From Head of English to Founder: Claire Fennelly on Your English Tutor UK

What does it take to leave a 15-year teaching career and, in your very first year in business, get 96% of your students through their GCSE English? In this episode of The Class Business Podcast, Krissy Monaghan is joined by Claire Fennelly, founder of Your English Tutor UK, based in Bishop's Stortford, offering in-person GCSE English tuition locally and small-group online tuition to students across the country. Claire is a finalist for Tutor Business of the Year, sponsored by Jo Brianti, at The Class Business Awards 2026. Claire spent 15 years teaching in Ireland and across Essex, reaching Head of English, before her mum became ill and she left her "dream job" to move back to Ireland to care for her. When she returned to the UK, she turned what had been ad hoc, side-hustle tutoring into a proper business, launching Your English Tutor UK in September 2025 and investing in business coaching from day one to shortcut the learning curve. In this episode, we talk about: • Leaving a 15-year teaching career, including reaching Head of English, to care for family • Turning ad hoc tutoring into a proper business, launched in September 2025 • Why she invested in business coaching straight away rather than learning the hard way • Building a year-long small-group programme instead of one-off weekly sessions • Giving students fortnightly personalised, marked feedback • Results from her first academic year: a 96% pass rate, with over half of students reaching grades 7 to 9 • Working with students from Year 7 confidence-building right through to GCSE resits • Winning the 2025 New Business Award in Hertfordshire and the PR that followed • Plans to take on more tutors and start supporting other teachers moving into tuition What comes through in this conversation is that Claire's biggest challenge wasn't the teaching itself, it was learning to tell people, with zero existing following, why her approach was different. Building that message clearly, alongside real results, is what's let her turn a side hustle into a business students are signing up for years at a time. Find out more about Your English Tutor UK at yourenglishtutor.co.uk, or find her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, searching Your English Tutor UK. Claire Fennelly is a finalist for Tutor Business of the Year, sponsored by Jo Brianti, at The Class Business Awards 2026. Join us on Saturday 10 October 2026 at the National Conference Centre in Solihull for The Class Business Live, followed by The Class Business Awards & Afterparty. https://www.kristinemonaghan.online/o... #TheClassBusinessPodcast #TheClassBusinessAwards