Secondary 3 Physics Tuition Singapore
The first year of G3 Physics: forces, pressure, energy and heat, with the practical skills the exam grades.
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No contract and no minimum number of lessons. The first lesson is a paid trial at the tutor's rate. Cancel or reschedule at least 24 hours ahead, or that lesson is charged.
- Typical rate
- S$35 to S$95/hr
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- 2 to 4 tutors in 16h
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- Free re-match
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Secondary 3 Physics Tuition rates in Singapore
Hourly rates for Secondary 3 to 4, by type of tutor.
The same rates as a table
| Level | Part-time / undergrad | Full-time | Ex-MOE or NIE-trained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Secondary / O-Level (Sec 3-4) | S$35-45/hr | S$45-65/hr | S$65-95/hr |
The final rate is set when you choose a tutor. See all tuition rates for 2027.
Where Sec 3 Physics catches students out
Sec 3 Physics asks for more calculation and more precise language than Lower Secondary Science. These are the slips that show up in the first tests.
Mass and weight are mixed up, so a 50 kg student is said to have a weight of 50 kg instead of about 500 N.
Free-body diagrams leave out the normal force, or draw friction pointing the same way as the motion.
Liquid pressure is worked out with force ÷ area alone, missing that it depends on depth and density.
Units slip inside calculations, such as area left in cm² when the pressure formula needs m², or kJ mixed with J.
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In practicals, a pendulum period is timed for a single swing, or readings in a table use different numbers of decimal places.
Each of these is a habit, and habits are easier to set in Sec 3 than to fix in the exam year.
Where the G3 Physics syllabus begins
The G3 Physics syllabus has 20 topics in six sections, from Measurement to Radioactivity. SEAB does not say which belong to Sec 3, and schools set their own order. The opening sections, in syllabus order, are below. The tutor follows your child's scheme of work and adjusts if the school starts elsewhere.
Measurement
Quantities, units and instruments, which every later topic relies on.
Topics covered
- A physical quantity as a number and a unit
- SI base quantities and prefixes such as milli, micro and mega
- Orders of magnitude of common objects
- Choosing instruments, including digital calipers and micrometers
- Scalars and vectors
- Adding two vectors by a graphical method
Motion and forces
Describing motion with graphs, then explaining it with Newton's laws.
Topics covered
- Speed, velocity and uniform acceleration
- Displacement-time and velocity-time graphs
- Area under a velocity-time graph as displacement
- Contact and non-contact forces and free-body diagrams
- Newton's laws and resultant force = mass × acceleration
- Mass, weight and gravitational field strength
- Falling with and without air resistance
Moments, pressure and energy
Turning effects, pressure in solids and liquids, and energy calculations.
Topics covered
- Moment of a force and the principle of moments
- Centre of gravity and stability
- Pressure = force/area and hydraulic systems
- Pressure due to a liquid column and the manometer
- Kinetic and gravitational potential energy
- Work done, power and efficiency
Thermal physics
The particle model used to explain heating, cooling and changes of state.
Topics covered
- The kinetic particle model and gas pressure
- Brownian motion as evidence for moving particles
- Conduction, convection and radiation
- Specific heat capacity
- Specific latent heat and cooling curves
- Boiling compared with evaporation
What changes from Lower Secondary Science to Sec 3 Physics
The same ideas return in Sec 3, but each one now comes with definitions, equations and harder questions. This table sets the G2/G3 Lower Secondary Science syllabus beside G3 Physics.
Students who took G2 Science in lower secondary may not have met some G3 outcomes, such as pressure. A tutor checks for those gaps in the first weeks of Sec 3.
| Idea | In Lower Secondary Science | In G3 Physics |
|---|---|---|
| Forces | Contact and non-contact forces, mass and weight, and force measured in newtons. | Newton's laws, free-body diagrams, resultant force = mass × acceleration, and three-force problems solved by drawing. |
| Pressure | Pressure = force/area, a G3 outcome that is optional at G2. | Hydraulic systems, pressure due to a liquid column and the use of a manometer. |
| Energy | Energy sources and their impact on the environment. | Kinetic and gravitational potential energy, conservation of energy, work done, power and efficiency. |
| Heat | Conduction, convection, radiation, expansion and contraction. | Internal energy, specific heat capacity, specific latent heat and cooling curves. |
| Practical work | Accuracy, precision and measurement errors such as zero and parallax error. | A practical paper worth 20%, with planning, measuring, presenting data and evaluating. |
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SEAB, G3 Physics syllabus K323 (2027). Open the SEAB PDF.
MOE, G2/G3 Lower Secondary Science syllabus (archived copy). Open the MOE syllabus.
