I work well with students. The first meeting is to decide on the students ability - which also requires knowing the students background . This will normally take 1/2 hour and I then get down to making a plan with the student. Again this is based on ability and background and I will either work with the students book and identify how we proceed or use books of my own (Edexcel, STP) if the student doesn't have a book. I teach according to an agreed plan - explaining, giving examples and working with maths problems. It makes a big difference if the student will do some practice before the next meeting.
I can, where needed have a plan that works with what the student is currently doing in school.
I have been successful with getting students through GCSE - but this needs doing past GCSE papers when we have covered all the work needed. The papers are very useful during the last 6 months before taking the exams. The student will take a paper at home, I will mark it and we will make another plan based on areas where the student needs more work.