Several school systems, a few hundred metres apart
Monaco is unusual in how many curricula operate inside one small territory. A tutor is only useful if they work inside the one your child is actually assessed on, so it is worth being precise about which that is.
| Route | Language of assessment | What tutoring has to match |
|---|---|---|
| French national curriculum | French | Brevet, spécialités, grand oral and the baccalauréat. French notation and essay conventions. |
| International sections within the state schools | French, with reinforced English | The French programme plus the additional language and literature requirements of the section. |
| IGCSE | English | Subject-by-subject specifications, past papers and the mark schemes that go with them. |
| IB Diploma | English | Command terms, internal assessment, Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay alongside subject content. |
| A-Level | English | Deep specialisation in three or four subjects, with heavy weighting on final examinations. |
We are not affiliated with any school. We simply work with the programme your child follows, whichever it is.
Tutoring for the IB Diploma
The Diploma punishes students who know the content but not the conventions. Three areas account for most avoidable losses.
- Command terms. State, describe, explain, evaluate, show that and hence each carry a defined expectation. Answering an evaluate question with a description scores poorly no matter how accurate the description is.
- Internal assessment. Structured, criterion-marked and produced over weeks. A tutor can help a student plan, structure and critique their own work — and must not do more than that, which is a matter of academic honesty as well as usefulness.
- Mathematics routes. Analysis & Approaches and Applications & Interpretation are genuinely different courses at both Standard and Higher Level. Choosing between them, or moving between them, is a decision worth talking through before it is made.
IGCSE and A-Level
For IGCSE, most of the value lies in working through past papers against their published mark schemes — seeing how marks are actually awarded rather than how the student assumes they are. Paul has taught in British secondary schools from KS3 through to GCSE and knows that progression from the inside.
At A-Level, the specialisation is sharper and the mathematical demand in the sciences rises steeply. Luckas, who came through French preparatory classes and holds an MSc from Imperial College London, covers Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at this level in English.
What to check before choosing any tutor
- Do they know your exact syllabus?
Not “maths”, but which board and which route. Ask them to name the assessment structure. If they cannot, they will be learning it on your time.
- Can they teach in the language of assessment?
A brilliant explanation in the wrong language leaves the student unable to reproduce it in the exam.
- Will they let your child struggle productively?
A tutor who supplies answers produces smooth lessons and no learning. Ask how they check that the student can work alone afterwards.
- How will you be kept informed?
You should know what was covered and what is still fragile, without having to wait for a school report.