Maybe your child knows the physics but keeps getting the electromagnetism questions wrong. They set up their fingers, choose a hand, and still get it the wrong way round. The left and right hand rules look almost the same, so the wrong hand can go down and lose the mark on a question your child understands. A useful way to tell them apart starts with working out which effect the question is about.

Where the left and right hand rules get mixed up

One place the mix-up can happen is in the middle of a question. Your child points their fingers for the force, the field and the current, then reaches for the hand they used last time. The fingers point the right way. The hand is wrong. So the answer comes out backwards, even though the method was fine.

A switch from one effect to the other can create the confusion. One part of a question is about the motor effect, where a current feels a force. The next is about the generator effect, where a moving wire sets up a voltage. The fingers look much the same, so the wrong hand can slip in. You can see where this sits among the mistakes that cost A-level Physics marks.

What each hand is actually for

Here are the two hands, side by side. In both, the first finger stands for the field and the second finger for the current. The thumb is the one that changes: on the left hand it is the force on the wire, and on the right hand it is the way the wire is moved. So the first thing to work out is which effect the question is about.

So the choice is not really about the fingers. It is about which effect is happening, and that tells you which hand to pick up.

The one question to ask first

Before picking a hand, your child works out which effect the question is about. Is a current in a magnetic field making something move? That is the motor effect, so it is the left hand. Is a wire being moved to set up a voltage or a current? That is the generator effect, so it is the right hand.

Asking what the question gives and what it wants back is a useful way to spot the effect. Once your child names the effect, the hand follows, so they are not trying to recall which hand is which from memory.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes on a marked paper

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s marked A-level Physics papers with some electromagnetism questions on it. So you are only checking the hand rule, not re-marking the paper.

1. Find the hand-rule questions (2 minutes). Go through the paper and mark each question that uses a magnetic field with a force, a current or a movement.
2. Name the effect (3 minutes). For each one, your child writes what the question gives and what it wants, then names the effect: motor if a current feels a force, generator if a moving wire sets up a voltage or current.
3. Pick the hand (3 minutes). The motor effect is the left hand. The generator effect is the right hand. Write L or R next to each.
4. Check against the mark (2 minutes). Compare each choice with the marked answer, and put a dot next to any where the hand was wrong.

What should you look for?

If the fingers were right but the hand was wrong, that may point to a hand-rule habit, and the step above is what to practise. If your child could not set up the fingers at all, that may be the idea to work on first. One ten-minute check cannot tell you why it is happening, and it cannot set the overall grade or cover the rest of the paper. It only shows whether the hand is being chosen the right way. A tutor can take the same paper and work on the choice with your child.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor watches your child answer an electromagnetism question and sees the moment the hand goes down. They stop there, ask which effect the question is about, and have your child pick the hand out loud.

Then they practise it on the questions where it matters, from the motor effect to induced current, so choosing the hand becomes part of how your child reads the question. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child pick the right hand for what each question is asking. It is one of the same habits behind how to get an A in A-level Physics.

The tutors who can help

These tutors studied physics and engineering at Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial, and teach A-level Physics. They work on the small choices, like which hand rule to use, that come up again in electromagnetism.

Lucas

Lucas is completing a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Oxford, after an MRes at Cambridge and top-of-cohort engineering degrees at Cagliari. He teaches Maths and Physics from GCSE through A level and IB, and prepares students for the ESAT and for Oxbridge and Imperial admissions.

Hugh

Hugh holds a First-Class MSci in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and recently completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford. He teaches Maths, Further Maths and Physics from GCSE through to university entrance, including STEP, PAT and MAT.

Ashruf

Ashruf studied Information and Computer Engineering at the University of Cambridge (Clare College), with A* Maths at A level, ranked first in his cohort, alongside Further Maths and Physics. He teaches Maths, Physics and Further Maths at GCSE and A level, and coaches the MAT, TMUA and STEP.

Questions parents ask us about the hand rules

Want a tutor to work on the hand rules with your child?

Tell us the exam board and how the physics is going, and we can talk about a plan to practise choosing the right hand.

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Your child writes plenty about each text, but handles them one at a time, so the answer reads like two essays side by side rather than one comparison. A useful way to compare two texts is to hold them together rather than cover them in turn. This is a writing habit they can practise.

Two essays or one comparison

Picture an answer that spends the first half on one text and the second half on the other. Each half may be full of good points. But the two halves never meet, so the writing describes both texts instead of holding them together.

