One-hour 1:1 GCSE and IGCSE Chemistry lessons with Archie Dyer, a second-year Theoretical Physics student at UCL. Online on Google Meet for £40 an hour, or in person around Marylebone, London for £50. Maths and Physics are taught at the same level and price; Biology is not offered. The first 30-minute trial is free.
By Archie Dyer, founder and tutor · Last updated 11 October 2026
Separate Chemistry or Combined ScienceGCSE and IGCSE, to your child’s own board and tier.
Maths and Physics too, not BiologySame level, same price.
Taught by Archie DyerSecond-year Theoretical Physics at UCL, after a First in his first year.
£40 online, £50 in personOne hour, 1:1. A 5-pack saves £15.
Enhanced DBS checkedArchie is the founder and the only tutor.
Free 30-minute online trialNo card needed.
GCSE Chemistry: separate science or Combined Science
The first thing to find out is which course your child is on. Separate GCSE Chemistry is its own GCSE with two long papers. In Combined Science, chemistry is two shorter papers out of six, alongside biology and physics, and the result is reported as a pair of grades.
GCSE Chemistry and Combined Science papers by exam board
Specification
Papers
Grades
AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462)
Two papers, 1 hour 45 minutes and 100 marks each, 50% each. Paper 1 covers atomic structure and the periodic table, bonding and structure, quantitative chemistry, chemical changes and energy changes. Paper 2 covers the rate and extent of chemical change, organic chemistry, chemical analysis, chemistry of the atmosphere and using resources.
9 to 1
Pearson Edexcel GCSE Chemistry (1CH0)
Two papers, 1 hour 45 minutes and 100 marks each, 50% each. Each paper has ten questions, and Topic 1, key concepts in chemistry, is assessed in both.
9 to 1
OCR Gateway Science Chemistry A (J248)
Two papers, 1 hour 45 minutes and 90 marks each, 50% each. Papers 1 and 2 are Foundation; Papers 3 and 4 are Higher. Each paper has 15 marks of multiple choice and 75 marks of written questions.
9 to 1
AQA Combined Science: Trilogy (8464)
Six papers: two biology, two chemistry and two physics. Each is 1 hour 15 minutes and 70 marks.
A 17-point scale from 1–1 to 9–9
Foundation tier
Grades 1 to 5 in separate Chemistry, or 1–1 to 5–5 in AQA Combined Science: Trilogy.
Higher tier
Grades 4 to 9 in separate Chemistry, or 4–4 to 9–9 in Trilogy. In separate Chemistry, AQA, Edexcel and OCR allow a grade 3 for a Higher candidate who just misses grade 4.
One tier for both papers
Pearson: “Students must complete all assessments in the same tier.” OCR candidates sit either Papers 1 and 2 or Papers 3 and 4.
All at the end
AQA: “students must complete all assessments at the end of the course and in the same series”.
Students carry out a set of practicals in school, and the written papers then ask about them: the method, the apparatus, the variables and what the results show.
AQA
Eight required practical activities. Questions drawing on them “will count for at least 15% of the overall marks for the qualification”.
Pearson Edexcel
“Students must carry out all eight of the mandatory core practicals” listed in the specification.
OCR Gateway
At least eight practical activities, organised into Practical Activity Groups. The specification refers to “the 15% of questions in the written examinations that will assess practical skills”.
Unfamiliar settings
AQA says many questions focus on “how well students can apply what they know to practical situations often in novel contexts”.
The two IGCSE Chemistry qualifications below are built differently from GCSE and from each other.
IGCSE Chemistry papers by exam board
Qualification
Papers
Tiers and grades
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry (4CH1)
Paper 1: 2 hours, 110 marks, 61.1%. Paper 2: 1 hour 15 minutes, 70 marks, 38.9%. Paper 2 assesses all the content, including the statements printed in bold, which Paper 1 does not assess. A calculator may be used in both.
Untiered. Graded 9 to 1.
Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry (0620)
A multiple-choice paper (45 minutes, 40 marks, 30%), a theory paper (1 hour 15 minutes, 80 marks, 50%), and either Paper 5 Practical Test (1 hour 15 minutes) or Paper 6 Alternative to Practical (1 hour), each 40 marks and worth 20%. Core candidates take Papers 1 and 3; Extended candidates take Papers 2 and 4.
Graded A* to G. Core candidates are eligible for grades C to G; Extended candidates for A* to G.
Two things worth checking with the school. For Cambridge, ask whether your child is entered for Core or Extended, because that sets both the papers and the highest grade available. Cambridge also publishes a separately coded 9–1 version, Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Chemistry (0971). The Cambridge details here are from the syllabus for exams in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
Archie tutors Maths and Physics at GCSE and IGCSE as well as Chemistry, at the same price. He does not tutor Biology. For a student on Combined Science, that means the chemistry and physics papers can be covered here, and the biology papers would need a different tutor.
Where GCSE Chemistry is demanding
These are observations about how the specifications and papers are built, not statistics about any group of students.
Moles on the Higher tier. In the AQA specification, moles, amounts of substances in equations, using moles to balance equations and limiting reactants are all marked “HT only”. A Higher-tier student meets a block of calculation work that a Foundation-tier student does not.
