IB Physics Tutor, Online
Standard and Higher Level, taught live to students at international schools anywhere in the world, by a tutor with an MSc in Physics and more than thirty years in the classroom.
Lessons run from our centre in Sant Gervasi, Barcelona, on Central European Time, scheduled around your school day wherever that falls.
Book a free trial lesson
A full hour, at no charge. Parent and student both welcome, and no commitment afterwards.
The lesson itself
What an online lesson actually looks like
A shared whiteboard where the derivation is built in front of you, line by line, with the diagram drawn rather than described. Physics is taught through the picture and the reasoning, and neither survives a slide deck.
Sessions are recorded and the recording is yours. A student who lost the thread at the point a sign convention was chosen can go back to that minute instead of carrying the confusion into the next topic.
Work set between sessions comes back marked against the real IB mark scheme, in writing. Physics marking is unusually mechanical, and seeing exactly which mark was awarded for which line is how students learn to write for it.
The data booklet
Fluency with the booklet is a skill of its own
Students are given the data booklet in the exam and most use it badly. Knowing a relationship exists is not the same as knowing where it lives, which symbol means what in this context, and which of two similar-looking expressions applies to the situation in front of you.
We work with the booklet open from the start, so that by the exam it is a familiar tool rather than a document being searched under time pressure.
Exams
Papers 1, 2 and 3
Paper 1 rewards speed and recognising the standard situation quickly. Paper 2 rewards structured written physics, where the marks sit in the reasoning between the first line and the answer. Paper 3 is the one students prepare least and lose most on: experimental technique, uncertainty, and reading data you have never seen before.
Command terms carry weight in Physics specifically. State, explain, describe, deduce and outline ask for different things, and a correct physical answer written against the wrong command term scores less than it should.
Internal Assessment
The IA, and being honest about practical work
The IA is twenty per cent of the grade, and the most common failure is a topic that cannot be measured cleanly. A question that sounds impressive but produces noisy, unrepeatable data will cost marks no amount of writing can recover.
The honest limit of online teaching: we cannot run your experiment with you. What we can do is help you pick a question that works, plan a method that produces usable data with documented uncertainty, and get the analysis and evaluation to a standard the criteria reward. Our IA topic shortlist is the place to start.
Scheduling
Working across a time-zone gap
Teaching is on Central European Time, which overlaps comfortably with the UK, Europe, the Middle East and most of Africa, works early for Asia, and works late afternoon or evening CET for the Americas.
We will tell you when a slot is a bad idea rather than take the booking. A physics lesson at 10pm local time, after a full school day, is an hour nobody gets value from. Weekend mornings usually solve the worst gaps.
Who this suits
Who this is for, and who it is not
It suits a student with a specific problem and the willingness to work between sessions: a grade that has stalled, IB1 mechanics or fields that never landed, an IA with no clear question, or a November retake.
It does not suit someone wanting an IA written for them or a single rescue session before a test. Those get an honest no.
Teaching is in English, with the terminology covered in the student's examination language where that differs.
What students & families say
A 5.0 rating on Google, earned over years of one-to-one teaching. Here is what families tell us.
“Bernat now feels confident with Math and Physics. He feels prepared for university. Suneel's help has been the key to Bernat's confidence and understanding. A pleasure to have you as his teacher for two years!”
Bernat's Parent
IB Math & Physics HL · Barcelona
“My daughter has been learning so much! She is looking forward to more lessons. Suneel has a wonderful way of explaining things that makes everything click.”
Wendy Malla
IB Mathematics · Barcelona
“Suneel transformed my son's relationship with Maths completely. From dreading every lesson to genuinely enjoying problem-solving, in just a few months. Incredible patience and expertise.”
Marco's Parent
IB Math AA SL · Online
Book a free trial lesson
A full hour, at no charge. Parent and student both welcome, and no commitment afterwards.
Based in Barcelona and looking for in-person lessons? See IB Physics tutoring in Barcelona. For Maths, see IB Maths tutoring online.