1-on-1 Mastery-Based IB Physics · Taipei

IB Physics, from formulas to framework.

IB Physics rewards conceptual understanding ahead of mathematical formalism, not formula recall alone. Lessons build from the equations and procedures students bring toward the principled physical reasoning, Internal Assessment design, and integrated derivation the IB Paper questions, and university coursework, will demand.

Audience
IB Physics HL and SL content, international school students
Format
1-on-1, 1 to 1.5 hours per lesson
Duration
Typically across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence
Begin
Complimentary consultation & assessment class

What Students Learn

Mastery-based IB Physics at the level your child's school actually requires.

IB Physics is for students working through the IB Diploma Programme who want to move past formula recall toward the conceptual framework, principled derivation, and Internal Assessment depth the IB assessment tests. The program covers the full IB Physics Subject Guide for HL and SL. Reasoning from Newton's laws and conservation principles to predict how systems move, collide, and exchange energy. Working through mechanics, including kinematics, dynamics, momentum, and rotational behavior. Tracing thermal physics from kinetic theory through the laws of thermodynamics to the connections between molecular motion and macroscopic observation. Building reasoning across waves, including simple harmonic motion, wave behavior, sound, light, interference, and standing wave phenomena. Analyzing electromagnetism, including electric and magnetic fields, circuit behavior, and the unification of electric and magnetic phenomena that defines IB Physics at HL. Working through the option topic the school selects, whether relativity, engineering physics, imaging, or astrophysics, to the depth the IB assessment requires. Designing and writing the Internal Assessment that the IB assessment requires. These are the topics the IB Paper 1, Paper 2, and Paper 3 questions test, and the foundation any university physics, engineering, materials science, applied math, or quantitative-research course will assume.

IB Physics is not advanced formula recall. The shift is from formulas to framework. Students move from applying equations in isolation to seeing each problem as the application of an underlying physical framework where principles, formulas, and approximations all fit together coherently. A student who can plug numbers into Newton's second law is doing the procedural work. A student who can explain why momentum conservation applies, choose the right reference frame, identify the approximations the model assumes, and predict how the system behaves under unfamiliar conditions is doing the framework the IB assessment rewards across topics. The program closes the gap between the two.

Lessons follow Harland's IB Physics curriculum, built to bring students to mastery of IB Physics content as defined by the IB Diploma Programme Subject Guide. The program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with each unit closing in an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats and includes the analytical work the Internal Assessment requires. SL students complete the SL core. HL students complete the SL core plus the HL-specific extensions in the appropriate themes, with faculty matching their specific course route. Lessons calibrate to your child's individual gaps and the topics they're working through at school. If a student is working through electromagnetism at school, the teacher works through it with the student, applying the unit's analytical structure to the questions their Paper 2 will eventually ask.

Progress shows up in places parents can see. Where your child once memorized which formula applies to which problem, they now reason from underlying principles to derive the equation a situation requires. Where your child once produced a textbook definition of energy conservation, they now analyze a multi-stage system and explain what energy flows where, with appropriate attention to where the model breaks down. Where the Internal Assessment once felt like an open-ended task, it now feels like a structured investigation your child can plan, execute, and write against the IB rubric.

How We Teach It

IB Physics taught for understanding, with the score arriving as a consequence.

Harland's pedagogy is content-based learning. Conceptual framework, principled derivation, and the analytical depth the IB Paper 2 and Paper 3 questions reward develop through the topics, problem sets, and past papers your child is already working with. Assessments check whether the thinking holds up when the student moves to new material alone.

A student working through mechanics works on it with their teacher, building the reasoning that connects Newton's laws, momentum conservation, and energy considerations to the multi-stage problems the IB Paper 2 questions require. A student moving into waves works on it with their teacher, applying the unit's analytical structure to simple harmonic motion, interference patterns, and the connection between wave equations and observable phenomena that the IB data-response questions test. A student working through electromagnetism works on it with their teacher, building the scaffolding that lets them apply field concepts to circuit problems, derive expressions from underlying principles, and explain electromagnetic phenomena with the conceptual rigor the IB rubric expects.

IB Physics students arrive with two layers under the surface. The score pressure is real. The May or November exam matters for university plans, particularly for students aiming at engineering, physics, materials science, applied math, or quantitative-research paths, and most students know it. But beneath the score pressure is a specific cognitive challenge that defines the IB Physics assessment. Formula recall is not the hard part. The hard part is reading a physical scenario, recognizing which principles apply and which approximations the situation permits, predicting how the system will behave under unfamiliar conditions, and explaining the prediction with the framework the IB rubric expects. The 1-on-1 format gives teachers room to slow down where the conceptual ground is unfamiliar, and to keep the work rigorous without losing the student's engagement with physics itself. Skill and framework develop together. Neither moves far in isolation.

