Private Tutoring (1:1) · Mathematics
60-minute lessons · billed every four lessons
- Mathematics
- HK$800 per hour
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GCE A-Level / IAL
GCE A-Level / IAL mathematics tutoring taught to the Edexcel IAL or the Cambridge International A-Level specification; on the Edexcel side that covers the Pure Mathematics units P1 to P4 and the Mechanics, Statistics and Decision Mathematics units, while Cambridge divides its papers separately, and the schedule is planned backwards from the sitting, resits included. One-to-one private tutoring, one hour a lesson, in Kwun Tong or online, with a free first trial lesson.
Looking for GCE A-Level or IAL mathematics tutoring? At PY Education, this subject is taught by founder and principal tutor Tinnie. She holds an MSc in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics (Distinction), first-class honours degrees in Accounting and Finance and in Data Science and Business Analytics from the University of London, and a BBA in Professional Accountancy from CUHK. She teaches mathematics for GCSE / IGCSE, GCE A-Level / IAL (including Further Mathematics), IBDP and AP.
The subject is taught to the Edexcel IAL or the Cambridge International A-Level specification; on the Edexcel side that covers the Pure Mathematics units P1 to P4 and the Mechanics, Statistics and Decision Mathematics units, while Cambridge divides its papers separately. One-to-one private tutoring only, one hour a lesson, billed every four lessons, in Kwun Tong or online. The first lesson can be a free trial.
Edexcel IAL and Cambridge International A-Level are two different boards: they divide the units and the papers differently, and the same topic appears in a different place and is examined in a different way. So the first thing to settle when you enrol is which board the school uses, and which units have been entered or already sat. Once that is clear, we teach from that board's specification and that board's past papers, so the practice papers point at the paper you will actually sit.
The unit codes, examination lengths and permitted combinations set out below follow Pearson's current IAL Mathematics specification (the 2018 course, Pure Mathematics units WMA11 to WMA14) and Pearson's aggregation rules; Cambridge's division is separate. If the school's entry arrangements are not settled yet, we can go through them together in the trial lesson.
IAL is not a course sat in one go; it is sat unit by unit. The full IAL Mathematics (YMA01) is made up of six units, and the AS-level IAS Mathematics (XMA01) of three.
The last point matters most to a student taking both subjects together: which unit counts towards which subject, and which sitting it is taken in, is settled at the start of the course.
The main topics of the four Pure Mathematics units are as follows. P1: algebra and functions, coordinate geometry, trigonometry, differentiation, integration. P2: adds proof, sequences and series, exponentials and logarithms. P3: the domain and range of a function, composite and inverse functions, trigonometric identities, exponentials and logarithms (examined in P2 and again in P3), the rules of differentiation and integration, and numerical methods. P4: proof, partial fractions, parametric equations, the binomial expansion, implicit and parametric differentiation, differential equations, vectors.
Coming up from IGCSE, the unfamiliar ground is usually not the first step of differentiation but the language of functions in P3 and that set of trigonometric identities: domain and range, fg meaning “do g first, then f”, the graph of an inverse function, and sec, cosec and cot together with the double angle formulae — that set is not printed in the formula booklet in the examination hall, so it has to be memorised. In P4, what is new is splitting an expression into partial fractions before integrating, finding tangents and normals from parametric equations, and vectors.
The first four lessons: taking P1 as the example, the first four lessons deal with the algebra and functions toolkit — laws of indices, surds, quadratic functions and the discriminant, completing the square, simultaneous equations and quadratic inequalities — and coordinate geometry and calculus come after that. We bill in blocks of four lessons and we plan the content in blocks of four, so at the start of the course we say which topics those four lessons cover.
The applied units come in three series. Mechanics: M1 covers mathematical models in mechanics, vectors, the kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line, the dynamics of a particle with forces and Newton’s laws, and the statics of a particle with moments; M2 covers motion in two dimensions, centres of mass, work and energy, collisions, and the statics of rigid bodies. Statistics: S1 covers the representation of data, probability, correlation and regression, discrete random variables and the Normal distribution; S2 covers the Binomial and Poisson distributions, continuous random variables and hypothesis tests. Decision Mathematics: D1 covers algorithms, algorithms on graphs, critical path analysis and linear programming.
