How my one-to-one IB tuition works
Every family I work with, whether in the UK, Switzerland, the UAE or further afield, follows the same considered path: from our first conversation to steady progress through the IB. It is deliberately personal, one student at a time, and shaped around your child’s exact situation rather than a fixed programme of my own.
01 A first conversation
We begin with a free, unhurried consultation. You tell me about your child: their school, their IB subjects and level, how they are finding Physics, Chemistry or Maths, and what you would like to change. There is no obligation, and I take a student on only when I am confident I can genuinely help.
02 Finding the real cause
Before any teaching, I work out why your child is struggling, which is rarely where it first appears. Often a current topic feels hard only because an earlier foundation was never quite secure. I also look at the kind of question causing difficulty: numerical problems · factual recall · extended reasoning, since each needs a different remedy. This shows me precisely what to build on and what quietly needs repair.
03 A plan shaped around your child
I then map a clear route, tailored to the exact situation you came to me with. We start with the current school topic and the background it depends on, so lessons stay relevant to what is happening in class. From there we work back through earlier material, resolving doubts as we find them, and consolidating what is already secure rather than re-teaching it.
04 One-to-one lessons
Lessons are one to one, always. The pace is faster than a classroom: a topic that might take weeks at school is often covered in a lesson or two. My emphasis is understanding over drill — why a result holds, not merely how to reproduce it. I provide complete notes throughout, and once a topic is secure we move to practice questions and topic-wise past papers, keeping earlier material alive through continuous practice so nothing is forgotten by exam time. This is also where we learn to answer for the marks: the right command terms, the correct significant figures, and answers matched precisely to the mark scheme.
05 Ongoing review
I assess progress continuously, not just at intervals. Within each lesson I ask your child to work through questions so I can see, there and then, whether an idea has truly landed. Periodically I set short mini-tests drawn from past papers, or questions matched to their difficulty, to confirm that progress is real and holding under exam conditions. I adjust the plan as your child grows in confidence, keep you informed of how they are doing, and make sure momentum holds across the whole programme.
Situations I’m often asked to help with
No two students arrive for the same reason. These are some of the circumstances families regularly trust me with:
- Moving up to Higher Level. A school may be withholding an HL place in Maths, Physics or Chemistry that your child needs for their intended degree, having set a few weeks or months to prove they are ready. I build a focused plan to get them there in time.
- Holding an HL place. Where a student is in HL but not yet performing, and the school is asking for genuine improvement or a step down to SL, I help them show real progress quickly.
- Arriving from another curriculum. Students joining the IB from a different system often meet an unfamiliar pace and pressure, along with technical gaps such as using the graphing calculator efficiently. I address these issues effectively.
- The internal assessment and lab work. I support students through the IA and practical work, so this part of the grade is never left to chance. I also guide the Extended Essay where it falls within Physics, Chemistry or Maths, helping students shape a strong research question and approach the work with rigour.
- Exam confidence. For students who understand the material but freeze under pressure, reassurance and well-chosen practice rebuild their composure.
Beyond these, I have met many other individual circumstances over the years, and I am glad to talk yours through.
If this sounds right for your child, I would be glad to talk it through. You are also welcome to read more about my approach first.