The format also lets teachers calibrate within the program's structure. A student fluent with physics formulas but uncomfortable with IB conceptual-explanation questions gets pushed toward the Paper 2-style scenarios the assessment will ask. Why does this principle apply here. What approximations is the model making. What additional information would change the prediction. A student strong on conceptual reasoning but weak on the IA's experimental design and quantitative analysis gets work calibrated to the rubric's expectations. That means refining the research question, justifying the methodology, processing the data with attention to uncertainty propagation and instrumental limitations, and writing the IA against the criteria the IB assessment uses.

Physics also has a practical dimension. School and IB Diploma programs include lab work, with IB Physics specifying the Internal Assessment as a designed investigation worth around 20 percent of the final grade. Harland's 1-on-1 IB Physics program supports the reasoning around lab work and IA design rather than replacing the lab itself. Teachers help students refine the IA research question, work through data processing with attention to uncertainty propagation and the limitations of measurement instruments, write the IA against the rubric criteria the IB assessment uses, and check conceptual understanding against the IB Physics Subject Guide. The hands-on practicals happen at your child's IB school under their supervisor's oversight, and the reasoning, IA design, and IA writing happen at Harland.

Curriculum and Alignment

A structured curriculum keyed to the IB Physics Subject Guide.

IB Physics at Harland follows a structured curriculum keyed to the IB Physics Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. A student who completes the program has demonstrated mastery of IB Physics content as the IB Subject Guide defines it.

Harland's IB Physics runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, with IA preparation integrated rather than appended. Most school IB Physics courses spread the same content across more class time, with IA work happening alongside or after class. 1-on-1 lessons don't lose time to group pacing or mixed-ability instruction, so the same core content fits in more substantive units. The time saved goes into the framework the IB Diploma assessment rewards.

Standards
IB Physics Diploma Programme Subject Guide (HL and SL), with the Internal Assessment criteria as the cross-cutting skill framework
Materials
Harland curriculum materials and IB-aligned textbooks, with past IB papers and IA exemplars integrated as ongoing input
Assessment
End-of-unit assessments aligned with IB Paper 1, Paper 2, Paper 3, and the Internal Assessment rubric
Reporting
Skill-level tracking against Harland's internal rubrics, mapped to IB assessment criteria

Prerequisites and What Comes Next

Where IB Physics fits in your child's learning.

Before starting

IB Physics assumes prior coursework in physics, typically built through pre-IB or MYP physics, and the foundational vocabulary in motion, forces, energy, and electricity those courses develop. Math content for IB Physics is more substantial than for IB Biology; algebra and trigonometry are essential at both SL and HL, and HL benefits from comfort with vectors and basic calculus concepts for the kinematics, electromagnetism, and oscillation work the IB Paper 2 questions require. Students arriving from a different curriculum or with uneven foundations work through gaps in foundational physics before or alongside IB Physics proper.

One thing to know about scope. The IB Physics Internal Assessment is a designed scientific investigation worth around 20 percent of the final grade, and IB schools provide the lab infrastructure and supervisor guidance for it. Harland's 1-on-1 tutoring focuses on the experimental reasoning, data processing, and IA writing the IB assessment tests directly, not on lab time. The IA itself is completed at school under supervisor oversight per IB requirements, and Harland's role is the planning, analytical, and writing work that turns the lab into a strong IA.

The consultation and assessment class establishes whether IB Physics is the right starting point and whether parallel work in foundational physics or Academic English would help. Some students arrive needing both physics-foundation reinforcement and IB-specific support, and the lesson plan covers what's most urgent first.

What comes after

Most students complete IB Physics across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, sitting either the May or November exam. Cadence varies by entry point and exam timing, with most students attending one to three sessions per week.

IB Physics does not have a direct successor course in the IB sequence. After the exam, the framework and quantitative reasoning the course develops carries directly into university physics, engineering, materials science, applied mathematics, and any quantitative-research degree. Students choosing Physics as their Extended Essay subject work with their primary teacher across the research-question, methodology, and writing stages on the Extended Essay program.

The longer-term aim of IB Physics is to make itself unnecessary. The program brings students to mastery of IB Physics content. Students sit the May or November exam, submit their IA, and the program's role ends. A parent who's no longer worried about their child's IB Physics work is the point of all of it.