Balancing equations. AQA expects reactions to be shown as “symbol equations which are balanced in terms of the numbers of atoms of each element involved on both sides of the equation”. That depends on getting the formulae right first, and it is needed throughout the course, not only in one topic.
Required-practical questions. These ask about method, variables, sources of error and what a graph shows. They cannot be revised from definitions alone.
Six-mark extended answers. OCR puts “an extended six-mark Level of Response question” in each paper. AQA lists open response among its question types, and Edexcel lists “extended open-response questions”. Explaining in ordered, full sentences is a different skill from calculating.
Paper 2 leans on Paper 1. AQA says Paper 2 questions “may draw on fundamental concepts and principles from sections 4.1 to 4.3”, which are atomic structure, bonding and quantitative chemistry. OCR’s second paper is set “with assumed knowledge of topics C1–C3”.
A short note after each lesson, saying what was covered and what to practise next.
One tutor, every time. Archie is the only tutor, and he is Enhanced DBS checked.
Booking by a parent or by the student, one lesson at a time or as a 5-pack.
No promises about grades. No tutor can guarantee a result.
Who would be teaching
Lessons are with Archie Dyer, the founder of Cognivia Tutoring and its only tutor. He is a second-year Theoretical Physics student at UCL (University College London), after a First in his first year.
43 out of 45 in the IB, with 7s in HL Maths, Physics and Economics.
10 A*s at IGCSE.
Tutoring for over two years, in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Economics.
Enhanced DBS checked, and based in Marylebone, London.
What Archie did and did not take. He sat IGCSEs, not GCSEs, and then the IB Diploma, not A-Levels. His IB Higher Level subjects were Maths, Physics and Economics, not Chemistry, and his degree is in Theoretical Physics. He tutors the GCSE and IGCSE Chemistry specifications, and lessons follow your child’s own board, tier and specification, whether that is separate Chemistry, Combined Science or an IGCSE.
How he teaches. In Archie’s words: “I find where the understanding actually breaks down, which is usually two or three topics further back than where the marks were lost, and we rebuild from there. I keep lessons relaxed. I would far rather a student asked me something they think is obvious than sat quietly and nodded.” The free 30-minute trial is the way to judge that for yourself: bring a topic you find difficult. There is more on the About Archie page.
Prices and practical details
GCSE and IGCSE Chemistry lesson prices at Cognivia Tutoring
What
Online
In person
One 1-hour 1:1 lesson
£40
£50
5-pack — five 1-hour lessons, £15 off
£185
£235
30-minute trial lesson
Free
Online only
GCSE and IGCSE Chemistry, Maths and Physics are the same price. A 5-pack is held in a My lessons account and booked one lesson at a time.
1 hour, 1:1. Every lesson is with Archie. There are no group classes.
Online on Google Meet, or in person around Marylebone, London (+£10). The Meet link is in your confirmation email and times are shown in your own time zone.
Free 30-minute online trial, no card needed.
24 hours’ notice to cancel, by email or phone. See the refund policy.
Payment by Stripe at booking. Card, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
At Cognivia Tutoring, GCSE and IGCSE Chemistry lessons cost £40 an hour online, or £50 an hour in person around Marylebone, London. Maths and Physics are the same price. A 5-pack of five 1-hour lessons saves £15, at £185 online or £235 in person, and the first 30-minute online trial is free.
Lessons follow your child’s own board, tier and specification. This page sets out the papers for AQA (8462), Pearson Edexcel (1CH0), OCR Gateway (J248), Pearson Edexcel International GCSE (4CH1) and Cambridge IGCSE (0620), and the chemistry papers of AQA Combined Science: Trilogy (8464). Tell Archie which one at the trial.
Yes. Online lessons run on Google Meet, with the link in the booking confirmation email. The booking calendar shows times in your own time zone, and students join from the UK and across Europe. In-person lessons are around Marylebone, London.
Chemistry and Physics, yes. Biology, no. Archie tutors Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Economics, so a student taking Combined Science can cover the chemistry and physics papers here and would need a different tutor for the biology papers.
Neither is officially the harder one. Pearson describes its International GCSE in Chemistry as “of equivalent standard to Pearson’s regulated GCSE in Chemistry”. The structure differs: GCSE Chemistry is tiered, Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry is untiered, and Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry includes a practical test or an alternative-to-practical paper.
Foundation tier awards grades 1 to 5 and Higher tier awards grades 4 to 9. In AQA Combined Science: Trilogy the equivalent ranges are 1–1 to 5–5 and 4–4 to 9–9. The school decides the tier of entry, so the person to ask is your child’s science teacher. Lessons follow whichever tier the school has chosen.
In the written papers. AQA sets eight required practical activities for GCSE Chemistry and says questions drawing on them count for at least 15% of the overall marks. Edexcel sets eight mandatory core practicals, and OCR Gateway requires at least eight practical activities.
Book the free 30-minute online trial and bring a topic you find difficult. You will see how Archie explains it and whether his teaching suits you before paying anything, and no card is needed. After every paid lesson, parents receive a short note on what was covered and what to practise next, so progress stays visible.
Where to go next
The free 30-minute online trial is the simplest first step. Nothing is charged and no card is needed.
