IGCSE Physics Tutoring, Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel
IGCSE Physics is short on facts and long on reasoning: most questions describe a situation the student has not met and expect the right equation, correctly rearranged, with a unit that makes sense. Students who can recite every definition still lose marks when a calculation has two steps or a graph has to be read for its gradient.
Short answer
IGCSE Physics 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
Your lessons are taught by Simon Clarke, who teaches IGCSE Physics.
- Structure shown for Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel
- Live online lessons of 90 minutes
- From USD 95 per lesson
How IGCSE Physics is assessed, board by board
2 awarding bodies examine this subject, and they do not examine it the same way: different papers, different weightings, different practical arrangements. Find your board — it is printed on your school's timetable and on past papers — and read that block. Nothing on this page describes one board's paper as though it applied to all of them.
Cambridge International
Cambridge IGCSE Physics (0625)
| 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 Physics, 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
Pearson Edexcel
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics (4PH1)
| Component | Share of grade | Length | Marks | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 (4PH1/01) | 61.1% | 2 hours | 110 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
| Paper 2 (4PH1/02) | 38.9% | 1 hour 15 min | 70 marks | multiple choice, short answer, extended response and calculations |
- Pearson does not tier this subject: every candidate sits the same papers and every grade is reachable from them. That removes the entry-tier decision entirely, which is one of the practical differences between the two boards.
- There is no practical exam and no coursework: experimental skills are examined inside the written papers. The practicals still have to be done, because the questions assume the student has done them, but nobody marks the student doing 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 Physics 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.
Motion, forces and energy
Speed, velocity, acceleration and motion graphs · Forces, mass, weight and momentum · Moments and equilibrium · Energy transfers, work and power · Energy resources and electricity generation
Matter and thermal physics
Density and pressure · The kinetic particle model and changes of state · Gas pressure and temperature · Specific heat capacity · Conduction, convection and radiation
Waves
General properties of waves · Reflection and refraction of light · The electromagnetic spectrum · Sound
Electricity and magnetism
Charge, current, voltage and resistance · Series and parallel circuits · Mains electricity and electrical safety · Magnetism and the motor effect · Electromagnetic induction and transformers
Nuclear physics
The nuclear model of the atom and isotopes · Alpha, beta and gamma radiation · Half-life · Nuclear fission and fusion
Space physics
The Solar System and orbits · The life cycle of stars · Red-shift and the expanding Universe
Where IGCSE Physics marks are usually lost
Equations you were expected to bring with you
Both boards expect students to recall many equations rather than look them up. Pearson states that the relationships listed in its appendix will not be provided, either as given or rearranged, and the Cambridge syllabus tells candidates to “recall and use” equation after equation. A student who could use an equation but cannot write it down from memory can lose the whole calculation, not just a single mark.
Correct physics, wrong unit
Many marks disappear after the physics was done correctly: a time left in minutes where seconds were needed, kilojoules treated as joules, a mass in grams put into an equation that wanted kilograms, an answer rounded too far. Final answers need a unit, and examiners also look at significant figures. These slips are mechanical, which is exactly why regular drilling removes them.
Reading the axis when the question wants the gradient
Motion graphs carry most of this risk. The gradient of a distance–time graph gives speed, the gradient of a velocity–time graph gives acceleration, and the area under a velocity–time graph gives the distance travelled. Students who read a value off the axis where a gradient was needed, or force a best-fit line through an anomalous point, lose marks on questions they expected to be easy.
How we teach IGCSE Physics
A tutor teaches IGCSE Physics by working problems rather than reading notes aloud. Each topic starts from the idea — what a current, a field or a wave actually is — and moves quickly to worked examples, then to unfamiliar questions from past papers for your board’s specification. Students keep a list of the equations they must recall and are tested on it at the start of lessons until recall is automatic. Calculations are set out in the same order every time: equation, substitution, answer, unit. Written explanations get the same attention, because many marks go to describing what particles, charges or waves are doing. Practical skills are covered through the experiments both boards describe — measuring, tabulating, plotting, finding a gradient, spotting sources of error — so questions on apparatus and method feel familiar.
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 Mathematics
IGCSE Mathematics tutoring online for Cambridge 0580, Cambridge 0607 and Pearson Edexcel 4MA1: choosing a tier, work without a calculator, clear method.
IGCSE Chemistry
Online IGCSE Chemistry tutoring for Cambridge 0620 and Pearson Edexcel 4CH1: formulae, balanced equations, mole calculations, chemical tests, practicals.
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 Tutoring
Online IGCSE tutoring for Cambridge IGCSE and Pearson Edexcel International GCSE: tiers, papers, practicals by board, first-lesson assessment.
IGCSE prices
IGCSE tutoring from USD 95 per 90-minute lesson. Compare lesson packages and included materials.
IGCSE Physics: reviews from our students
Students and parents who prepared with us write these reviews themselves. We check each one before publishing it and never change its words or its star rating.
Nobody has reviewed this programme here yet. If you prepared with us, tell other students across Africa how it went.
Frequently asked questions
Short, direct answers. If yours is not here, ask us.
Talk to us about IGCSE Physics
Tell us your board or level, your predicted grade and when you sit it. We will tell you honestly whether you need a tutor, and which one.