Lessons consist of a combination of short mini-lectures, in-class discussions, interactive exercises, exam practices, and a variety of activities that are designed to help students develop the following skills: critical reading and understanding, critical writing and expression, argumentation and evaluation, and finally, interdisciplinary thinking.

As Cambridge’s focus has shifted away from rote learning, students who focus on mindless practices and drills tend to perform poorly for the A Level exams (often in spite of good scores in school).

To tackle this, we place heavy emphasis on the aforementionaed skills and achieve the development of these skills through a combination of five things.

First of all, we provide high quality notes and explanations every class. Students will learn about essential concepts and be exposed to a wide variety of examples in class. They will also receive sample paragraphs and essays, structured outlines, and tips on answering techniques. During the Case Studies MasterClass, students will explore exciting current affairs events in an in-depth and interdisciplinary manner. All classes are personally taught by Mr Liau, a former journalist with op-eds published locally and internationally on newspapers like The Guardian. (We do not “bait and switch”.)

Second, we provide ample opportunities for student engagement and interaction. The studies have shown that students learn best when they are deeply invested in what they are learning. Students are also much more likely to develop an interest in the subject if they are active participants in their own learning rather than mere absorbers of information. To facilitate student engagement and interaction, we make an effort that give each student an opportunity to participate in the discussion, whether verbally or in written form.

Third, we provide students with ample opportunities to practise a variety of skills. This includes all of the exam components: essay writing, comprehension, summary and AQ. Students will learn the relevant exam/answering techniques and will have opportunities to practise them.

Fourth, Mr Liau personally marks all work submitted by students as part of our classes. All feedback on essays, AQ responses and comprehension answers is provided by Mr Liau himself, the author of the A-Level answer key (2021-present). Again, we do not “bait-and-switch”. We do not outsource the marking.

Finally, Mr Liau personally keeps in touch with students. They can clarify doubts and bring any questions they may have directly to him. Mr Liau has been teaching for 12 years.

In essence, our lessons focus heavily on understanding rather than memorisation of facts. Over the years, we have observed that Cambridge is placing increasing emphasis on two things: interdisciplinary thinking and logical analysis. To help students meet these new demands, we have made these aspects of learning an integral part of our lessons. Students can expect to develop fresh insights, be exposed to a vast array of views and be challenged to think analytically. For more information about how students feel about our lessons, please refer to our testimonials here:  https://gptuition.com/testimonials/

We often see students struggle with essay writing but simply cannot figure out why. In most cases, the answer is quite simple: they have nothing meaningful to say. The first thing we like to tell students is to figure out what they want to say, then say it as simply as possible. Students are discouraged from blindly emulating the flowery prose of their more proficient peers. Instead, they should seek to develop an in-depth understanding of the topic and express their own views clearly and concisely. Our in-class discussions and essay planning exercises play a vital role here. Students will also receive extensive reading materials and comprehensive notes.

This is not to say that our focus is purely on content knowledge. If a student has good ideas but cannot articulate them, those ideas will be for naught. Every week, we encourage students to complete at least two paragraphs (or a full essay if possible). Mr Liau personally marks and provides feedback on all work that is submitted as part of the regular classes. Every month, we also devote some time to covering common writing errors.

Every lesson, we share deep insights on two or three major developments in the world to help students understand what they are reading in the news. We also discuss how students can use these insights in their essays. Ultimately, the goal of these discussions is to expose students to different viewpoints, provide them with mental tools to analyse the news, and encourage them to take an interest in current affairs.

Arguments are central to all components of the GP paper. Paper 1 requires students to write an argumentative essay within 90 minutes. Paper 2 requires students to answer short questions about an argumentative essay (the passage), summarise the author’s arguments, and respond to them through the application question. Ultimately, GP is all about arguments.

Let’s be real. If there were truly some secret formula to instant success, schools would have taught it by now and you should have already heard about it.

Instead, the key to our success lies in our use of the age-old Socratic method. Through the painstaking process of asking and answering questions, we push our students to think for themselves and justify their ideas.

The studies support this. Our experience supports this. And our students’ results speak for themselves.

If you are unable to attend the lesson for the week, you can either attend another lesson in the same week or watch the recording. Any work that you submit will still be marked. You can also contact Mr Liau directly if you have any questions about the material that is covered in the recording.

