2026

I passed IELTS with the band I needed. The plan was built around my weak areas rather than a fixed course…

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A Amir Haddad 24 May 2026

Every lesson is one-to-one and prepared for me. Two months in, my written English at work is much clearer…

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E Elena Novak 15 May 2026

The free assessment was relaxed and genuinely useful. I knew exactly where I stood before I paid anything…

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This is the live Google reviews widget in its final position — the rating, count and most recent reviews update straight from the Google Business Profile.

Are you a PS English student?

If you have been with us for a few months and you would like to share your story, we would be very grateful. A few honest sentences from you helps the next student decide whether PS English is right for them.

Would you rather keep it private? Send your story to pb@psenglish.co.uk and tell us the name or role you would like us to use. We will always ask you before we publish anything.

Ready to start your own story?

Every student on this page started with a free consultation. No commitment, no script. Meet the Principal, talk about your goals, and try a lesson at a discounted price before you decide.

Teaching English in London since 2001
One-to-one, never group
Native British teachers
Free consultation, no commitment