The combination is usually the school’s decision — whichever two units the school enters the student for are the two we teach. Where the student does have a choice: for a student also taking Physics, the kinematics and Newton’s laws in M1 overlap with the physics course; for a student taking Economics or Biology, the correlation and regression in S1 sit closer to familiar ground. Tell us the combination already entered when you sign up, and we prepare to that combination.
Every Pearson mark scheme sets out three kinds of mark at the front. An M mark is a method mark, earned by knowing a method and attempting to apply it. An A mark is an accuracy mark, and it is only counted once the corresponding M mark has been earned. A B mark is an independent mark, not attached to any method. Some points are marked ft (follow through), where a candidate’s own earlier wrong answer can be carried forward and still earn the mark; the remaining A marks are cao — the mark is there for a correct answer only.
So a complete line of working shows three things: which rule or formula was used, what was substituted in, and what it was simplified to. When three lines are compressed into one and only the correct answer appears, there is nothing for the M marks in between to attach to; the other way round, when the method is written out in full and one number goes wrong along the way, the follow-through marks are still there to be had. We mark against the mark scheme for that unit and that sitting, line by line, and say whether a mark went on method, on accuracy, or on copying and simplification.
Pearson runs three sittings a year: January, June and October. Which units are open in which sitting is listed in the availability column of the specification: Pure Mathematics P1 to P4 are open in all three, as are M1, M2, S1 and S2, while D1 is January and June only. The actual dates follow the examination timetable Pearson publishes for that year, so we look at the official timetable for the year together when planning the schedule. Tell us which unit you plan to sit in which sitting when you enrol, and we work backwards from the sitting: the units for the nearest sitting are fixed first, and the rest follow.
A resit plan is made of three questions: which unit to resit, which sitting to put it in, and what changes in the lessons in between. The first lesson starts from the previous paper and the marks by section, separating marks lost on material not yet mastered, marks lost to running out of time, and marks lost to a method written out incompletely — the three are handled quite differently. Material not yet mastered means going back and teaching the topic again. Running out of time means timed papers, with the minutes actually spent on each section written down. An incomplete method means rewriting the answers line by line against the mark scheme. The grade is aggregated from the best combination of the results on the bank, so a unit that already sits where the student wants it does not need to take up lesson time.
The opening material of P1 sits directly on top of IGCSE algebra: laws of indices, surds, factorisation, quadratic equations and the discriminant, simultaneous equations and inequalities. None of this is taught again at A-Level; it is in use in every lesson. A student who has done Cambridge 0606 Additional Mathematics or Edexcel 4PM1 Further Pure Mathematics will find part of the first month or two of P1 already familiar, quadratic functions and the basic rules of differentiation especially; a student who has done only 0580 or 4MA1 starts building at that layer. The first lesson confirms how fluent that layer is.
Further Mathematics (YFM01) is a separate A-Level, entered separately and graded separately, and it is likewise made up of six units: FP1 plus either FP2 or FP3 are compulsory, and the other four are chosen from FP2, FP3, M1 to M3, S1 to S3 and D1. Because the two subjects sit in different qualification groups, a unit result cannot be shared between them: Mathematics and Further Mathematics need twelve different units between them, with the sittings planned together as well. For a student taking both, we lay the twelve units and their sittings out on one timeline, so that by the time an advanced unit starts, the Mathematics material it assumes has been taught. Whether to take both is something we weigh up in the trial lesson, against the student’s overall timetable and the units already sat; whether a particular university or a particular course requires or recommends Further Mathematics is for that course’s own admissions page. The A-Level Further Mathematics subject page has the detail.