This is different from whole-essay craft, like building an argument or picking quotations, which we cover in how to get an A in A-level English. Here the question is narrower: are the two texts being held together, or just covered one after the other?

How to compare two texts together

Here is the same set of points, written two ways. On the left, the texts sit in separate blocks. On the right, each point holds both texts together, joined by a link word.

Same ideas, same texts. The right-hand version makes the relationship between the texts explicit. The left-hand version keeps them separate, one then the other.

The link words that join the two texts

A handful of small words do the joining. They let your child move from one text to the other inside the same sentence.

• To show the texts agreesimilarly, in the same way, likewise
• To show they differwhereas, by contrast, unlike, while
• To name them togetherboth texts, the two writers, each one

The useful habit is to reach for one of these when a point needs an explicit comparison, so the relationship between the two texts stays clear.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes joining two points

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s already-marked A-level English comparative answers and a highlighter.

1. Find a block (2 minutes). Find a place where your child writes about one text for a while, then the other, without linking them.
2. Pick one point from each (3 minutes). Highlight one thing they say about the first text and one about the second that are really about the same idea.
3. Join them with a link word (3 minutes). Rewrite the two as one sentence using ‘similarly’, ‘whereas’, ‘in the same way’ or ‘by contrast’, so both texts sit together.
4. Read it back (2 minutes). Ask whether the new sentence compares the two texts, or still describes them one after the other.

What should you look for?

You are looking for whether your child can hold both texts in the same sentence, or keeps drifting back to one at a time. It does not grade your child, and it does not cover the whole essay or context. It only shows whether the two texts are being compared or just covered. A tutor can take the same answer and build the comparison out with your child, point by point.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor sits with your child on a real answer. They find a point that stays on one text, then rewrite it so it holds both, out loud, with a link word in the middle.

They do it point by point, so your child can see the difference between covering the two texts and comparing them. The tutor works through the answer with your child, joining the two texts each time.

The tutors who can help

These tutors teach A-level English. Availability can be confirmed when you enquire.

Francesca

Francesca studied English at Christ Church, Oxford, and teaches A-level English Literature. She has tutored English since 2017.

Lucy

Lucy tutors English at GCSE, A level and IB, including A-level English Language and Literature.

Questions parents ask us about A-level English

Want a tutor to work on A-level English with your child?

Tell us the texts and the exam board, and we can talk about a tutor who fits.

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Your child has sat through every lesson and learned each one, yet the reaction mechanisms all blur together, so they cannot tell which one applies to which reaction. They look at two and say the same thing every time: they look the same. Sometimes the problem is not learning a mechanism for the first time, but telling apart mechanisms your child has already met.

Why the reaction mechanisms blur together

By the second year of A-level Chemistry your child has met a lot of organic mechanisms. On the page they look alike. There are curly arrows, a nucleophile or an electrophile attacking, and a middle step that can look much the same from one reaction to the next.

If a mechanism was never securely taught or understood, that is a different problem, which we cover in a separate article. This article is about mechanisms your child has already met that still run together.

One pair, side by side

Here is one useful pair to compare side by side. The same haloalkane, the same reagent, potassium hydroxide. On the page they look almost identical. What changes the reaction is the conditions, and that changes what the hydroxide does.

This pair splits on more than one thing: the solvent, what the hydroxide does, and the product. Other look-alike pairs split on something else, like which bond breaks or which part of the molecule reacts. So the habit is not ‘find the one arrow that differs’. It is ‘find the feature that tells this pair apart’, because it is not always the same feature.

Read the reagent and conditions first

Before your child draws a single arrow, the reagent and the conditions already point to the answer. Water or ethanol. Warm or hot. An acid or a base. With the haloalkane pair above, water pushes it towards substitution and ethanol pushes it towards elimination. Reading that first stops the two from blurring.

This is a habit your child can build on any pair, not just this one. The same close reading of conditions is what we show students when we go through past papers the right way: look at what the question gives you before you commit to a mechanism.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes with two look-alikes

This takes about ten minutes. You need two of your child’s already-marked A-level Chemistry mechanism questions that they mixed up, and two blank cards or sheets.

1. Put them side by side (2 minutes). Pick two mechanisms your child keeps swapping. Put one on each card.
2. Write the trigger at the top (3 minutes). On each card, write only the reagent and the conditions that start that reaction. Nothing else yet.
3. Circle the step or feature that tells them apart (3 minutes). On each card, mark the one thing that is different. It might be the conditions, the bond that breaks, or the part of the molecule that reacts. It is not always the same kind of difference.
4. Cover and sort (2 minutes). Cover the names. Ask your child to tell the two apart using only the trigger and the feature they circled.

