One-to-one tutoring · IB Maths
IB Maths tutoring for AA and AI at both levels
IB Maths splits into two courses, Analysis and Approaches (AA) and Applications and Interpretation (AI), each at Standard and Higher Level. The four combinations differ in content, calculator use and difficulty, and universities care which one your child takes. Our IB tutors teach the specific course and level your child is enrolled in, and support the Internal Assessment that IGCSE never prepared them for.
Four courses, not one subject
AA leans toward pure mathematics: algebra, calculus and proof, the traditional route for engineering, physical sciences and mathematics degrees. AI leans toward modelling, statistics and technology-supported problem solving, and suits economics, business, social sciences and design routes. HL in either course is a serious commitment, and AA HL in particular is among the hardest school mathematics courses anywhere.
Universities publish course-specific requirements, and they read the four options differently. Engineering and physics departments commonly ask for AA HL, economics programmes often accept either course at HL, and many degrees are satisfied by SL. Checking three or four target courses before locking the choice takes an evening and prevents an expensive Year 2 switch. Your tutor can walk through published requirements with you if the choice is still open.
Students switching from IGCSE often find the jump disorienting regardless of course, because IB questions are longer, less signposted, and frequently set in unfamiliar contexts. The fix is practice with real IB past paper questions from the first lesson onward, not textbook drills that reward pattern matching.
The IA, and why it needs early attention
The Internal Assessment, the mathematical exploration, is worth 20 percent of the final grade in every IB maths course. It is a piece of independent written mathematics, and most students have never produced anything like it. Left late, it collides with exam revision and both suffer.
Tutors support the IA within the rules: helping your child choose a topic with genuine mathematical depth, pressure-testing the plan, and reviewing drafts against the five assessment criteria. The work stays the student's own, which is both an IB requirement and the point.
The jump from MYP or IGCSE
Students entering the Diploma from MYP or IGCSE often have uneven foundations, because both feeder courses allow topic gaps that IB assumes closed. The first weeks of tutoring usually mix current classwork with quiet repair of those foundations, especially algebraic fluency for AA students and statistics for AI students. Handled early, the gaps disappear before they cost marks. Handled late, they surface in Year 2 mock exams at the worst possible moment.
Calculator fluency counts
Every IB maths course includes papers where a graphic display calculator is required, and examiners write questions that assume fluent use. Tutors teach the calculator as part of the mathematics: graphing to check solutions, statistical functions for AI, and knowing when a calculator approach is faster than an algebraic one. Students who only ever use the calculator for arithmetic leave marks on the table in every paper.
Common questions
Do you cover both AA and AI?
Yes, at Standard and Higher Level. We match the tutor to the exact course and level, because teaching AA methods to an AI student wastes everyone's time.
Can tutors help with the IA exploration?
Yes, within IB's rules: topic selection, planning and feedback against the assessment criteria. The writing and mathematics remain your child's own work.
My child is choosing between SL and HL. Can a tutor advise?
Yes. After a few lessons a tutor can give an evidence-based view on the SL/HL decision and what each option means for university course requirements.
How do lessons change before mocks and final exams?
Lessons shift from teaching to timed past-paper work, marked against IB markschemes, with revision priorities set by which question types are losing your child the most marks.
What does IB Maths tutoring cost?
From $19 per hour, per session, no subscription. The first 60-minute lesson is free.
One full 60-minute session with a matched tutor, no payment details needed.