Steve Newcombe | Online Physics Tutor

Having taught Physics for nearly 20 years as Head of Physics, Head of Science and Assistant Principal, I now tutor full-time online. I can help you to understand and enjoy physics, and then reach the success you are looking for in exams. I have successfully taught students of all abilities, from the very best to those who find physics challenging, perhaps even overwhelming. I have taught all exam boards including international qualifications.

I left school teaching behind in December 2018, although I continued to teach my A level class until July 2019. I taught this class to reach the best physics results that my school had ever seen – far exceeding expectation where two students reached A*. Furthermore, four of my tutored students reached A* in A level physics and a total of six students achieved grade 9 at GCSE. School exams were cancelled in 2020 though many of my tutored students had already made impressive progress and nine of them achieved a grade A* in their mock exams, a result that they will carry forward as their awarded grade. ​

I really enjoy supporting students to achieve more than they thought possible. If you take a look at my testimonials you'll hear first hand from some of the students I've tutored and some parents too. I make sure I keep fully up-to-date with developments in course curriculum and I have developed a vast collection of resources to support you in reaching your very best. ​

Contact me today. Let's have a discussion about how I can support you in reaching your goals in you physics course. We could start tutorials this week!

The old saying goes that you learn from your mistakes. But I didn't learn to drive by crashing cars. Whilst I got to know the clutch and manoeuvring, a very experienced and knowledgeable instructor corrected me with instant feedback, so that I developed the skills to do things the right way, rather than merely repeating my mistakes. And the better I became, the more I enjoyed it.

I can steer you through your physics course, making sure that you progress with the understanding you need. You'll grasp the concepts, enjoy the progress and reach your very best in exams. Online tutoring provides a powerful learning experience as I have access to all the resources that I need to share (diagrams, past questions etc.) and I always provide follow up consolidation work. During the tutorial we'll pack in explanations and examples so that you grasp the concepts firmly and then move on to expressing the new learning effectively in past exam questions with guided support. I'm happy to steer us through the learning needed for your course, or for you to identify the areas you'd like to focus on then I can take a lead. Perhaps it works well to keep pace with the learning at school or maybe there are areas which you haven't grasped well that need reviewing.

Together we'll rapidly work through the material to identify the parts which need work then we'll focus on these to ensure that they are mastered. You'll gain a thorough understanding, and cover lots of practice questions to ensure that you are ready to achieve your very best when it comes to exams day. ​ In order to improve your exam performance I work through the aspects of the course material with which you are struggling, as well as focusing on exam technique in a way that builds confidence as ability grows. There isn't a wasted moment in my tutorials, but that doesn't mean they aren't fun and inspirational. Getting you engaged in the tutorial ensures that you will be challenged at the right level, you'll enjoy the learning and you'll enjoy the progress and reach your very best in exams.

Online tutoring provides a powerful learning experience as I have access to all the resources that I need to share (diagrams, past questions etc.) and I always provide follow up consolidation work. During the tutorial we'll pack in explanations and examples so that you grasp the concepts firmly and then move on to expressing the new learning effectively in past exam questions with guided support. I'm happy to steer us through the learning needed for your course, or for you to identify the areas you'd like to focus on then I can take a lead. Perhaps it works well to keep pace with the learning at school or maybe there are areas which you haven't grasped well that need reviewing. Together we'll rapidly work through the material to identify the parts which need work then we'll focus on these to ensure that they are mastered. You'll gain a thorough understanding, and cover lots of practice questions to ensure that you are ready to achieve your very best when it comes to exams day.

​In order to improve your exam performance I work through the aspects of the course material with which you are struggling, as well as focusing on exam technique in a way that builds confidence as ability grows. There isn't a wasted moment in my tutorials, but that doesn't mean they aren't fun and inspirational. Getting you engaged in the tutorial ensures that you will be challenged at the right level, you'll enjoy the learning and you'll achieve the success that your hard work deserves.

Everybody knows that you have to work hard to succeed. But working hard without understanding is desperately frustrating and time wasting. Through my tutoring you'll gain a clear understanding of the subject material and then begin to enjoy building further understanding and with it, confidence. I always set 'homework' tasks to consolidate the learning and it’s great to see students come back to the next tutorial, able to confidently answer questions that had previously confused them and enthusiastically expressing their understanding. When students can see their hard work paying off (because they actually understand properly) then the motivation to put in the practice flows.

Tutoring online provides a thoroughly engaging tutorial and together we'll generate a set of shared notes that the you can refer to at any time. The online tutorials always start bang on time as there is no travelling for either the student or myself. If you find yourself struggling with the consolidation work between tutorials then just get in touch and we'll iron out any difficulty quickly. It's great the way a quick 5 minute call can get the student back on the right lines and save wasting time and getting frustrated. ​

Often my students have been recommended by their friends who I've tutored. Sometimes students are reaching for top grades so look for support to reach this goal. Other times, students have found me when their results were in need of rescuing and together we’ve worked hard, gained understanding and reclaimed confidence. This has led to great progress with positive experience in tackling exam questions and has ultimately resulted in consistently strong results. You can find out more from the students themselves in the testimonials section. I always find myself eagerly looking forward to results day and I hope that you will be too.

Students (okay, so it’s mostly parents) are sometimes a little apprehensive about online tutorials, wondering how it can be as effective as meeting face to face.  Yet everyone that I’ve tutored agrees that it’s actually better!  For a start there’s no waiting around since there’s no travelling involved, I will send you a link to my Wiztut whiteboard and once you are also logged in, I will call you and then lesson begins. You would not need to download any other programs or applications. Wiztut whiteboard is a web based tool and it is so easy to use. Please make sure to open the link in Google Chrome and also to Allow usage of your media if asked by the Wiztut whiteboard.

I can drop in resources such as past paper questions, explanations, diagrams, animations etc. so that we'll share them to build understanding. You'll have access to our online class via the Wiztut whiteboard. You can also save the lesson at the end into a PDF file which will be your notes to keep and refer back outside of tutorial time.  Writing with a mouse or touch pad can be awkward so if you're in the UK I’ll provide you with a (free) drawing tablet which is fun and easy to use. 

We'll set it all up together then, with these simple tools, we can get quickly stuck into quality, interactive tutorials without any of the hassle.  Another huge advantage is that, if you’re struggling with the work set, then I’m happy to jump online and spend a quick five minutes pointing you in the right direction as I don’t you wasting time getting frustrated between tutorials!