What should you look for?

You are looking for whether your child can name the feature that separates the pair, or still says they look the same. It does not grade your child, and it does not cover mechanisms they have not met yet. It only shows whether the look-alikes can be told apart. A tutor can take the pairs your child still mixes up and practise identifying the distinguishing feature with them, one pair at a time.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor sits with your child and takes two mechanisms they keep swapping. They put them side by side, read the reagent and conditions out loud, and name the feature that separates them. Then they do it again on the next pair.

The tutor can repeat the same comparison on other pairs your child confuses, using the reagent, conditions and distinguishing feature each time.

The tutors who can help

These tutors teach A-level Chemistry and can work through organic mechanisms with students. Availability can be confirmed when you enquire.

Karol

Karol studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge and teaches A-level Chemistry.

Mirsab

Mirsab studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, holds an A* in A-level Chemistry, and tutors Chemistry at GCSE and A level.

Questions parents ask us about A-level Chemistry

Want a tutor to work on A-level Chemistry with your child?

Tell us the exam board and which mechanisms are getting mixed up, and we can talk about a tutor who fits.

Send an enquiry

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Your child makes a relevant point in an A-level Economics answer, then stops. The point is right, but it does not go anywhere. An examiner is looking for the next step, and the one after that. This is where a chain of analysis comes in, and it is a skill your child can practise.

Where the analysis stops

A student may write a point that is correct and relevant, then move on before explaining what follows from it. The first point is there, but the reasoning stops before the next causal step.

The gap may be in developing one point into a run of steps, where each step explains the next. That run of steps is the chain of analysis.

What a chain of analysis looks like

A chain of analysis is a set of linked steps. Each step causes the next, and you can say why. One exam board, OCR, describes this as building a chain of reasoning, a series of logical steps rather than a single claim. Here is one worked example from the topic of monopoly.

Each arrow carries a short ‘so’ or ‘which means’. That is the move your child is missing. The first point is there. The links that follow it are what turn a single idea into developed analysis.

The one question that builds the next link

There is a single question that builds the next step: ‘and what does that cause?’ Your child says a point, then asks it, and the answer is the next link. They say that, then ask again. Each time, the chain grows by one step.

They are following the cause from one step to the next, which is the kind of developed reasoning OCR describes in its guidance on chains of reasoning.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes extending one answer

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s already-marked A-level Economics answers. So you are only working on one point, not re-marking the whole answer.

1. Pick one point that stops early (2 minutes). Find a place where your child made a correct point but did not develop it.
2. Add the next link (3 minutes). Ask your child to finish the sentence ‘and this leads to…’, in one clear step.
3. Add one more link (3 minutes). Do it again from the new step, so there are three steps in a row.
4. Check each link (2 minutes). For each arrow, ask ‘does this say why?’ Put a dot next to any step that only repeats the point.

What should you look for?

You are looking for whether your child can extend the chain, or stalls after the first step. If they stall, that is the thing to practise, and the question above is where to start. One ten-minute try cannot grade your child, say why it is happening, or cover evaluation and the whole essay. It only shows whether the analysis is being developed. A tutor can take the same answer and build the chain out with your child.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor sits with your child on a real answer and stops at the point where the chain breaks off. They ask what that point causes, and have your child say the next step out loud before writing it.

Then they practise it on the questions where it matters, building the chain one step at a time. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child turn a single point into developed analysis. It is one of the habits we work on in our guide to A-level Economics essays.

The tutors who can help

These tutors teach A-level Economics and work on developing reasoning step by step, including the links between one economic effect and the next.

Will

Will holds an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of Oxford and an MSc in Finance from UCL. He has taught Economics at GCSE, A Level, IB and university level.

Kevin

Kevin holds an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of Oxford (Saïd Business School) and a BSc in Economics from Erasmus Rotterdam. He teaches A-level and IB Economics.

Questions parents ask us about A-level Economics

Want a tutor to work on A-level Economics with your child?

Tell us the exam board and how the Economics is going, and we can talk about a plan to build stronger analysis.

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Your child reads the passage and knows what is going on. Then the answer comes back with a mark missing, and you cannot see why. This is a frustrating part of 11+ English: the idea is right, but the proof from the text is not there. A useful next step is to show your child where the evidence needs to come from.

When a right idea still needs evidence

A child may read a passage, understand it and write an answer that is broadly right. If the question also asks for evidence, the response still needs words from the text to support the idea. The useful distinction is between the answer itself and the evidence that backs it up.