One-to-one private tutoring only, one hour (60 minutes) a lesson, charged by the hour and settled every four lessons: Mathematics is HK$800 an hour, so HK$3,200 for four lessons; Further Mathematics is a separate subject at HK$850 an hour, so HK$3,400 for four lessons. In Kwun Tong or online. The first lesson can be a free trial.
The trial lesson starts by confirming the board and the unit combination, and which units have been sat and with what marks, then talks through which unit to start from. There is no request to sign up on the spot.
Kwun Tong
Online
60 minutes (1 hour)
60-minute lessons · billed every four lessons
Mathematics is HK$800 an hour, lessons are one hour, and fees are settled every four lessons — HK$3,200 for four — taught by Tinnie. Further Mathematics is a separate subject at HK$850 an hour (HK$3,400 for four lessons). The three business subjects on the same course (Accounting, Business and Economics) are HK$800 an hour and are taught by the founder, Tinnie. The first lesson can be a free trial.
Both are taught. Tell us which board the school uses and which units have already been entered, and we work from that board’s specification and past papers. The two boards divide the units and the papers differently, so once that is matched up, every practice paper points at the paper you will actually sit.
The full IAL Mathematics (YMA01) takes six units, and the AS-level IAS Mathematics (XMA01) three. Each unit is a 1 hour 30 minute paper out of 75 marks, and each carries 16⅔% of the full IAL. The compulsory units for the IAL are Pure Mathematics P1 to P4 (WMA11–WMA14) plus two applied units; for the AS it is P1 and P2 plus one applied unit.
Three times. Pearson runs January, June and October sittings. Pure Mathematics P1 to P4 are open in all three, and so are M1, M2, S1 and S2; D1 is examined in January and June only. The actual dates come from the official timetable Pearson publishes for that year, which we look at together when planning the schedule.
Yes. Pearson aggregates the qualification from the best combination of the unit results on your bank, so a unit that already sits where you want it does not need to take up lesson time. One thing to watch: if the certificate has already been cashed in, the cash-in codes entered previously have to be entered again along with the resit before the grades are recalculated. Before a resit we start from the previous paper and the marks by section, separating material not yet mastered, running out of time, and a method written out incompletely — the three are handled quite differently. After that, each lesson looks at whether the same kind of question came out right the second time, how many marks are still going on questions you know how to do, and whether a full paper gets finished.
Yes. That is what the modular structure allows. Tell us which unit and when the sitting is, and we plan the schedule backwards from that date.
Not necessarily, but usually. Further Mathematics assumes the Pure Mathematics content of Mathematics, so the two are normally arranged together. The two qualifications also need twelve different units between them, so the entries are planned as one set. If you have already sat the Mathematics units, taking Further Mathematics on its own works fine.
Twelve, and they have to be twelve different units — the two subjects sit in different qualification groups, so a unit result cannot be shared between them. So when both subjects are taken together, which unit counts towards which subject and which sitting it goes in are arranged at the start.
Algebra first. Laws of indices, surds, factorisation, quadratic equations and the discriminant, simultaneous equations and inequalities are all in daily use from the opening of P1. A student who has done 0606 Additional Mathematics or 4PM1 has already met quadratic functions and the basic rules of differentiation and can move faster; a student who has done only 0580 or 4MA1 starts at that layer.
One-to-one; there are no groups. A-Level Mathematics is one-to-one private tutoring only, one hour a lesson. Online is fine — face to face in Kwun Tong or online, and students studying overseas can attend. Home tutoring is not offered.
Yes. Tinnie also teaches IGCSE and IB Mathematics, AP Calculus and AP Statistics. Mr Wong teaches primary and DSE mathematics (junior forms, the compulsory part and M1/M2). Each has its own subject page and fees. IGCSE, IAL, IB and AP lessons are one hour and charged by the hour; primary and DSE lessons are 75 minutes and billed every four lessons.
Yes. The first lesson can be a free trial — tick the box on the enrolment form. The trial lesson starts by confirming which board you sit, what the unit combination is, and which units you have already sat and with what marks, then talks through which unit to start from. There is no request to sign up on the spot. Lessons can be in Kwun Tong or online, one hour each.