Contrary to popular belief, GP is not just an English subject for JC students.

Content matters.

Cambridge examiners have made this abundantly clear. They award low grades to students who exhibit a poor understanding of the subject and fail to substantiate their arguments with robust evidence.

Those who cannot address differing viewpoints fare even worse. They receive failing grades because they are “unable to meet the basic requirement of this paper”. (Examiner Report, 2013)

It’s therefore no surprise that students score poorly when their scripts are filled with comments like: “lacks balance”, “weak argument” and “poor evidence”.

No matter how effusive a student’s language may be, he will not get a good grade. Cambridge has made that abundantly clear.

Memorising facts and statistics without understanding their context or knowing how to use them is actually worse than useless. It can be harmful because it instils a false sense of confidence. A student may think he is impressing the examiner when in fact he is merely frustrating him.

It is therefore important to build a solid conceptual framework first before students jump into the examples. To accomplish that, we often start with in in-depth discussions of pertinent case studies. Through these discussions, students may ask questions, clarify doubts and attempt to articulate their own understanding of the subject.

In addition to the class discussions, we provide content packages and comprehensive notes that are designed to expose students to popular arguments and examples. Through these content packages, students will also see how the evidence can be marshalled to support their arguments.

In 2013, Cambridge examiners explicitly pointed out that GP is not a test of general knowledge. Students who receive poor grades despite their extensive use of examples should note that no amount of facts and statistics can make up for a poorly-developed argument.

The General Paper subject is primarily about the arguments. Cambridge examiners have made that abundantly clear. Students must argue, reason and persuade, not flood the examiner with details and lengthy descriptions.

This is the trickiest part about GP. Memorising model essays will not work. Neither will copying and pasting canned arguments. Because every question is different, every response must be unique. Within those 90 minutes, students must formulate and express their own arguments.

It is therefore important for students to learn how to use examples to support their points. This is why we teach students to focus on convincing the examiner with persuasive arguments, substantiated with strong examples, rather than on impressing readers with their depth of knowledge.

What are the exact terms of the security deposit?
Please refer to the following for the exact terms of our policy:
1) The security deposit will be used to cover the last four lessons upon withdrawal or graduation.
2) The security deposit will not be forfeited.
3) This means that students can still attend lessons until the security deposit is fully utilised.
4) The security deposit is non-refundable except in the event of a change of tutor or the discontinuation of the GP lessons.

What happens if I miss classes?
1) You can simply attend another class within the same week. All classes within the week (Mon to Sun) cover the same material.
2) If you cannot make it for the entire week, please watch the recording whenever you are able to.
3) As recordings and notes are still provided, please note that no refunds will be given if you do not turn up for the live classes.

Why do you have to collect a security deposit?
Collecting a security deposit allows us to do what we do, and focus on helping our students rather than chasing students and parents for payment. It also allows us to avoid suspending a student from lessons due to late payment. Finally, it ensures that students do not abruptly start and stop lessons from month to month. This would be disruptive, both for the teacher and the student.

The full name of our tuition centre is My Mustard Seed Tuition Centre. We have a physical address at 855 Tampines Street 83, Singapore 520855. We have been operating for over two decades. If you have any further concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

Why is the minimum commitment period 8 weeks?
We want to see our students all the way through till their A-Level exams. Our goal is not to increase our student count but to fully help those that do choose to enroll with us.

This means that upon registration, we provide our students with many things that are not limited to the regular classes. From the very first week, students gain full access to all of our resources and recordings at no additional charge. They are also free to consult with Mr Liau himself on any queries or past recordings (from our LMS) that they have questions about. All of this is offered as part of the heavily discounted package (effectively $80/week).

While we understand that many places offer trials (some even free), we seek your understanding that we have different requirements because we operate differently.

All students are personally taught and guided by Mr Liau himself. Accepting too many trial students inevitably means that existing students end up being neglected. In many cases, this means that tuition centres outsource the teaching of existing students to junior teachers and the learning experience changes dramatically after the trial is over. We never wish to shortchange our students that way.

Are the lessons conducted under an established tuition centre?
Yes, the full name of our tuition centre is My Mustard Seed Tuition Centre. We have a physical address at 855 Tampines Street 83, Singapore 520855. We have been operating for over two decades. If you have any further concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

Please refer to the tuition centre’s business profile below.