One place this shows up is a question that asks your child to answer and then back it up. They give the answer, feel they are done, and move on. The proof is still sitting in the passage, unused. When the question asks for that supporting evidence, an otherwise sound answer may still be incomplete without it.

The idea and the evidence are two different things

Some 11+ comprehension questions ask a child to support an answer with words from the passage, so a correct idea can still be incomplete without evidence from the text. It helps to show your child that the answer and the proof are two separate jobs. First you say what you think. Then you point to the words that show it.

This is the whole move. The thinking was fine the first time. When the question asks for evidence, adding a short quotation can complete the response.

How to add evidence to a right idea

The habit takes practice to build. After your child writes an answer, they go back to the passage and underline the exact words that prove it. Then they drop a short quote into the answer. Say it, find it, show it.

It also asks them to pause, return to the passage and check the answer against the text. So the answer is built on what the passage actually says, not just on what they remember from one read. For the bigger picture, see our wider guide to preparing for the 11+.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes with a marked comprehension

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s already-marked 11+ English comprehension papers. So you are only checking for evidence, not re-marking the whole thing.

1. Pick three answers (2 minutes). Choose three where your child had the right idea.
2. Find the proof (3 minutes). For each one, ask your child to underline the exact words in the passage that show it.
3. Check what happened (3 minutes). See whether they pointed to specific words or just said it was obvious.
4. Mark the gaps (2 minutes). Put a dot next to any answer where they could not find the words.

What should you look for?

You are looking for the gap between a right idea and the proof. If your child could not point to the words, that may be a useful thing to practise, and the habit above is where to start. One ten-minute check cannot grade your child, say why it is happening, or cover the writing tasks. It only shows whether the evidence is going in. A tutor can take the same paper and work on it with your child.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor sits with your child on a real comprehension and watches the moment an answer stops at the idea. They pause there, ask what in the text shows it, and have your child find the words and read them out.

Then they practise adding textual support when the question asks for it, working on real comprehensions with your child. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child point to the words in the text that back up the answer. It is one of the habits we work on in our 11+ tutoring.

The tutors who can help

These tutors teach 11+ English and know what the comprehension questions are really asking for. They work on the small habits, like pointing to the text, that help a child back up an answer.

Francesca

Francesca read English at Christ Church, University of Oxford, and has tutored English since 2017. She teaches 11+ and 13+ English through to A Level.

Lucy

Lucy read Theology, Religion and Philosophy of Religion at Clare College, University of Cambridge. She teaches 11+ English and has prepared children for 11+ and 13+ entrance examinations.

What parents ask us about 11+ English

Want a tutor to work on 11+ English with your child?

Tell us the schools you are aiming for and how the English is going, and we can talk about a plan to practise finding the evidence.

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Maybe your child knows the physics but keeps getting the electromagnetism questions wrong. They set up their fingers, choose a hand, and still get it the wrong way round. The left and right hand rules look almost the same, so the wrong hand can go down and lose the mark on a question your child understands. A useful way to tell them apart starts with working out which effect the question is about.

Where the left and right hand rules get mixed up

One place the mix-up can happen is in the middle of a question. Your child points their fingers for the force, the field and the current, then reaches for the hand they used last time. The fingers point the right way. The hand is wrong. So the answer comes out backwards, even though the method was fine.

A switch from one effect to the other can create the confusion. One part of a question is about the motor effect, where a current feels a force. The next is about the generator effect, where a moving wire sets up a voltage. The fingers look much the same, so the wrong hand can slip in. You can see where this sits among the mistakes that cost A-level Physics marks.

What each hand is actually for

Here are the two hands, side by side. In both, the first finger stands for the field and the second finger for the current. The thumb is the one that changes: on the left hand it is the force on the wire, and on the right hand it is the way the wire is moved. So the first thing to work out is which effect the question is about.

So the choice is not really about the fingers. It is about which effect is happening, and that tells you which hand to pick up.

The one question to ask first

Before picking a hand, your child works out which effect the question is about. Is a current in a magnetic field making something move? That is the motor effect, so it is the left hand. Is a wire being moved to set up a voltage or a current? That is the generator effect, so it is the right hand.

Asking what the question gives and what it wants back is a useful way to spot the effect. Once your child names the effect, the hand follows, so they are not trying to recall which hand is which from memory.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: ten minutes on a marked paper

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s marked A-level Physics papers with some electromagnetism questions on it. So you are only checking the hand rule, not re-marking the paper.

