O LEVEL TUITION
GCE O Level examination - a crucial gateway
The end of PSLE may leave students carefree for some time before another major examination strikes again. This time, the O Level examinations are a tad more imperative than the graduation exam they had back in primary school. Their results would determine which academic route to embark on - namely Junior College, Polytechnic or Institute of Technical Education (ITE) - which is, in other words, a decision that brings them one step closer to shaping their future. As such, it is no doubt a significant decision that would be of concern to most parents, as all parents would hope for their child to perform as best as they can, so that they can ultimately have a variety of options to choose from.
Education syllabus getting tougher each year
The transition between lower secondary and upper secondary is significant. Advancements in concepts learnt are substantial, and the ability to score well is no longer dependent on mundane memory work like in the past. As students reach the upper secondary level, the education system becomes more focused on students’ competence in conducting critical thinking as well as the application of what they have learnt. These skills take time and a great deal of practice to be mastered, and this is where home tuition comes in handy.
Even though school teachers are able to provide consultations to assist students, we cannot ignore the fact that these teachers have the responsibility to cater to so many students with a limited amount of time. The attention span on individual students becomes constrained and thus, external help, such as tuition, would be useful to help these students be better prepared for their major examinations.
With the academic rigour maintained throughout the school year, it is undeniable that consistent assistance and guidance for students would be paramount through their educational journey. Hence, with the help of private tuition, students can be provided with the relevant resources needed to overcome challenges that they would potentially meet along the way.
O Level subject combination
At the lower secondary level, students are exposed to a wide range of subjects. This gives students a gist of how each of the subjects are like when studied a little more in depth. By the end of Secondary 2, they would develop a better understanding of their own strengths and interests, getting a general idea of what they would like to pursue in their future career path.
Eventually, at Secondary 3, students would have already decided on their subject combinations. It is common for most of them to settle down to around 7 to 10 subjects for their O Levels.
Compulsory subjects include English Language, Mother Tongue Language, Mathematics, Science and Humanities.
However, most schools vary in the subject combinations that they offer to students. Each school would narrow down to a specific few that they would regard as the best options for their students.
This constitutes the possible subject combinations.
“Pure” subjects suggest that students are expected to learn all contents from the entire syllabus, while “combined” subjects would mean only having to learn half of the syllabus. However, it is also important to know that students would need 2 “combined” subjects to make up for a “relevant subject” (also known as the “R” in their L1R5).
Additionally, those who take up Higher Mother Tongue would have an edge over others if they were to obtain a Pass, as an additional 2 points would be deducted from their L1R5
Benefits of O Level tuition
As implied previously, tuition can simply be regarded as extra guidance to help students achieve their academic goals. That being said, let us also delve deeper into understanding how and in what ways would O Level tuition be beneficial.
Matching services at our tuition agency enables quality tutors to be matched with various kinds of students. As such, students are able to access teachers who can cater to their learning styles. Students with private tutors have the luxury to be evaluated with more precision, since tuition teachers often work closely with their tutees. The amount of time these tutors spend guiding and understanding their students allows them to monitor their students’ learning progress. From there, tutors are able to look out for their students’ strengths and weaknesses, thereby developing teaching methods best suited for efficient and effective learning.
Besides, home tuition helps inquisitive students clarify doubts that they were unable to in school. In a large school setting, students may find it uncomfortable having to go out of the way to approach teachers. They may be unable to seek consultations with their teachers or even possibly feel dissatisfied with the answers that have been provided to them in school. These are simply a few of the reasons why students are unable to obtain the clarification that they need. Nevertheless, we know for sure that the accumulation of doubts and uncertainties is not a good sign. Hence, having a private tutor helps in this area greatly. With more 1-to-1 interaction between the tutor and tutee, students will grow to become more comfortable with asking questions. Communication via online platforms out of tuition lesson time is made possible as well, due to the more informal relationship that has been established. As such, students are able to seek clarification efficiently, thereby having more effective learning, eventually pushing them to achieve better grades.
Convenience is key
At Secondary 4 or 5, it is also common for most students to experience packed curriculums and busy schedules. That being said, time is indeed of the essence. As such, it is understandable for parents and students to value convenience. Many may find it a hassle to fork out time to travel elsewhere for tuition lessons. However, with home tuition, not only are students able to clear their doubts quickly, travelling time for tuition is saved greatly as well.
With Nanyang Academics, we are able to help students look for home tutors who can match their schedule. Most of our tutors are rather flexible with their timings as well, and the ability to save time and provide students with utmost convenience would thus give them the opportunity to make full use of their time.
O Levels vs N Levels; what’s the difference?
With Singapore’s education system dividing students into different academic tracks, the most typical streams would be Express, Normal Academic (NA) and Normal Technical (NT).
All students in the Express stream are expected to take O Levels by the end of Secondary 4. Certain students in NA are also eligible for O Levels if they choose to take up the 5-year course. Other than that, the rest of the students in NA and NT would have N Levels as their graduating exam instead.
There are indeed similarities between the O and N Level examinations, with English Language, Mother Tongue Language, Math, Science and Humanities being compulsory subjects. However, O Levels is indeed more demanding as compared to students taking the N Levels. While preparing for 7 to 10 subjects for O Levels is the norm, students taking the N Levels would be required to take up around 6 subjects, with most subjects being combined rather than pure.
Also, the O Levels calls for students to tackle more academic-based subjects, meaning subjects like Design & Technology, Principle of Accounts (POA) and Food & Nutrition are not available as part of their subject combination. On the flip side, these are still offered to students taking the N Levels.
In a nutshell, O Levels requires students to prepare for more subjects with more in depth content, as compared to N Levels. Nevertheless, every student has their own battle to fight. Just because O Levels is more demanding than N Levels does not mean that doing well is impossible. Conversely, just because students are tested on less content in the N Levels does not mean that they cannot be challenging.
Ultimately, the students’ eventual results would all depend on the amount of effort each of them is willing to put in for their examinations.
And we can simply be there to help students take a step closer towards achieving their goals - by offering the most ideal tutor!
Our tutors
At our tuition agency, we ensure that our O Level tuition teachers are well-versed with the SEAB syllabus. We conduct stringent screening with potential tutors to ensure that their teaching would align with what is expected by Cambridge. They are also MOE-Certified and parents and students will have over 7000 tutors to choose from. With the help of our screening and shortlisting, it will give parents and students the liberty and flexibility to pick out the most ideal tutor.
We do care for our students and would love to help provide them with whatever support and assistance that they need. We understand that Math and Sciences (Physics/Chemistry/Biology) are subjects with higher weightage and we would be more than willing to help provide students with home tutors who specialise in these subjects.
Why us?
Being a tuition agency in Singapore with years of experience, we believe that we are able to provide every student with a suitable private tutor. The subjects available for O Level tuition are English, Elementary Math, Additional Math, Principle of Accounts, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Chinese, Higher Chinese, Malay, Tamil and all other Humanities subjects!
To all parents out there, help us to help your child reach his/her fullest potential. Contact us to find the perfect tutor for your child today!
