Online tuition in Singapore: tuition rates per hour in 2026, the MOE syllabus (PSLE, O-level, A-level, IP), the Indian international schools (CBSE and IB), how online tuition works for Singapore families, and how online classes from India compare on price

Singapore has the most tuition-intensive school system in the world, and "online tuition singapore" is searched a thousand times a month because families want the tuition without the travel and, increasingly, without the local price. This guide gives the rates Singapore agencies publish for 2026, explains the MOE path and where tuition is used along it, covers the Indian international schools separately, sets out what online 1-on-1 tuition does well and where it fails, gives the checks before you book, and compares the local price with online classes from India. We teach the latter, so we are not neutral; we have kept to published rates and said where a local option is better.

The rates Singapore agencies publish

Singapore's tuition agencies publish rate tables, which makes it one of the few markets where the price is visible. Per hour, 1-on-1, 2026:

Online rates are the same as home rates at most agencies, or S$5 to S$10 lower. Tuition centres charge per month per subject: roughly S$200 to S$350 for primary, S$250 to S$450 for secondary and S$350 to S$600 for JC, in groups of 6 to 15, with registration and materials fees. A family with one child in two subjects with a full-time tutor spends S$400 to S$600 a month; with an ex-MOE teacher, S$700 to S$1,000.

The MOE path, and where tuition is used

Three features make Singapore tuition different from India's or the UK's. The syllabus is specific and the exam style is particular: PSLE maths problem sums are solved with the model method and heuristics, not algebra, and a tutor who teaches algebra to a P5 child is teaching the wrong method. The ten-year series (past papers) and school preliminary exam papers are the core material, and good tutors have them. And streaming decisions (PSLE AL scores, the Express and IP cut-offs, subject combinations at Sec 3) make P5 to P6 and Sec 2 to Sec 3 the years when families start.

The Indian international schools

Several thousand Indian families in Singapore use the Indian international schools, which run CBSE or IB rather than the MOE syllabus: Global Indian International School (CBSE, IB and Cambridge), DPS International, NPS International (CBSE and IB) and Yuvabharathi (CBSE). For these children, tuition is CBSE or IB tuition, exactly as in India or the Gulf, and the Singapore agency rates above apply to local tutors but not to online tutors from India, who teach CBSE as standard. Our guide to CBSE schools in Singapore and their fees covers the choice between the Indian schools and the MOE route.

What online tuition does well, and where it fails

Works well online: maths at every level (a shared whiteboard is better than a kitchen table for working), physics and chemistry, the content and technique of English (comprehension strategy, composition structure, grammar), and anything exam-paper based. The whole hour goes to one child; the recording lets the parent see the class; there is no travel across the island after school.

Works less well online: very young children (P1 to P2) who need a physical presence, oral and listening components without a plan for them, and any tutor who treats "online" as "the same lesson through a webcam" without the whiteboard, the papers and the marking between classes.

The Singapore-specific test of an online tutor is whether they teach the MOE method: ask to see them solve a P6 problem sum with a model, or an O-level A-math question in the O-level style. A tutor who has taught only CBSE will solve it correctly and in the wrong way.

Checks before you book online tuition in Singapore

1. Which syllabus has the tutor taught, and for how long? MOE (which levels), CBSE, IB or IGCSE.
2. A trial class on the child's current topic, with you watching, at the real time.
3. The materials: do they use the school's worksheets and papers, and the ten-year series?
4. What happens between classes: marked homework, a short note, a monthly summary.
5. The same tutor all year, in writing.
6. The price per hour and the billing: monthly in arrears or packages; cancellation terms.

Online classes from India, compared

A master's-qualified teacher in India teaching 1-on-1 online costs about S$13 to S$17 an hour at Science with Shobha, a third to a half of a Singapore part-time tutor and a fifth of an ex-MOE teacher. The time difference is the easiest of any country we teach: Singapore is 2.5 hours ahead, so after-school and evening classes are Indian afternoon and early evening, and the same teacher stays all year. What we teach for Singapore families:

• CBSE and IB for the Indian international schools, as standard.
• MOE maths and science for families in local schools, with teachers who have taught the Singapore syllabus and use the model method and the ten-year series; we say honestly in the free class whether we have the right teacher for the level, and we do not take JC H2 subjects we cannot teach to the A-level standard.
• IGCSE and IB for the international schools.

Every class is recorded, the homework is marked, and the first class is free. Our Singapore page has the class times and the schools we see most; our country-by-country guide for NRI families covers a move between Singapore and India.

Questions parents ask

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