1. Find the hand-rule questions (2 minutes). Go through the paper and mark each question that uses a magnetic field with a force, a current or a movement.
2. Name the effect (3 minutes). For each one, your child writes what the question gives and what it wants, then names the effect: motor if a current feels a force, generator if a moving wire sets up a voltage or current.
3. Pick the hand (3 minutes). The motor effect is the left hand. The generator effect is the right hand. Write L or R next to each.
4. Check against the mark (2 minutes). Compare each choice with the marked answer, and put a dot next to any where the hand was wrong.

What should you look for?

If the fingers were right but the hand was wrong, that may point to a hand-rule habit, and the step above is what to practise. If your child could not set up the fingers at all, that may be the idea to work on first. One ten-minute check cannot tell you why it is happening, and it cannot set the overall grade or cover the rest of the paper. It only shows whether the hand is being chosen the right way. A tutor can take the same paper and work on the choice with your child.

How a tutor works on it

In a lesson, a tutor watches your child answer an electromagnetism question and sees the moment the hand goes down. They stop there, ask which effect the question is about, and have your child pick the hand out loud.

Then they practise it on the questions where it matters, from the motor effect to induced current, so choosing the hand becomes part of how your child reads the question. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child pick the right hand for what each question is asking. It is one of the same habits behind how to get an A in A-level Physics.

The tutors who can help

These tutors studied physics and engineering at Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial, and teach A-level Physics. They work on the small choices, like which hand rule to use, that come up again in electromagnetism.

Lucas

Lucas is completing a PhD in Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Oxford, after an MRes at Cambridge and top-of-cohort engineering degrees at Cagliari. He teaches Maths and Physics from GCSE through A level and IB, and prepares students for the ESAT and for Oxbridge and Imperial admissions.

Hugh

Hugh holds a First-Class MSci in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London and recently completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford. He teaches Maths, Further Maths and Physics from GCSE through to university entrance, including STEP, PAT and MAT.

Ashruf

Ashruf studied Information and Computer Engineering at the University of Cambridge (Clare College), with A* Maths at A level, ranked first in his cohort, alongside Further Maths and Physics. He teaches Maths, Physics and Further Maths at GCSE and A level, and coaches the MAT, TMUA and STEP.

Questions parents ask us about the hand rules

Want a tutor to work on the hand rules with your child?

Tell us the exam board and how the physics is going, and we can talk about a plan to practise choosing the right hand.

Send an enquiry

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Maybe your child does the whole calculation right and still drops the final mark in GCSE Maths. The working is correct, the method is sound, and the answer is rounded wrong, or not rounded at all. The real question is simple: how many significant figures should the answer have? But there is a clear way to decide, and it starts with the question itself.

Where significant figures trip students up

The slip comes at the very end. Your child has the right answer on the calculator, say 4.3718, and then has to decide what to write down. Two significant figures? Three? Two decimal places? The method earned the marks, and the rounding can still cost the last one.

Another slip is rounding too early. Your child rounds a number in the middle of the working, carries the rounded value forward, and the final answer drifts off, so even a correct method lands outside the accepted range.

What a significant figure actually is

Significant figures are the digits that carry real information in a number, counting from the first non-zero digit. In 4.3718, the first significant figure is 4, the second is 3, the third is 7, and so on. So rounding to three significant figures gives 4.37.

Decimal places are different. They count the digits after the decimal point, however many significant figures that turns out to be. 4.37 is three significant figures and two decimal places at the same time. They answer two different questions, and a question that asks for one is not asking for the other.

How many significant figures should you give?

There is no single number that is always right. So work down this short list in order.

Do what the question asks, keep significant figures and decimal places straight, and keep full accuracy until the last line. That order is the safe way through.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: re-mark your rounding

This takes about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s marked GCSE Maths papers, and the question instructions or mark scheme if you have them. So you are only checking the rounding, not re-marking the whole paper.

1. Find the calculated answers (2 minutes). Go through the paper and mark every question with a final answer your child had to round.
2. Read what the question asked (3 minutes). For each one, note whether it asked for a number of significant figures, a number of decimal places, or said nothing.
3. Compare with the instruction or mark scheme (3 minutes). Check the answer against what the question asked for, or against the mark scheme where the question gave no instruction.
4. Mark the rounding slips (2 minutes). Put a dot next to any answer that was rounded wrong, rounded too early, or given to the wrong kind of figure.

What should you look for?

