IGCSE tutor online: how IGCSE tutoring works subject by subject, Cambridge vs Edexcel, Core vs Extended, the exam sessions, and when to start

An IGCSE tutor online is a different job from an ordinary maths or science tutor, and the difference is the mark scheme. IGCSE grades are decided by how a student answers on paper against a published scheme, and a tutor who has not taught to that scheme teaches the topic well and the exam badly. This post explains how IGCSE tutoring works subject by subject, the Cambridge and Edexcel boards and their codes, Core and Extended tiers, the paper structure, how the required practicals are taught online, the exam sessions, the two-year timetable from Year 10, and how to tell a real IGCSE tutor from a general one in the first class.

The boards and the codes

Two boards set IGCSEs. Cambridge (CAIE) is the original and the most common outside the UK; Pearson Edexcel is common in the UAE, India and some international schools. The syllabus code decides everything: the topics, the papers, the tier and the mark scheme.

The first thing an IGCSE tutor asks is the board and the code; a tutor who does not ask is a general tutor.

Core and Extended

Cambridge maths and sciences have two tiers. Core papers cover the basic syllabus and cap the grade at C (5 on the 9-1 scale); Extended papers cover the full syllabus and allow A* to E. A student who might reach a B or above sits Extended; a student who will struggle to pass sits Core and secures the C. The decision is made with the school in Year 10 or early Year 11 and it is the tutor's first job, because it changes what is taught: Extended maths adds vectors, functions, further trigonometry and differentiation that Core never touches.

The papers, subject by subject

Mathematics 0580. Paper 2 (Extended, short answer, no calculator restriction) and Paper 4 (Extended, structured, long); Core sits Papers 1 and 3. Grades are lost to method marks not shown, to rounding (three significant figures unless told otherwise), and to the last part of a structured question that nobody attempts. An IGCSE maths tutor teaches "show the method" as a habit from the first class.

Chemistry 0620, Physics 0625, Biology 0610. Paper 2 or 4 (multiple choice, Core or Extended), Paper 3 or 4 (theory), and Paper 5 or 6 (practical or alternative to practical). Most international students sit Paper 6, the alternative to practical, which is a written paper about experiments: planning, apparatus, reading instruments, graphs and evaluation. This is why practicals can be taught online: the exam tests them on paper.

English First Language 0500. Reading (comprehension, summary, directed writing) and Writing (composition). Marked on a levels grid; the tutor's job is the grid.

Edexcel 4MA1 and the sciences. Two papers each, Higher or Foundation, calculator allowed throughout; the style is more structured than Cambridge and the mark schemes are published with examiner reports that a tutor should have read.

The mark scheme is the syllabus

The single most useful document for an IGCSE student is the mark scheme of the last six papers. It shows which phrasing earns the mark ("the particles gain energy and move faster" earns; "it gets hotter" does not), where method marks are given, how many marks a "describe" question is worth against an "explain", and what the examiner ignores. IGCSE tutoring from Year 11 onwards is largely the student writing answers and the tutor marking them to the scheme, line by line, on the shared board, with the recording to re-watch.

The required practicals, online

Cambridge and Edexcel list the practicals students are expected to know. The exam (Paper 6, or questions within the theory papers) tests the method, the apparatus, the readings, the graph and the evaluation. A good online tutor takes each listed practical through exactly those five, with the diagram drawn from memory and the typical exam question answered; the doing happens at school, the marks happen on paper.

The exam sessions and the timetable

Cambridge IGCSE is sat in May-June (results in August) and October-November (results in January), plus a February-March series in India. Edexcel sits in May-June and a January series. Most schools enter students in May-June of Year 11.

The two-year plan: Year 10, the syllabus in the school's order, a topic ahead, with the tier decided by December; Year 11 September to December, the remaining syllabus plus topic-based past-paper questions; January to March, full papers under time, marked to the scheme, one a week per subject; April, the mark schemes re-read and the weak topics re-taught; May, nothing new.

How to tell a real IGCSE tutor in the first class

• They ask the board and code before anything else.
• They ask which tier, and have a view.
• They bring a past-paper question on the topic and mark the student's answer to the scheme, aloud.
• They know the subject's paper numbers without looking.
• They talk about the alternative-to-practical paper for a science.
• They can say what the examiner report said about last year's paper.

Three or fewer: a general tutor. Five or more: an IGCSE tutor.

What we do

Our IGCSE tutors teach Cambridge and Edexcel maths, additional maths, chemistry, physics, biology, combined science and English, one tutor with one student, on the school's own order, with past papers marked to the real mark scheme on the shared board from the term before the exam. Subject pages: IGCSE Maths, IGCSE Chemistry, IGCSE Physics, IGCSE Biology, IGCSE English. US$10 to $13 an hour, the same for every subject, on the pricing page. The first 30-minute class is free; send the board, the code and the last marked paper.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →