AS and A Level · Years 12-13
A Level Geography tutors
Greater depth in physical systems and a significant independent investigation. Synoptic questions asking students to link physical and human topics carry the highest marks, and they are where students who revised topics in isolation come unstuck.
- USD 28-34 per hour
- One-to-one, online
- Free 1-hour trial class
What AS and A Level actually demands
Three or four subjects studied in real depth, and the grades universities actually offer against. The jump from IGCSE is larger than most students expect: questions stop testing one topic at a time and start combining several.
Physical and human systems plus a substantial skills component, maps, graphs, statistics and fieldwork. The case study is the currency: specific, named, with real figures.
Where A Level Geography students lose marks
- Case studies recalled vaguely, with no place names, dates or numbers: the exact detail the marks are for
- Skills questions on graphs and statistics under-revised despite being highly predictable
- Physical processes described as sequences of events without explaining the mechanism
- Fieldwork questions answered generically rather than from the student's own investigation
Is this the right subject at this level?
Students heading for geography, environmental science, planning or international relations, and anyone whose general understanding is strong but whose answers lack the named detail examiners reward.
What it costs
USD 28-34 per 60-minute one-to-one lesson at AS and A Level, 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 20-24 per student. Small group lessons (up to 6 students) are USD 14-17 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.
Geography: questions parents ask
Why do case studies matter so much?
Because they are where the marks are. A general description of coastal erosion earns little; the same answer with a named location, dates, figures and specific management strategies earns full credit. Detail is the currency of this subject.
How many case studies should be learned?
Fewer than most students attempt, in far more detail. A small bank of thoroughly known examples that can be adapted across questions beats a long list of half-remembered ones.
Is the skills paper worth revising separately?
Yes, and it is under-revised relative to how predictable it is. Graph interpretation, statistical techniques and map skills recur in recognisable forms every series, which makes them some of the most reliably recoverable marks.