From ‘Fail’ To 7 Points For IB Math, Former ACSI Boy Now Studying In Harvard

As a tuition provider in Singapore, we often meet parents who are skeptical about whether tuition really works. Some others are doubtful about their own child’s abilities to improve. For example, if their child is constantly failing their exams, can they really pull up their grades to an A or B grade? Is tuition worth the time and money?

While we cannot guarantee results all the time, we have definitely seen students who have improved tremendously and proven that it is possible to go from Fail to A – sometimes within just a few months. Here is one story of our ex-student who has achieved exactly that!

Failing math in secondary school

The first time our tutor met up with J (not his real name), he was a secondary school student in Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). Although he had done well in PSLE, he started to fail his mathematics papers in secondary school. After failing a few tests, his mother decided to send him for tuition to see how it might help him improve his confidence in math.

J’s story is not uncommon, as many students see their grades take a hit when they move on from primary school to secondary school. Similarly, students’ results tend to drop across years where the leap in difficult is stark – other critical transitions being from Sec 2 to Sec 3, and from Secondary School to Junior College.

In J’s case, he felt that his teacher in school was teaching too quickly, which did not help him during this critical transition period. In this foundational year where getting the fundamentals of secondary math was so important, he was not getting sufficient support in a way that could help him understand the concepts and pass his tests.

Rapid improvement after joining Future Academy

With all these issues plaguing J, he joined the secondary math tuition at Future Academy, with hopes of increasing his understanding for math and improving his results. During the weekly tuition classes, J’s tutor went through the math concepts patiently and in ways which J could understand. His tutor also communicated closely with his parent, providing feedback and encouragement on J’s progress in class.

Gradually, J began to grasp the math concepts better and even enjoyed his time at tuition. He no longer felt discouraged and was more motivated to learn math. Of course, he was also a hardworking student and he put it a lot of effort to practise and master the skills.

After 6 months of tuition, J finally achieved his first ‘Pass’ on his math test in secondary school. And it was not a ‘just pass’ mark, but a strong pass of 70% on his test score! It was a great motivation to him and assurance to his parents – but he didn’t rest on his laurels.

By the next year-end examinations, J was scoring 7.0 points (the highest grade for a subject in IB). J continued working hard and attending tuition at Future Academy up until he took his IB exams. For the IB, he scored 7.0 points for math and had excellent overall results of 45.0 points (a perfect score in IB), earning him a place in Harvard University, where he is currently studying.

Conclusion 

Our tutors are so encouraged by his story and honoured to have been a part of his journey. It fills us with pride to know that we could empower him by giving him more confidence and opening up doors for his future. If he did not receive help for his studies, he might have given up completely on math and eliminated many options for him in university, including most science and engineering courses.

In the same way, we hope to continue to uplift those students who are currently struggling or wish to do even better in their studies. Doing well can make you a more motivated learner and open up more opportunities for you in your future studies.

Inspired by J’s story? We want you to know that YOU can do it too! It is totally possible to pass that subject or grab that ‘A’ if you are willing to work hard and let us show you the way. Don’t shortchange yourself by giving up too early and compromising your future. It’s not too late to start today and give yourself the best chance at succeeding in your studies. Check out some of our popular courses like H2 Math Tuition and IP Math Tuition today!