If the working is right but the rounding is wrong, that may suggest an accuracy-mark habit, and the list above is what to practise. If your child is unsure what a significant figure even is, that may point to the idea to work on first. One ten-minute check cannot establish why the errors are happening, and it cannot set the overall grade or cover the rest of the paper. It only gives you a clue about where the marks are going. A tutor can take the same paper and work on the rounding habit with your child.

How a tutor works on rounding

In a lesson, a tutor watches your child finish a question and sees the exact moment the rounding goes wrong: too early, the wrong kind of figure, or none at all. They stop there, ask “what did the question ask for?”, and have your child round it properly on the spot.

Then they practise it on the questions where it matters, so full accuracy is kept through the working and the final answer matches what the question wanted. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child round in the way each question asks for.

The tutors who can help

These tutors studied at Oxford and Cambridge and teach maths across GCSE, A level and IB. They work on the small habits, like rounding, that keep the marks your child’s method has earned.

Martin

Martin is reading for a PhD in Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, after a Master’s with distinction at the University of Oxford and a First at the University of Bath. He teaches Maths and Further Maths from GCSE to A level.

Clemie

Clemie read Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, with A* in Maths, Chemistry and Biology at A Level. She teaches 11+ and GCSE maths and sciences, and A level Maths.

Morgan

Morgan is reading for an MChem at Jesus College, University of Oxford, with A* in Chemistry, Biology and Maths at A Level and nine Grade 9s at GCSE. He teaches Chemistry, Biology and Maths from KS3 to A level.

Questions parents ask us about rounding and significant figures

Want a tutor to work on rounding with your child?

Tell us the level and how maths is going, and we can talk about a plan to practise the rounding habit.

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Maybe your child gets the science but keeps muddling two answers that look almost the same: m/s and m/s². The working is right, the quantity is wrong, and a mark your child understands is gone. In GCSE Science, m/s and m/s² are not the same thing: one is a speed, the other is an acceleration. Reading that difference is how your child tells the two apart.

Where speed and acceleration get mixed up

It happens in the last line of the answer. Your child has done the calculation, and then has to write the unit. Speed and acceleration sit right next to each other in the topic, the symbols look alike, and the wrong one goes down. The science was fine. The unit was not.

It also happens the other way round. A question asks for acceleration, your child reads it quickly, works out a speed, and never notices the question wanted a change in velocity, not the velocity itself. Reading the unit is what catches both.

What m/s and m/s² each measure

Metres per second (m/s) is the unit for speed, and for velocity. Speed tells you how far something travels each second. Velocity is the same, with the direction added. A car at 20 metres per second covers 20 metres every second.

Metres per second squared (m/s²) is the unit for acceleration. It tells you how much the velocity changes each second. A car accelerating at 3 metres per second squared has its velocity change by 3 metres per second every second. So one unit is about how fast something is going; the other is about how quickly its velocity is changing. The “squared” is the clue.

A unit check: read the unit, find the quantity

Here is the habit, side by side. Before writing a final unit, your child reads it and names the quantity it belongs to. The panel below is the whole check.

Read the unit, name the quantity, then check it against what the question asked. That is the whole habit.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: a unit check on a marked paper

You can do this in about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s marked GCSE Science papers. You are only checking units, not re-marking the whole paper.

1. Find the final answers (2 minutes). Go through the paper and circle the unit on every final answer.
2. Name each one out loud (4 minutes). For each, your child says whether it is a unit of speed or velocity (metres per second) or a unit of acceleration (metres per second squared).
3. Check it against the question (3 minutes). For each one, check the unit matches what the question actually asked for.
4. Mark the mismatches (1 minute). Put a dot next to any answer where the unit did not match the question.

What should you look for?

If the quantity is right but the unit is wrong, that may suggest a unit-reading habit, and the check above is what to practise. If the quantity itself is wrong, that may point to a knowledge gap instead. One ten-minute check cannot establish the cause on its own, and it cannot set the overall grade or cover every GCSE Science topic. It only shows where units are being read and matched. A tutor can take the same paper, work through it with your child, and practise the unit check on the relevant answers.

How a tutor builds the unit habit

In a lesson, a tutor watches your child answer under timed conditions and sees the moment the unit goes down. They stop at that line, ask “speed or acceleration?”, and have your child read the unit back.

Then they practise it on the questions where it matters, from motion graphs to the equations your child uses, so the unit check becomes part of how your child answers. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child read and match the unit on the questions that ask for it.

The tutors who can help

These tutors studied at Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial, and teach GCSE Science and Maths. They work on the small habits, like reading units, that keep marks your child has earned.

