A-Level tutoring · Dubai and Abu Dhabi
A-Level tutors in Dubai and Abu Dhabi
A-Level tutoring
Modular or staged. The board decides, and almost nobody at home knows which.
A-Level is the two years that settle which universities are still open, and the two boards assess it in ways that need completely different plans. Durusi matches a mentor who sat the same specification a few years ago, at home in either city or online across the UAE.
See what a lesson costsModular or staged
The same subject, assessed two completely different ways
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01
Edexcel lets you bank a unit. Cambridge asks for the stage
Pearson Edexcel International A Level is modular. The course is built from units, each examined on its own and each retakeable, with series in January, June and October. Cambridge International is staged instead: a candidate can sit AS in one series and carry that whole result forward into the A Level, provided the full qualification finishes within thirteen months, and the parts of a stage are sat together.
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02
Which board your school uses changes what a bad paper costs
On a modular course one weak unit is one unit, and it is sat again in January. On a staged course a weak AS is the whole stage. Those are not the same revision plan, so the first thing worth establishing is which one your child is actually on. Most families do not know, and it is written in the specification code on their own exam timetable.
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03
AS is a decision the school makes on your behalf
Some schools enter every student for AS at the end of the first year and some go straight through to the full A Level. That choice decides whether there is a real public grade in hand when university applications go out, or only a school prediction. Neither is wrong. They are different years, and they are planned differently from the first term.
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04
January is a series, not a resit window
Pearson Edexcel runs January, June and October. A January entry is an ordinary sitting rather than a remedial one, and using it on purpose spreads a heavy year across two points instead of piling it into one. Cambridge runs June and November instead. A revision plan built on the wrong assumption about which months exist is a plan for a different year.
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05
Three subjects or four, and what the fourth is for
Most offers are made on three A-Levels. A fourth is taken out of interest, because a specific course asks for it, or as insurance. It also divides the same number of study hours by four rather than three. The question is not whether a child can carry four. It is what the fourth is for, and it deserves an answer before October of the first year.
Lessons run at home in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, or online anywhere in the UAE.
FAQ
A-Level in Dubai. The questions parents actually ask.
- 01
Is my child on a modular or a staged A-Level?
It depends on the board, not the school. Pearson Edexcel International A Level is modular, built from units that are examined and retaken separately in January, June and October. Cambridge International is staged, so AS is sat whole and carried forward into the A Level within thirteen months. The specification code on the exam timetable says which, and we match the mentor to it.
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Should my child take three A-Levels or four?
Most offers are made on three. A fourth is worth taking when a specific course asks for it or when a subject genuinely adds something, and it is worth less when it simply divides the same study hours by four. Decide what the fourth is for before October of the first year, while dropping it is still easy.
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Can a single unit be retaken?
On Pearson Edexcel, yes, because the qualification is modular and units are examined separately with series in January, June and October. On Cambridge the stage is the unit of assessment, so a weak AS is retaken as a stage rather than as one paper. It is the clearest practical difference between the two boards.
Related
Nearby pages. The ones parents open next.
IGCSE tutors
Two grading scales in use in the same city, and what each one means.
ExamBritish curriculum
The whole arc, and the Year 9 choice that decides what exists at 17.
In personSAT preparation
For a sixth former applying to the United States alongside the A-Levels.
PricingWhat a lesson costs
Commitment and Flexible rates by school level, VAT included.
Predicted grades come round in the autumn. The work that moves them starts well before.
Lessons at your table across Dubai, or online anywhere in the UAE.
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