University · Undergraduate
University Calculus tutors
First-year calculus moves at roughly four times school pace and assumes algebraic fluency that many students do not have. That gap, not the calculus itself, is what usually needs the work.
- 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.
Differentiation and integration, the machinery behind most of A Level, IB and first-year university mathematics. It is the single topic that most often separates students who are coping from students who are not.
Where University Calculus students lose marks
- Chain, product and quotient rules applied mechanically and then combined wrongly in a single question
- Integration attempted by pattern-matching, with no strategy for choosing substitution over parts
- Not knowing what a derivative represents, so applied and modelling questions become guesswork
- Limits and continuity skipped at school and then assumed at university
Is this the right subject at this level?
A Level, IB and undergraduate students who can follow calculus in a lesson but cannot start a question on their own, which is nearly always a sign that it was learned as a set of rules rather than as one idea.
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.
Calculus: questions parents ask
My child can follow calculus but cannot start a question alone. Why?
Almost always because it was learned as a set of rules rather than one idea. A student who knows what a derivative represents can decide what to do with an unfamiliar question; a student who knows only the rules has to recognise the question type first, and unfamiliar ones stop them dead.
Which part causes the most trouble?
Integration, because differentiation has clear rules and integration requires choosing a strategy. Deciding between substitution and parts is a judgement built through varied practice, not something that can be memorised.
Is university calculus very different?
The concepts are similar; the pace is roughly four times faster and the algebraic fluency assumed is higher. Most students who struggle in first year have an algebra gap rather than a calculus one.