How One Student Improved His IB Physics Grade in Abu Dhabi

By Russell Greenhill

Founder & CEO @ Greenhill Academics

Oxford Master’s Graduate • 8+ Years Tutoring Experience

Your child is capable at IB Physics but feels there are gaps. Teachers move quickly, and topics get skipped. The trouble is that your child cannot always tell where those gaps are. A good IB Physics tutor finds them and fills them. In Abu Dhabi, you may have seen this at Brighton College Abu Dhabi, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, or The British School Al Khubairat. Rather than speak in general terms, let me show you one real student’s progress.

One student, real progress

The student in this account is real. We will call him Daniel to protect his privacy. The identifying details are changed, but the teaching is exactly as it happened. Daniel came to us for Higher Level Physics. He felt his teachers had skipped through some subjects, so he had gaps. However, he was not always sure where they were. Yet the plan was simple. He and his tutor would work through the syllabus together and spend longer on the sections he found hard.

As a result, that plan shaped the whole year. They did not rush. Instead, they went deep where it mattered and built each topic on a solid base. From there, the sections below show how it worked.

Building from electric fields

Getting the fundamentals right

They started with electric fields. Rather than skim the surface, they went deep into what a field actually is and how it works. This was new ground for Daniel, and he adapted well. Picking up material he had not understood before was a good sign. The early sessions set a pattern. Understand the fundamentals first, then build the harder questions on top.

Into magnetic fields

Next came charges moving through a magnetic field. Daniel picked up the vector cross-product and the right-hand rule quickly. As a result, they covered the whole topic in a single session. He had a test coming up that counted towards his final grade. Therefore they pushed to secure these topics before it. He remembered the earlier work well and applied it to more demanding questions with growing confidence.

Magnetic induction and the exam

The last piece before the test was magnetic induction. Daniel handled the calculations well, because the groundwork was already in place. The main challenge in this section is a subtle one. Several technical terms look very similar, and the skill is picking the right equation for the situation. So they worked on telling these apart. By the exam, Daniel could approach this section with a clear method rather than guesswork.

Finding a mistake he did not know he had

After the exam, they moved to simple harmonic motion. Here something useful surfaced. Daniel had picked up a common misunderstanding. He believed simple harmonic motion applied to all transverse waves, including electromagnetic waves. In fact, it is a more limited idea. This is exactly the kind of gap that costs marks.

His tutor worked through the calculations with him, which Daniel did well. But it became clear that a few more basic gaps sat underneath. So the next lessons were designed to address those foundations directly. That way, they could move forward on firmer ground. This is the real value of a tutor. A common misunderstanding a student does not realise they hold is one a good tutor can find and correct.

What an IB Physics tutor changes

Daniel’s year shows what a good IB Physics tutor provides. The first thing is working out where your child stands. For example, many students know they have gaps but cannot locate them. A tutor walks the syllabus with your child and finds the weak spots, including the ones hiding beneath a confident surface.

The second is depth. Specifically, rather than skim a topic, a tutor goes into the fundamentals, so your child understands why the physics works. Because of that, the harder questions become approachable. The third is exam focus. A tutor builds technique around real assessments, securing the key topics before a test and teaching your child to select the right equation under pressure.

What the first lesson looks like

The first session is about finding the starting point. Specifically, the tutor works out what your child holds securely and where the gaps are, then agrees a plan together. There is no lecture, and no assumption your child is behind.

In practice it covers three things. First, the tutor checks the current level by talking through a topic and a question or two. Next, they find the weak areas, often the parts of the syllabus a teacher moved through quickly. Then they agree what to prioritise, so your child leaves the first lesson with a clear plan for the weeks ahead.

Meet some of our IB Physics tutors

Each tutor below studied physics or maths to a high level and teaches regularly. All are based in the UK and teach online, which fits Abu Dhabi well. Here are three to introduce.

Hugh

Hugh holds a First-Class MSci in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and is completing a doctorate at the University of Oxford. He teaches IB Physics and IB Maths alongside A Level, with over a decade of tutoring experience. Hugh is especially strong at going deep into the fundamentals and finding the gaps a student cannot see for themselves.

Karol

Karol holds a Natural Sciences degree from the University of Cambridge and teaches IB Maths and sciences with more than 5,000 hours of experience over ten years. He is methodical and clear, and he is especially effective with students who want to rebuild a topic from its foundations and practise it until it feels secure.

Murray

Murray is in the fourth year of a Materials Science degree at the University of Oxford, on track for a First, with A grades at A Level in Maths, Chemistry, and Physics. He has over 150 hours of tutoring experience and is patient with the fundamentals, rebuilding a topic from the ground up so a student can approach the harder questions with confidence.

Help your child reach a top IB Physics grade

If your child has the ability but the IB Physics grade is not showing it, the right tutor can find the gaps and close them. Reach out, and we will pair them with a specialist Physics tutor matched to their needs.

Worth reading next

If this was useful, these guides go further on the same themes. One looks at where IB Physics marks go, another at what a 7 in IB Biology takes, and the last looks ahead to A Level study in the emirate.

• IB Physics: where the marks go
• What a 7 in IB Biology takes
• A Level tutoring in Abu Dhabi

Frequently asked questions