SEAB, the 2027 G3 syllabus list with old and new codes. See the SEAB list.
The exam year that follows is set out on our Secondary 4 Physics tuition page.
Before you book a Sec 3 Physics tutor
What parents usually ask in the first term of Sec 3 Physics.
| Question | For Secondary 3 |
|---|---|
| Which tutor suits Sec 3 Physics? | Look for a tutor who teaches G3 Physics regularly and can explain forces and graphs, not only drill past papers. If your child takes combined Science, say so, since the Physics content is smaller. You see each tutor's qualifications, experience and levels taught in the profile. |
| What does it cost? | Sec 3 sits in the Upper Secondary band: S$35 to S$45 an hour with an undergraduate tutor, S$45 to S$65 with a full-time tutor and S$65 to S$95 with an ex-MOE teacher. Four 1.5-hour lessons with a full-time tutor come to S$270 to S$390. |
| How does it start? | Send us the school, whether your child takes Pure Physics or combined Science, and the latest test. We send 2 to 4 tutor profiles within 16 hours. The first lesson is a paid trial at the tutor's hourly rate. |
| What are the terms? | No contract and no minimum, so lessons can start mid-term after a weak first test. Cancel or move a lesson at least 24 hours ahead, or it is charged. If the fit is wrong, we re-match you free. |
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Secondary 3 Physics Tuition: a guide for parents
Secondary 3 is the year Physics becomes a subject of its own. In Lower Secondary Science, forces, energy and heat shared one course with chemistry and biology. From Sec 3, a student taking Physics at G3 starts the syllabus that is examined at the end of Sec 4. For a student in Sec 3 in 2027, that exam is the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) in 2028. The current published SEC syllabus is G3 Physics K323, and SEAB's document keeps the same topics and the same three papers as O-Level Physics 6091. What feels new to a Sec 3 student is the algebra, the exact definitions, and a practical paper worth a fifth of the grade.
Read the full guide
A Sec 3 Physics tutor works one-to-one with your child, at home or online, and follows the school's scheme of work. The early lessons set habits that carry through both years: write the formula, substitute with units, give the answer to sensible significant figures. Free-body diagrams are drawn for every force question, so your child sees which forces act before choosing an equation. The tutor also reviews each returned test to find the type of error behind lost marks, whether a definition, a unit or a misread graph. Practical skills get time too, because Paper 3 asks students to plan, measure, record and evaluate without any notes.
A typical Sec 3 dynamics question: a car of mass 1200 kg has a driving force of 3000 N, and friction and air resistance together are 600 N. Find its acceleration. Many students divide 3000 N by 1200 kg and get 2.5 m/s². The correct method finds the resultant force first: 3000 N minus 600 N = 2400 N, so a = F ÷ m = 2400 ÷ 1200 = 2.0 m/s². A follow-up asks what happens when the driving force falls to 600 N.
The forces are then balanced, so the car moves at constant velocity, not that it stops. A tutor has your child draw a free-body diagram first, label each force, and write resultant force = mass × acceleration before substituting, which is the order markers look for.
Official syllabus: MOE Singapore · SEAB Singapore
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Secondary 3 Physics Tuition: frequently asked questions
Should my child take Pure Physics or Combined Science in Sec 3?
Schools decide which science subjects and combinations they offer, so start with your child's school. Pure Physics at G3 has its own three papers. In G3 combined Science, the Physics part is one 65-mark paper, taken with one other science, plus a shared multiple-choice paper and practical. Combined Science covers less Physics content. Our Combined Science tuition page explains that route.
How much does Secondary 3 Physics tuition cost?
Sec 3 is in our Upper Secondary band, where hourly rates are S$35 to S$45 for an undergraduate tutor, S$45 to S$65 for a full-time tutor and S$65 to S$95 for an ex-MOE teacher. Many families start Sec 3 with one 1.5-hour lesson a week, and add a second lesson only if a test shows a gap.
Is Sec 3 Physics mostly maths?
It is more than recall. In the theory papers, about 45% of marks test knowledge with understanding, of which about 15% is recall, and about 55% test handling information and solving problems. The syllabus lists the maths needed, such as changing the subject of an equation and using direct and inverse proportion. A tutor makes those steps routine so your child can focus on the physics.
What practical skills does Sec 3 Physics build?
Paper 3 assesses planning, measuring and observing, presenting data, and analysis with evaluation. The syllabus lists measurements of length with rules, calipers and micrometers, time with stopwatches including a pendulum's period, mass, temperature, current and voltage. It also lists tasks such as finding density and the acceleration of free fall. Students cannot refer to notes in the paper, so these skills must be practised, not read.
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