AS and A Level · Years 12-13
A Level Urdu tutors
Adds literature and extended formal writing, with considerably higher expectations of register and idiom. Students who rely on conversational Urdu find the literary vocabulary in set texts the main obstacle, and it needs teaching explicitly rather than absorbing by exposure.
- 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.
Offered as a first or second language, with a Perso-Arabic script and a formal literary register that differs considerably from everyday spoken Urdu.
Where A Level Urdu students lose marks
- Spoken fluency masking weak control of the written script and formal register
- Nastaliq script written legibly but with inconsistent spelling that costs accuracy marks
- Literary vocabulary and idiom in set texts assumed rather than explicitly taught
- Writing tasks completed in conversational register where a formal one was required
Is this the right subject at this level?
Heritage speakers in Gulf and UK schools whose spoken fluency outruns their written accuracy, and students taking Urdu as an additional language. The two groups need different work, and being entered for the wrong syllabus is a common and costly mistake worth checking early.
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.
Urdu: questions parents ask
My child speaks Urdu fluently. Will that carry the exam?
Only partly. Spoken fluency helps with listening and speaking, but the written papers assess script accuracy, formal register and literary vocabulary that conversational Urdu does not cover.
First Language or Second Language Urdu?
They are distinct syllabuses with different expectations, and heritage speakers are sometimes entered for the one that fits them least. Confirming the entry before preparing is worth the five minutes it takes.
What costs the most marks?
Inconsistent spelling in Nastaliq and writing in a conversational register where a formal one was required. Both are correctable with focused practice rather than more exposure.