General Paper ‘A’ Level Tuition Singapore

This is the question that confounds most students because while GP consists only of 2 papers, the wide range of topics makes it difficult for most students to grasp. In essence, to do well for GP, students would have to display in their writing:

• A mature world view that shows an understanding of global and local issues.
  The essay is really an exam construct that is meant for students to show their ability to grasp multiple perspectives (such as the state’s view vs. the people’s views) and express the complexities inherent in these issues.
• An understanding of local issues and how they relate to the people, as well as the rest ofthe world
  In an interconnected world, students have to show an understanding that what happens in other countries can have a big impact on their home country. For example, President Trump’s tariffs announced on ‘Liberation Day’ (2025) have a huge global impact. Singapore is not spared from the tariffs and the local government is worried enough to form a task force to address the effects of the tariffs.
• A reasonable, competent ability to argue in grammatical English
  Students misunderstand that
  ‘big words’ are needed to impress the examiners for GP. This is not true. Using sophisticated vocabulary without it being appropriate would do more harm than good, if the rest of the sentence shows up basic grammatical errors. Being able to write reasonably in standard, grammatical English, free of basic errors is crucial to doing well in GP. The language mark given in Paper 1 (20m) is significant enough to affect the grade. GP essays require a structured, organised and coherent line of argument. Students who write in a ‘stream of consciousness’ or have confusing argumentsthat are contradictory would do poorly because the marker is not able to follow the line of argument.

How does AWS prepare students for GP?

Our GP programme is divided into JC1 and JC2, each year targeting specific topics that are not repeated. As the
curriculum covers a wide range of topics, both years are necessary for students to gain a breadth of knowledge.

A short runway and compressed curriculum:
The ‘A’ level student has a very short runway to learn new content, apply it well and prepare for the examination
for the ‘A’ levels. In reality, the student has only 1 and half years to do all that. That is why we waste no time
in diving straight into the paper, and gear students up for the rigours of the exam from the start.