MEET THE FOUNDER
CAROL PADDON
Research Biochemist, Teacher and Founder of Atompi Academy®
I have been tutoring professionally since 2015, helping students understand Chemistry and develop the skills needed to apply their knowledge successfully.
My approach brings together scientific research, teaching experience and a deep understanding of how students learn, retrieve and apply knowledge.
I specialise in supporting students who are working hard but achieving below their potential—particularly those who understand Chemistry during lessons but struggle to turn that knowledge into examination marks.
WHERE MY BELIEF IN TUITION BEGAN
The Tutor Who Changed My Future
At 15, I failed all my mock examinations. My teachers told my parents to forget about A levels because they did not believe I would amount to anything.
I decided to prove them wrong.
My parents found me an English tutor.
Within four months, my English Language and English Literature grades rose from grade U to C. My other grades improved too, and I went on to achieve 99% in O-level Mathematics.
Today, I have three degrees.
That experience showed me at 16 that the right tutor can change far more than one examination result.
The right educational support can transform a student’s confidence, direction and future.
Education changed the direction of my life—and that belief sits at the heart of Atompi Academy®.
WHY EDUCATION IS PERSONAL TO ME
The Investment I Made as a Parent
II understand what it means to invest in a child’s education when money is extremely limited—because I have faced that decision myself.
Between 2009 and 2015, I raised two teenagers alone on a very low income while working as a research biochemist and studying part-time for a PhD.
After a very difficult experience at school, one of my daughters began being home-educated. When I was made redundant, we initially lived on my savings. By the time those savings ran out, she had started her GCSEs and needed specialist tuition in subjects I could not teach myself.
The tuition would cost £2,000—money I had no obvious way of finding. I had no access to credit and this was before today’s network of food banks existed. When money ran short, we grew food in the garden.. Nevertheless, my daughter needed an education that would protect her future.
I therefore made the difficult decision to move my repayment mortgage onto interest-only payments for two years. The reduction in my mortgage payments enabled me to fund the specialist tuition she needed.
I do not tell this story because I believe every parent should make the same financial decisions. Every family’s circumstances are different. I tell it because I understand the responsibility involved when a parent entrusts me with both their child’s education and a significant financial investment.
Atompi Academy® is not designed merely to help a student pass one Chemistry examination. We teach students how to learn, retrieve, retain and apply knowledge—developing transferable skills that can support them in other subjects, at university and throughout their lives.
THE PURPOSE BEHIND ATOMPI
More Than Passing Chemistry
IMany students are taught Chemistry content without being taught how to learn it, retain it and apply it independently.
They may understand a topic during a lesson but struggle to retrieve it later. They may know the scientific facts but be unable to recognise which knowledge an unfamiliar examination question requires.
That is why Atompi Academy® does more than provide additional Chemistry teaching.
Students develop the study skills, retrieval habits and examination thinking needed to connect their knowledge and use it purposefully. These are transferable skills that can support them in other subjects, at university and throughout their future education.
Our aim is to become the last tutor your child needs—not by supporting them forever, but by teaching them how to learn, retain and apply knowledge increasingly independently.
A qualification creates an opportunity. Knowing how to learn helps a young person continue creating opportunities for themselves.
Is Your Child Working Hard but Still Losing Marks?
On a Parent Strategy Call, we’ll identify where your child is losing marks and whether Atompi’s structured Chemistry support is the right next step.
