What an iGCSE tutor actually needs to do
iGCSE students sit 8–10 subjects across two boards’ worth of syllabuses, often in a second language and a school far from the board’s home country. A weekly hour of private tutoring covers one subject thinly. What moves grades is daily practice on the actual iGCSE papers — Cambridge or Edexcel International, the right tier, marked against the real mark scheme.
Skoolskill is that: an AI iGCSE tutor on your phone that turns your notes and past papers into 15-minute daily sessions, scored the way the boards score.
How the iGCSE plan works
| Stage | Focus |
|---|---|
| Year 1 of the course | Foundational drilling per syllabus topic, learning command words |
| Year 2 (term 1) | Topic-by-topic past-paper questions, identifying weak units |
| Year 2 (term 2) | Whole past papers, timed sections per subject |
| Final term | Full mocks under exam conditions, error log |
| Last week | Light review, sleep |
A student doing 15 minutes a day per subject from the start of the course banks far more marked practice than two years of weekly tutoring — and it’s practice on the exact paper they’ll sit.
Two boards, two flavours
- Cambridge International (CAIE / CIE) — the most widely used, with Core and Extended tiers in many subjects and syllabus codes like 0580 (Maths) and 0500 (First Language English)
- Pearson Edexcel International GCSE — common in many international and British-curriculum schools overseas, graded mostly on the 9–1 scale
Skoolskill keeps the two separate. Tell it your board and it never feeds you the wrong paper’s question style.
Core and Extended — get entered for the right tier
Cambridge tiers many subjects. Core caps at a C/grade 5; Extended reaches A*/grade 9. Practising the wrong tier wastes weeks. The AI checks your entry tier and drills only the questions that count for it, then flags if you’re consistently scoring high enough to push for the higher tier.
Comparison: iGCSE tutor (private/agency) vs Skoolskill
| Private iGCSE tutor | Skoolskill | |
|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate | $30–$70 | Free or ~$0.20/day |
| Sessions/week | 1 (typical) | 7 × 15-min sessions |
| Material | Often generic | Your board, code and tier |
| Per year (1 subject) | $1,200–$2,800 | $0 or ~$84 |
| Full timetable | $10,000+ | $0 or ~$84 |
When a human iGCSE tutor still matters
- Speaking and oral components in language subjects
- Studying in a second language and needing patient one-to-one explanation
- A subject you’re multiple grades behind in after changing curriculum or country
- Exam anxiety that a person coaches better than an app
Most international students combine both: a human tutor for the hardest subject, Skoolskill daily for marked practice across the whole timetable.
Get started — free
- Create a free account — no credit card
- Tell us your board, subjects and tier
- Snap a photo of your notes or a past paper
- First session in under three minutes
Start free — free tier always available.