Murray

Murray is in his fourth year of an MEng in Materials Science at Trinity College, University of Oxford, with A* in Maths, Chemistry and Physics at A Level. He teaches Maths, Chemistry and Physics from GCSE to A level, and has a Bronze in the first division of the Senior British Physics Olympiad.

Jessica

Jessica is in her fourth year of Medicine at the University of Cambridge, after a degree in Psychology, with A*A*A*A* at A Level and 12 A* at GCSE. She teaches Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics, from GCSE to university entrance.

Jenna

Jenna is studying Molecular Bioengineering at Imperial College London, with First-Class results and a place on the Dean’s List, and A*A*A*A at A Level in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and Further Maths. She teaches Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics to students aged 11 to 18.

Questions parents ask us about speed and acceleration units

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Maybe your child knows a lot of history, but the essay marks never match it. The writing is fluent, the facts are there, and the grade still comes back middling. One reason is simple: A-level History essays stay too general. The argument talks around the topic instead of naming the evidence that proves the point. That is a writing skill, and it can be taught.

What too-general A-level History essays look like

A too-general essay makes claims that sound right but name nothing. “There was a lot of change.” “This was very important.” “It affected a lot of people.” A reader cannot tell whether your child knows the detail or is guessing, because no real evidence is on the page.

The giveaway is that you could swap the topic and the sentence would still work. If a line about one war would fit any war, it is too general. A specific argument could only be about this question, because it names the thing that proves the point.

How specific evidence strengthens your argument

A specific piece of evidence does a job a general claim cannot. It shows the examiner that your child knows what actually happened, and it proves the point instead of asserting it. A name, a date, an event or a figure turns an opinion into an argument.

There is one more step, and it is the one students miss. The evidence has to answer the exact question asked, not just sit on the page. A true fact that does not speak to the question still reads as general, because it is not doing any work. Specific means named and pointed at the question.

The specificity ladder: name it, detail it, link it

Here is the same claim shown at three levels, as a shape to copy. Each rung is more specific than the last, and the top rung is the one that answers the question. The brackets are slots, where your child puts the real detail from their own topic. This is a structure, not a history lesson.

Name it, detail it, link it. That is the whole ladder.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: make one paragraph specific

You can do this in about ten minutes. You need one of your child’s own marked history essays and the essay question it answered. Work on one body paragraph, not the whole essay.

1. Pick one paragraph (1 minute). Choose a single body paragraph from the marked essay.
2. Underline the general claims (3 minutes). Underline every sentence that names no person, date, event or figure.
3. Add a named example (3 minutes). For each underlined claim, add one real, named piece of evidence.
4. Link it to the question (3 minutes). After each example, add a short phrase that ties it back to the exact words of the question. Then read the paragraph back.

What should you look for?

If the paragraph now names real evidence and ties it to the question, it has moved up the ladder. If it still reads like “things that were going on”, it is still general. This cannot set the overall grade or judge the whole essay. It only shows whether one paragraph has become specific enough to answer the question. A tutor can take the same essay and work through it paragraph by paragraph, building the habit.

How a tutor marks an essay for specificity

In a lesson, a tutor reads a paragraph and asks two plain questions of every claim: what is the named evidence, and does it answer the question? Where the answer is “none” or “not really”, that is the line to fix, and the tutor shows your child how to fix it on the spot.

Then they build the habit, paragraph by paragraph, using your child’s own essays. Name the evidence. Tie it to the question. With practice on their own essays, your child works on making arguments more specific. There is no promise of a set grade. The aim is simple: help your child show what they know on the page.

The tutors who can help

These tutors studied history and humanities at Oxford and teach essay writing alongside the subject. They work on making arguments specific, using your child’s own essays.

Ryan

Ryan read History and Modern Languages at Jesus College, University of Oxford, and holds a master’s in Modern European History. He teaches History at GCSE and A level, and works in defence and security policy at a think tank.

Naomi

Naomi read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Exeter College, University of Oxford, with A* in Politics, Religious Studies and History at A level. She teaches History, Economics and Politics at A level.

Laurie

Laurie read English at The Queen’s College, University of Oxford, graduating with a Double First. He teaches English and History at A level, and works as a foreign correspondent for Agence France-Presse.

Questions parents ask us about history essays

Want your child’s essays to show what they actually know?

A general essay throws away marks your child has earned. Tell us the subject and the marks they are getting, and we can talk about a plan to work on making arguments more specific.

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Your child has worked hard for this, and then the email arrives: an Oxford interview, online, this December. It is a nervous moment, and Oxford interviews online can feel like a mystery. The first question parents ask is simple. What is it really like, and how do we help? This guide walks through what to expect and the calm, practical things your child can do before December. It does not promise a place. It helps your family feel ready for the day, so your child can show how they think.

