October 2017 Crash Course

IB Year 5 / JC 1

IB Year 6 / JC 2

Mr Lim, my teacher, is a very caring and good teacher. He puts in a lot of effort to get us to understand and do better and even goes to the extent of holding free consultation sessions outside class to clarify our doubts. His explanation is very clear, in depth, and easy to understand. He also takes a lot of time outside classes to mark mountains of essays and case studies that we give him with no complaints at all, and always gives us the best comments to help us improve. He is the best teacher I have ever met and I really enjoyed the time I spent at the centre learning from him!

Lim Jun Xiang Yishun Junior College Valedictorian, SMU (Accountancy) [/one-third-first] [one-third]  

I was lost and confused until the team at Quintessential helped me. They dedicated a lot of time and brought out the best in me. Not only were they my teachers, they were also my mentors who guided me to excel and discover my passion.

Herman Ahmad Raffles Institution, Oxford (Law) [/one-third] [one-third]  

The teachers at Quintessential act more like mentors, or even friends. They give me advices not only in studies, but also my career prospects and future options. They genuinely care for me and that’s what sets them apart.

Jovin Leong Nanyang Junior College Valedictorian, Oxford (PPE) [/one-third]       [one-third-first]  

Even though I really feel that Economics can be really boring, the interesting anecdotes always spice up the lessons. Thank you for putting so much effort to teach me and I love the lessons a lot and always learn something new after each session.

Marina Chan National Swimmer, Asian Games, Gold Medalist [/one-third-first] [one-third]  

I am very grateful for the help that the teachers have given me. They were very passionate and committed, constantly following up on my progress and ensuring that I had sufficient resources and practices. My grades improved considerably over the years and I am thankful for the dedication displayed by all my teachers. Their classes are not only fruitful and also truly inspirational.

Brian Kim UWC (Dover), LSE (Economics) [/one-third] [one-third]  

Thank you for making even the most boring subjects like English and Economics fun. Will always remember the commitment and extra effort all my tutors put in to help me prepare for exams! The practice sessions and reviews really made a big difference in my revision and I really enjoyed my lessons!

Danny P SJI (International), Columbia University (Engineering) [/one-third] [one-third-first]  

Thanks so much for helping me improve my Economics at my own pace of lesson. The exam practices and reviews really helped me for the exams and I have improved tremendously over the last year!

Elizabeth Liew ACS (International), Edinburgh (Medicine) [/one-third-first] [one-third]  

Quintessential has been the go-to for my two kids. My sons get lots of practice and exposure from the various subject tutors. They enjoy the lessons and the guidance from their tutors are very directed.

Avinash Raj sons studying at UWC (Dover) 2015 [/one-third] [one-third]  

Thanks for the help Sir, the classes were extremely helpful to my understanding and it allowed me to comprehend the syllabus with much clarity. I also found the resources and practices critical in my exam preparations and the classes were insightful and filled with many interesting examples and analogies.

Kevin Leong ACS (Independent) 2015, Economics (HL) – 7 [/one-third]

1) Why do you offer these short, intensive prep courses? And for what subjects?

We offer prep courses for various IB/’A’ levels subjects like Chemistry, English, Mathematics, Economics, General Paper. Various curriculum are demanding and intensive. Additionally, many concepts tend to be complex yet only serve as enrichment purposes. Hence, many students find difficulty when it comes to revising for the exams. A short course that provides an overview and crystallises key concepts can help significantly by aiming to be comprehensive yet succinct.

Most students do not strategise when studying for exams; they tend to lack practical skills/answering techniques and instead worry about trying to memorise their notes/textbooks. The aim of our prep courses is do away with memorising and build good understanding by clarifying what kind of questions to expect in exams, what concepts to focus on and how to strategise their preparations, how to tackle key examination questions, how to improve their answering techniques.

Many students only realise what they lack when they begin their own revision. We believe that an intensive course right before the exams will complement their revision and help clarify questions on various key topics and concepts. This is usually done through an analysis of various past questions in a topical manner.

While most students have access to past questions and solutions, we find that a big problem is not in understanding the answers but learning how to arrive at such answers and applying them in other questions. We believe students can improve if we address gaps in application skills; by breaking down and explaining various answers to show “How exactly do we arrive at this answer and apply it elsewhere?” Our intensive courses aim to do this.

2) When were these prep courses introduced (since which year?)

We introduced these prep courses since 2013.

3) For figures, how many students last year and how many students will there be this year?

We had 80 students for our crash courses last year and this year the numbers have exceeded 100.

4) How are these courses conducted, and what do the tutors focus on during these short courses?

Our courses are conducted in a small group seminar style. The tutors dry run each course to make sure the intensive session can cover all chapters and questions.

We aim to add value to students by complementing and supplementing their own revision. Hence the courses are centred on focused topical revision analysing and reviewing different categories of past questions developing a structured approach to answering questions (this is the highlight of our courses) developing answering techniques analysis of common mistakes of students reversed teaching by students (to test their ability to comprehend and apply). Essentially, the course places emphasis on doing away with memorising by providing a concise approach to reviewing the exam syllabus.

5) Are these courses guaranteed to lift the students’ grades? How so?

These courses are guaranteed to improve students’ understanding in a significant manner. By getting an overview, they are now more sure of specific parts of the syllabus to focus on; it gives them a good way to strategise their revision.

They will also learn various ways the questions could be asked and can better work on their answering techniques and logical reasoning. It teaches them to focus on key components to score. Provided that students study hard revision after the course, their grades will definitely improve in a tangible manner. The best improvements we have seen go from E to A after 1 course and a few regular lessons.

6) Have the students shown improvements after attending these courses? How so?

Students are more confident especially as they have just reviewed their entire syllabus. There is also much appreciation of the subject now that they can crystallise key components of it; this allows them to keep up at school and in turn they feel more motivated and driven. By focusing on key questions and applications, our courses can make a seemingly dry subject come alive and many students find it easier in their revisions.