Common Questions

Common questions about IB Physics at Harland.

Who is IB Physics at Harland for? +
IB Physics at Harland is for high school students working through the IB Diploma Programme. Most of our students fall into one of two patterns. Some are taking IB Physics at school and come to us for support alongside the school program, building the conceptual framework and the principled-derivation depth the IB assessment tests differently from typical physics coursework. Some are preparing for the May or November exam in an intensive run-up, working through past papers, IA refinement, and targeted weakness review in the weeks or months before the assessment. Students whose situation falls outside these two patterns, including students transitioning curricula mid-DP, students at schools without strong IB programs, or students who need a more flexible curriculum than the standard IB Physics program provides, work with us through Harland's Academic Coaching framework, where the curriculum is calibrated to the individual situation rather than the IB Subject Guide alone.
My child can work through textbook problems but struggles with the conceptual explanations Paper 2 requires. Can the program help with that kind of thinking? +
This is a familiar situation. The IB Physics assessment tests a kind of thinking that the textbook doesn't always practice directly. Reading a physical scenario and recognizing which principles apply and which approximations the situation permits. Predicting how a physical system will behave when something is changed, by reasoning from underlying principles rather than recalling formulas. Constructing arguments grounded in physical principles, with the framework the IB rubric rewards. We work directly on these skills, slowing down on the conceptual-explanation work the Paper 2 questions require, on the data processing the IA tests, and on the rubric criteria that distinguish a strong response from a vague one. Most students who come to us strong on formula application but struggling on the conceptual-explanation prompts close that gap by working through the rubric explicitly, with sample questions and practice under time constraint.
What does the IB Physics program cover? +
The program follows the IB Physics Diploma Programme Subject Guide for HL and SL. Content covers mechanics, thermal physics, waves, electromagnetism, and the option topic the school selects, with the Internal Assessment threaded through as a designed scientific investigation. Harland's program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence, calibrated to the framework your child's specific course route requires.
How long is each lesson and how often does my child attend? +
Lessons are 1-on-1 sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours, in person at our head office in Da'an or online. Most students attend one to three lessons per week. Harland's IB Physics program runs ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. At one or two lessons per week alongside a school IB course, the program runs through the DP cycle and concludes with the May or November exam. At three lessons per week, the program covers the same content at faster pace. For students preparing in an intensive run-up to the exam, the cadence increases as the test approaches, typically two to four months at higher frequency. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the cadence that fits.
How are lessons scheduled, and what if we need to reschedule? +
Lessons happen on a fixed weekly slot reserved with your child's primary teacher. This protects the teacher's time and keeps a consistent rhythm for your child. If you need to reschedule, give us at least 24 hours of notice and we'll find another time when your teacher is available. Many families add classes during summer or winter vacation, either to accelerate progress or to make up for a slower term. Once a unit has started, it should be completed within a defined window. The Student Coordinator walks through the details when you enroll.
Can my child begin IB Physics over the summer? +
Yes. Summer enrollment is available across Harland's IB Diploma programs, with two patterns. Students preparing for the upcoming May or November exam in an intensive run-up sometimes begin or accelerate in summer at higher cadence (typically two to three sessions per week), particularly when their school IB course pacing has fallen behind, when their Internal Assessment is at draft stage, or when the run-up to the exam needs concentrated time. Students preparing for an exam sitting further out (i.e., entering or partway through the 2-year DP) often use summer for a head-start block, working through current-year content or building the prerequisite foundation before the next school year begins. The Student Coordinator helps you choose the right summer pattern based on which exam sitting your child is preparing for and where their IA work currently stands.
How do you measure progress? +
Progress is measured through unit assessments aligned with the IB Physics Subject Guide. Harland's IB Physics program is organized into ten units across the 2-year IB Diploma cadence. Each unit closes with an assessment that mirrors IB Paper formats, including the multiple-choice items of Paper 1, the data-response and extended response questions of Paper 2, and the Internal Assessment rubric, and measures conceptual understanding, principled derivation, calculation accuracy, and the conceptual framework that connects principles to predictions across the unit's content. Parents receive updates after every lesson and formal progress reports when each unit ends. Skill-level tracking uses Harland's internal rubrics, which map to IB assessment criteria. Where helpful, the Student Coordinator translates this into the expectations of your child's school.
How do we begin? +
Every Harland relationship begins with a consultation, followed by a 1-on-1 assessment class. The consultation is about your goals and your child's situation. The assessment class is about how your child works in the subject. Together they tell us where to start and what kind of teacher will fit best.

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