We offer PRIVATE tuition in a range of subjects from primary to A-level both online and face-to-face

The vast majority of our students are of school age, between 8 and 18, however we do also offer tutoring to adult learners or younger students from the age of 6. 

Inicio offers enhanced education in the following subjects:

• English

• Maths

• Science (biology, chemistry & physics)

• French

• Spanish

• Mandarin/Chinese

• German

• Italian

• Greek

• Japanese

• Russian

• Computer Science

• History

• Geography

• Government & Politics

• ESOL (English as a Second language)

• Business & Economics

• Psychology

• Religious Studies

• Entrance Exams, including the 11-plus

We also offer additional subjects as required, for example sociology, Latin and touch typing.

What is the difference between all of the exam boards?

OCR, AQA, Edexcel... not to mention IB! Although schools don't offer all of these, it is important to recognise the differences and to avoid signing up to a subject without fully understanding the syllabus. 

The exam board websites will give you information on each of them based on the subject that you are looking at so, for example, you can compare OCR chemistry with Edexcel chemistry. If, once you've researched them, you find that one of them really doesn't suit your learning style, you would need to then look at schools and colleges based on this decision.

Is the content and assessment the same?

The content for a subject is set by the Department for Education and there are rules and regulations about how the topics should be assessed, but there can then be a varied approach by the boards. This is why one school may pick one exam board and a school just down the road may select another; it is left to the teachers to decide which exam board they would like to teach and which they think will suit their students the best. The order that topics are taught in may also vary from one exam board to another, as well as the weighting of papers. For example the AQA English language GCSE is split equally between the two papers but it is 40/60% with Edexcel.   

Some exam boards have multiple choice questions on their papers, whereas others don't; some will have more of the high mark questions (6/8/10 marks). The content across the different exam boards is actually very similar, however, it isn't identical.

The difference between the main A-level exam boards and the International Baccalaureate Diploma

There is one main difference between A-levels for OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC and the IB; the latter (which doesn't technically cover A-levels) has a different structure. The International Baccalaureate Diploma sees students studying six subjects and three of those are chosen at higher level and three are at standard level. As well as studying six subjects, there are three core elements too: theory of knowledge, the extended essay and CAS (creativity, activity and service). These allow students to complete different projects, write an independent research essay and study some more philosophical theories. 

This may seem like a lot, but many people believe that it gives students a little insight into the things that they may do at university (for example the extended essay). It's also worth bearing in mind that you may go into a little more detail with your subjects at A-level, especially if you compare them to those studied at standard level for the IB. 

As you can see, there is a lot to think about, but the exam board websites will provide more specifics about the subjects that you are considering. 

If you have any further questions or need pointing in the right direction for the specifications, just get in touch :)