IGCSE Combined Science Tutoring, Cambridge International
IGCSE Combined Science puts biology, chemistry and physics into one qualification, and its papers move between them, so a student switches from biological terms to chemical equations to physics calculations within minutes. Because all three sciences feed a single grade, a weak area in any one of them pulls the whole result down.
Short answer
IGCSE Combined Science is offered online, one-to-one.
A private lesson runs 90 minutes and starts at USD 95 per lesson; lessons are booked singly or in packages.
No group class runs for this exam.
From USD 95 per lesson
- Structure shown for Cambridge International
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How IGCSE Combined Science is assessed, board by board
This page covers one specification for this subject: Cambridge IGCSE Science — Combined (0653). It is set out below from the board's own document. If your school enters you with a different board, tell us on the intro call and we will work from that board's specification instead.
Cambridge International
Cambridge IGCSE Science — Combined (0653)
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (Core) or Paper 2 (Extended): Multiple Choice — Forty four-choice items | 30% | 45 min | 40 marks | multiple choice |
| Paper 3 (Core) or Paper 4 (Extended): Theory | 50% | 1 hour 15 min | 80 marks | short answer and structured questions |
| Paper 5: Practical Test — Experiments done in a laboratory. Schools enter for this or for Paper 6 | 20% | 1 hour 15 min | 40 marks | practical work |
| Paper 6: Alternative to Practical — A written paper about experiments, for schools that enter for it instead of Paper 5 | 20% | 1 hour | 40 marks | practical work and data response |
- Cambridge tiers this subject. Core candidates sit the Core papers and can be awarded grades C to G; Extended candidates sit the Extended papers and can be awarded A* to G. A student entered for Core cannot be given a grade above a C whatever they write, so if a sixth form is asking for a B in Science — Combined, the entry tier is the first thing to check — and schools will usually still move a student between tiers if the work supports it.
- Practical skills carry 20% whichever paper the school enters for, and the Alternative to Practical is not the easier option — it asks students to describe, tabulate and evaluate experiments they can no longer see in front of them.
Checked on 22 September 2026
Cambridge International and Pearson Edexcel are the two IGCSE boards covered here. Some schools use OxfordAQA International GCSEs, which are examined differently again; if that is your board, tell us on the intro call and we will confirm tutor availability for your specification before you book.
What IGCSE Combined Science covers
The syllabus areas most boards share. Which ones appear, in what order and on which paper differs by board and by specification code — your own specification is the final word. Topic names are left in English, as they appear on the paper.
Biology: cells and life processes
Characteristics of living organisms and cells · Movement into and out of cells · Biological molecules and enzymes · Plant nutrition and human nutrition
Biology: transport, health and ecosystems
Transport in plants and animals · Diseases and immunity · Gas exchange in humans and respiration · Drugs and reproduction · Organisms, their environment and human influences on ecosystems
Chemistry: matter and reactions
States of matter · Atoms, elements and compounds · Stoichiometry · Electrochemistry · Chemical energetics and chemical reactions
Chemistry: materials and analysis
Acids, bases and salts · The Periodic Table and metals · Chemistry of the environment · Organic chemistry · Experimental techniques and chemical analysis
Physics
Motion, forces and energy · Thermal physics · Waves · Electricity · Space physics
Where IGCSE Combined Science marks are usually lost
Hoping one science will carry the other two
Students often lean on the science they enjoy and hope the others average out. Combined Science does not allow it: the syllabus requires all three sections, and a student who avoids physics calculations or chemical equations gives away marks on every theory paper. An honest audit of each section early in the year, with the weakest scheduled first, prevents a late surprise.
Assuming the shorter course means lighter maths
Combined Science covers less content than three separate sciences, but the quantitative skills are the same kind. Physics still asks students to recall and use equations, with correct units; chemistry still asks for balanced equations and stoichiometry. Students who treated the course as the easier option often discover in mock exams that these calculations are where most of their marks went.
Revising practicals from one science only
The Practical Test and the Alternative to Practical can draw on experimental contexts from all three sciences: food tests and osmosis, salt preparation and chromatography, and measurements in physics. Students who revise only the experiments of their favourite science, or whose school ran few practicals, meet unfamiliar apparatus and methods on the day and lose easy marks.
How we teach IGCSE Combined Science
A tutor treats Combined Science as three subjects that share one exam. Each week touches all three sections so none goes cold: precise vocabulary for biology, formulae and the mole for chemistry, a growing list of recalled equations for physics. Topics are taught to the depth of the Cambridge syllabus your school follows — Core or Extended — and no further, which keeps the course manageable. Past-paper practice uses mixed sets that switch subject the way the real papers do, so moving from a question on transport in plants to a circuit calculation becomes routine. Practical skills are covered across all three sciences on paper: methods, variables, results tables, graphs and evaluation. Where a tier decision is still open, the tutor’s marked work gives the family and school concrete evidence.
There is no separate diagnostic, because there is no single test that stands in for two years of a school syllabus. The first lesson is the assessment: the tutor works through your recent marked work, past-paper questions from your own specification, and the units your school has already covered, and reads current level, gaps, exam technique and where school work stands. It is a normal paid lesson and it teaches as it assesses.
Related subjects and pages
IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award)
Online tutoring for IGCSE Co-ordinated Sciences (Cambridge 0654) and Pearson Edexcel Science (Double Award) 4SD0: three sciences, two grades, practicals.
IGCSE Biology
Online IGCSE Biology tutoring for Cambridge 0610 and Pearson Edexcel 4BI1: mark-scheme vocabulary, data and graph questions, genetics and practical skills.
IGCSE Chemistry
Online IGCSE Chemistry tutoring for Cambridge 0620 and Pearson Edexcel 4CH1: formulae, balanced equations, mole calculations, chemical tests, practicals.
IGCSE Physics
Online IGCSE Physics tutoring for Cambridge 0625 and Pearson Edexcel 4PH1: equations to recall and rearrange, units, motion graphs, practicals.
IGCSE Tutoring
Online IGCSE tutoring for Cambridge IGCSE and Pearson Edexcel International GCSE: tiers, papers, practicals by board, first-lesson assessment.
IGCSE prices
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