What Oxford interviews online in December are really like

An Oxford interview is not a quiz with right answers. Oxford calls it a subject conversation, more like a short tutorial with a tutor who knows the subject well. Your child is likely to have more than one, and may be interviewed by more than one college. The tutors want to see how your child thinks, not how much they have memorised.

Tutors may hand your child a text, a graph or an object and ask them to talk it through. There is no single right answer. What they are looking for is a mind that engages, asks questions and has a go, even when the material is new.

When it happens and how the online part works

The timing is set by Oxford, and it moves quickly. Here are the three dates to hold in mind for 2027 entry.

The interviews run online on Microsoft Teams. Your child should not expect to move the time to suit their own schedule. If there is a technical problem during the interview, Oxford will offer another time, so a frozen screen is not a disaster. The setup depends on the course. Oxford groups the technology into three tiers. The simplest needs only a computer with Microsoft Teams, and it covers a large share of courses. A few subjects need a bit more, like a shared whiteboard, but no family is expected to buy a touchscreen. Check Oxford’s technology guidance for your child’s subject, and test the camera, microphone and connection well before the day.

A quiet room, a tested setup and a pen and paper to hand take away a lot of the worry. Then your child can focus on the conversation, not the laptop.

How to help your child get ready

The best preparation is not a script. It is getting used to thinking out loud. Ask your child to talk you through a problem or an idea from their subject, step by step, even the parts they are unsure of. The goal is a running commentary on their thinking, not a neat final answer. Oxford also puts out its own interview checklist, short videos and sample questions, which are worth going through together, alongside our guide to how to prepare for Oxford interview questions.

Then practise with something new. Hand your child a passage, a graph or a question they have not seen, and let them work it out aloud. It is fine to pause, change their mind and start again. That is exactly what tutors want to see. Keep it calm and short. Ten focused minutes beats an hour of worry, and it builds the habit that matters on the day.

This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.

Try this at home: a ten-minute online mock

You can do this in about ten minutes. It is our own exercise, not an official Oxford task. You need a computer with the video app your family already uses, and one subject question or an Oxford sample question.

1. Minutes 0 to 2: Set up a quiet room and open the video app. Turn the camera on, check the microphone, and sit where the light is on your child’s face.
2. Minutes 2 to 3: Choose one question in your child’s subject, or an Oxford sample question, with a pen and paper to hand.
3. Minutes 3 to 8: Ask your child to think it through out loud, as if explaining to someone, keeping up a running commentary even on the parts they are working out.
4. Minutes 8 to 10: Notice where the talking stopped, and check the camera, microphone and connection held up.

What should you look for?

Look at whether your child kept thinking out loud, or went quiet when the question got harder. Going quiet is the thing to practise. Also check the setup worked, so the technology is one less worry on the day.

What this cannot tell you

This cannot tell you whether your child will be shortlisted, get an offer or a place, or how the tutors will judge the interview. It only builds familiarity with thinking aloud and with the online setup.

Bring what you noticed to a first lesson. A tutor who has been through Oxford interviews can help your child practise thinking aloud, work with unfamiliar material, and get comfortable with the online format.

How a tutor can help with interview practice

A tutor cannot promise a place, and no one can coach a winning answer. What a tutor can do is give your child practice at the thing the interview actually tests: thinking out loud about their subject, with someone asking follow-up questions.

That means mock interviews that feel like the real thing, time spent working through unfamiliar material, and a calm run at the online format so it holds no surprises. A tutor who has sat Oxford interviews themselves can also help your child settle their nerves, which is a big part of the day.

The tutors who can help

These three Oxford tutors support interview practice across different subjects. Tell us your child’s subject and we can help. You can also see our wider admissions consulting.

Hugh

Hugh has a doctorate from the University of Oxford and a First-Class physics degree from Imperial. He teaches maths and physics, and prepares students for admissions tests and Oxbridge interviews.

Charlotte

Charlotte read Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford (Balliol), with a First. She supports interview preparation for Oxford Biology and Natural Sciences, drawing on four years in the Oxbridge tutorial system.

Kian

Kian read Classics at the University of Oxford (Brasenose). He teaches English, Latin, History and Politics, and supports Oxbridge applications, including personal statements, entrance tests and interviews.

What parents ask us about interviews

Getting ready for an Oxford interview this December?

Tell us your child’s subject and we can help them practise for the questions and the online format.

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