University · Undergraduate
University Government and Politics tutors
Undergraduate politics moves quickly into political theory and quantitative methods, both of which surprise students who came for current affairs. The theoretical reading in particular is heavier than school prepares for.
- USD 34-40 per hour
- One-to-one, online
- Free 1-hour trial class
What University actually demands
First-year modules move at several times school pace and assume prerequisites that are often shakier than students realise. Support here is usually about closing a specific gap quickly rather than working through a syllabus.
Political institutions, ideologies and processes, usually comparing systems. It rewards current, specific examples, which means the subject has to be revised continuously rather than only at the end.
Where University Government and Politics students lose marks
- Examples that are out of date, which weakens otherwise strong essays
- Ideologies described without reference to the named thinkers the specification requires
- Comparative questions answered as two separate descriptions with no actual comparison
- Opinion presented as analysis, without the balance and evidence the mark scheme expects
Is this the right subject at this level?
Students heading for politics, law, international relations or PPE, and anyone who follows the news closely and needs to turn that interest into examinable argument. It rewards students willing to argue positions they disagree with, because balance and evidence carry more marks than conviction does.
What it costs
USD 34-40 per 60-minute one-to-one lesson at University, the same rate in every city we teach in. Billed monthly against lessons actually taught, with no prepaid blocks and no minimum commitment.
Paired lessons (2 students) are USD 24-28 per student. Small group lessons (up to 6 students) are USD 17-20 per student. What each format is good for is here.
How we teach it
One-to-one, online, with a shared whiteboard. The first thing we establish is the exact syllabus the student is entered for: schools do not always publish the version they actually enter, and preparing for the wrong paper structure wastes a term.
After that the work is diagnostic: a past paper under timed conditions, marked together against the published scheme, to find out where the marks are genuinely going. That is almost always more useful than covering the syllabus again more slowly. The full process is here.
Government and Politics: questions parents ask
How current do examples need to be?
Current enough that they have not been overtaken. Politics rewards recent, specific examples, which means the subject has to be revised continuously: keeping a running file of examples from the start of the course is the habit that pays off.
Why do comparative questions score badly?
Because students describe two systems in turn and never compare them. The marks are for explicit comparison (similarities, differences, and why they exist) not for two accurate parallel descriptions.
Do the political thinkers have to be named?
At A Level, yes. The specification names particular thinkers for each ideology and expects them to be used. Describing an ideology accurately without them caps the mark.