Combined Science Tutor — two sciences, one grade
Upper-secondary assignments across the 5086, 5087 and 5088 pairings, taught in homes islandwide or online.
Apply to tutor- S$35 – S$90 per hour
- Part-time contract
- Islandwide Singapore or online

A Combined Science candidate sits one subject that carries two sciences at once. SEAB runs three pairings — 5086 Science (Physics, Chemistry), 5087 Science (Physics, Biology) and 5088 Science (Chemistry, Biology) — and whichever one a student is entered for, both halves are examined inside a single subject and reported as one grade. Tutoring it well asks for something particular: someone who can hold two disciplines inside one hour, who knows where each Combined syllabus stops short of its Pure counterpart, and who can work out which of the two halves is quietly draining the marks. Eduprime matches tutors who manage all three with families who ask for this subject by name.
Why the paired-science brief is worth your evenings
- One tutor answers a two-subject problem. A family whose child is entered for 5087 needs physics and biology attended to on the same fee and the same timetable, so the tutor who carries both halves is the booking they can actually make. These requests arrive with a specific tutor profile attached, and the profile is scarce.
- Both disciplines stay live in your head. In a single session you may move from a speed–time gradient to a rate-of-reaction curve, and the graph-reading skill sitting under both is the same one. Tutors who like breadth find the switching itself interesting.
- Scope judgement is the actual craft. Each Combined half covers less ground than the Pure subject of the same name, and a tutor who knows precisely where that line falls saves a student weeks otherwise spent on material outside the syllabus they are entered for.
- The diagnosis is satisfying work. One grade covers two halves, so the opening fortnight is detective work over the student's own school scripts: which discipline is losing the marks, and whether the cause is content, technique, or misreading the question.
- The terms stay plain. S$35 to S$90 an hour according to level and the depth of rebuilding required, on the payment cycle fixed before you start, with assignments islandwide or online so the travel you accept is your call.
The role
What the assignment actually asks of you
- Cover both halves of the pairing the student is entered for, and settle with the family how the split runs — alternating weeks, or two blocks inside every session.
- Read the student's own school scripts before planning anything. How the marks fall across the two halves decides where the term's hours go.
- Hold the teaching inside the scope of the Combined syllabus, and say plainly when a school handout or a downloaded paper carries depth that belongs to the Pure course.
- Build the bridges the two halves share — energy, particles, measurement, graph reading, fair testing — so the student stops filing them as two unrelated subjects.
- Drill the answering habits that decide the grade: unpacking command words, showing working line by line, carrying units through, and lifting data off the stimulus given.
- Rebuild recall through short spaced revisits across the term — definitions, formulae, units, standard apparatus — so nothing rests on one heavy revision sitting.
- Write the family a short note at the end of each block of lessons: ground covered, what improved, what comes next. That note is what keeps an assignment alive term after term.
Who we can put in front of a family
- You can teach both disciplines of at least one pairing to O-Level standard. Tutors who work in a single science are welcome to apply as well; we hold those applications against Pure Physics, Chemistry and Biology requests.
- Solid ground in the sciences you will teach: strong results at A-Level or IB, a degree in a science or engineering field, or current undergraduate study in one of them.
- A working sense of where the Combined syllabus draws its line against the Pure course, or the discipline to read the current SEAB syllabus document for your pairing before the first lesson.
- The legal right to work in Singapore.
- A fixed weekly slot you can hold for at least one school term, with early notice to the family when your own exams or work travel will interrupt it.
- For online assignments: a stable connection and a live writing surface — tablet, writing pad, or a camera aimed at paper. Every pairing is taught through diagrams.
Pay
The rate, and what moves it
S$35 – S$90 per hour
Where an assignment lands in that band follows the level, how much of both halves has to be rebuilt from the ground up, your teaching record and credentials, and whether you travel to the home or teach online. A student who is steady in one discipline and starting from zero in the other is a heavier brief than a light polish of exam technique, and the rate reflects that. Payment follows the cycle agreed before the first lesson and reaches you on time; paying tutors punctually is a standing commitment at Eduprime.
How it works
From application to first lesson
- 01
Tell us your pairing
Apply through the contact form at /en/contact?intent=tutor. Say which of 5086, 5087 or 5088 you can carry end to end, how comfortable you are in each discipline, and the areas or online slots you can serve.
- 02
A short screening conversation
We ask you to talk through one real teaching decision: how you would divide a single session for a student who is fluent in one half of the pairing and lost in the other. That answer tells us more about your teaching than a transcript does.
- 03
Matching
When a request arrives that fits your pairing, the student's level and your area or online preference, we put your profile forward at the rate you have agreed to work at.
- 04
Schedule, teach, get paid
You confirm timing directly with the family, start lessons, and are paid on the agreed cycle. Assignments that go well tend to renew into the following term, and many run through to the exam year.
By area
Prefer students near you?
This role is available island-wide. Browse tutor jobs by region.
All locations
Every region and town
ViewCentral Singapore
High demand across PSLE, O-Level, A-Level and IP-track subjects.
ViewEast Singapore
Steady demand for primary, secondary and JC tuition, with strong PSLE and O-Level interest.
ViewNorth Singapore
Growing demand for primary and lower-secondary tuition.
ViewNorth-East Singapore
Broad demand from primary through JC, with high PSLE and Secondary volume.
ViewWest Singapore
Strong demand across all levels; close to major universities for tutor supply.
ViewQuestions
What tutors ask before they apply
Do I have to teach both sciences in the pairing?
For these assignments, yes. The student sits one subject and receives one grade for both halves, so a tutor covering half of it leaves the family hunting for a second tutor. If you work in a single discipline, apply anyway and say which one — Pure Physics, Chemistry and Biology requests come through the same form.
Which pairings do Singapore students take?
SEAB runs three at O-Level: 5086 Science (Physics, Chemistry), 5087 Science (Physics, Biology) and 5088 Science (Chemistry, Biology). Each one is a single subject assembled from two half-disciplines.
How far does the content sit from Pure Science?
Each Combined half covers less ground than the Pure subject of the same name, and carries it to a shallower depth. Knowing where that line falls is precisely what a Combined Science tutor is hired for; teaching Pure-course depth to a Combined candidate spends hours the student needs for technique and revision.
Do I need to be a trained school teacher?
No. Undergraduates, graduates, working engineers and scientists, and full-time private tutors all take these assignments. What we screen is how you teach — your plan for the first month, and how you would handle a student who is confident in one half and adrift in the other.
In person or online?
Both. Assignments run islandwide in students' homes and online across the country, and you tell us which you accept. Online suits these pairings once you can annotate diagrams live, and plenty of tutors run a mix of the two.
What can I earn?
Between S$35 and S$90 an hour, set per assignment by level, the depth of work required and your experience. You agree the rate before the first lesson and are paid on the cycle fixed at the start.
How long before an assignment reaches me?
It depends on the pairing you cover, the levels you teach and the part of Singapore you can reach. We keep your details on file and contact you when a request matches. The tutors who hear from us soonest are the ones who can carry all three pairings or teach online.
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ViewTake on a paired-science student this term
Send us the pairing you can teach and the ground you can cover. When a Combined Science request matches, you hear from us.