About Ridge Academics
Welcome to Ridge Academics, offering tuition and coaching for secondary school students, and support for hardworking families trying to provide the very best opportunities for their children.
I'm a school teacher, based in Newbury, Berkshire, with 20 years "chalk-face" experience across several leading UK independent schools. My specialist subjects are Economics and Business, but really my job is to inspire and motivate young people to be adventurous and make the most of their talents. In 2024, I left the independent sector to focus my energies on supporting young people in my local community, at two excellent comprehensive schools.
Private school fee inflation has long out-paced wage growth for most professionals. There is growing demand for a hybrid model - blending the best of state education with targeted interventions and supplementary provision, where local schools are over-stretched.
The challenge is particularly acute in A-Level Economics, where student numbers have doubled since 2008 and countless teaching positions sit vacant across both state and independent schools nationwide. It's a shame, because Economics is an AMAZING subject, that equips young people with the tools to analyse and critique some of the big questions in modern society, to take a more informed and active role in our democratic process and to find meaningful and rewarding career paths.
Why "Ridge Academics"? Pursuing an academic goal is not dissimilar to climbing mountains: we all need to find an accessible route to the summit - the ridge-line. I can't do the climbing for my students, that is their challenge and their achievement. What I can do is help them navigate a more accessible path to success, and steer them back onto the trail when they drift. So the Ridge is a path to improvement, but it can also represent a watershed: that critical point in the academic journey, when students change direction and start accelerating their own learning. My job is to get them there sooner.
Read more about my approach to teaching and learning under "Articles", get in touch via the details below, or book directly onto one of my revision courses for 2025 examinations.
Thanks for visiting.
Colin Irvine
Bio
From Dublin originally, now living in West Berkshire, I started my career in Outdoor Education, taking young people into nature and out of their comfort zone.
In 2004 I moved into the classroom, to share my passion for Economics and help young people achieve those vital academic qualifications that unlock so many doors. But I have always stayed loyal to my outdoor roots, steadfastly committed to developing character in young people, alongside formal qualifications. In my experience, one leads to the other.
I have held various leadership positions, including Director of International Baccalaureate, Head of Department, Head of House and DofE Manager. I have wide experience across single sex and coed, independent and state, day and boarding, selective and non selective. I have taught Edexel, AQA, OCR, IB, SQA from Edinburgh to Birmingham to Berkshire and have a long track record of excellent results and strong value added.
It has been a privilege to teach each and every one of my students, where my strategy is to treat them with both respect and rigour, to help them unlock the motivation to get out and make the most of their opportunities.
That is what I do.
Education
M.A. Economics & Geography
1998-2003
Trinity College Dublin
H.Dip. Education
2004-2005
University College Dublin