Science Tutor — Primary & Lower Secondary
The child understands photosynthesis. She still lost the mark. Teach the gap between knowing and writing it down.
Apply to tutor Science- S$35 – S$85 per hour
- Part-time contract
- In-person across Singapore or online
Primary and Lower Secondary Science in Singapore is graded less on what a child knows than on how they say it. A P6 student can explain the water cycle out loud, draw it, name every stage — and then write two clauses where the marker needed three, and walk away with one mark out of two. Eduprime is hiring Science tutors who can teach that difference: the cause, the process and the effect, in that order, in the child's own words. This is the general Science role covering the five MOE themes at primary and the Sec 1–2 bridge into Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Our separate Physics, Chemistry and Biology roles cover the upper secondary and JC disciplines.
The part of Science nobody else is teaching
- You get to fix the highest-leverage weakness in the subject — answering structure — instead of re-explaining content the school already covered adequately.
- Primary Science is the last time a student sees the whole of nature as one connected thing: Diversity, Cycles, Systems, Interactions, Energy. Teaching across all five is a genuinely different craft from teaching one discipline deeply.
- You catch students at the Sec 1 hinge, where 'science' splits into atoms and molecules, cells and diffusion, force and pressure — and where a shaky primary foundation quietly decides whether they end up in Pure or Combined Science.
- Inquiry teaching is welcome here. Bring a prediction, a test and a revised explanation to a lesson; you will not be asked to read a textbook aloud.
- S$35 – S$85 per hour in SGD, paid reliably. We bring the students to you, so your time goes into lesson prep instead of hunting for assignments.
The role
What a Science lesson with us actually contains
- Drill open-ended answering technique explicitly — identify what the question is asking for, then build the cause, the process and the effect as separate scoreable clauses rather than one compressed sentence.
- Attack the multiple-choice booklet as its own skill: stems that hide a condition in the second line, 'which of the following is NOT', options that are all true but only one of which answers the question asked.
- Teach across all five primary themes and the links between them, so a student can see that a food chain, a decomposer and energy transfer are one idea appearing in three questions.
- Run practical and inquiry work for the Lower Secondary track — variables, fair test design, drawing conclusions that the data actually supports, and laboratory safety habits schools assess.
- Build diagram and process-description skill for Sec 1–2 biology topics like cells, transport in plants and human body systems, where a labelled sketch earns marks a paragraph will not.
- Report honestly to the family on what changed and what has not, using the student's own marked scripts as evidence.
What we need to see from you
- Fluency across biology, chemistry and physics content at primary and lower secondary level — this role does not let you specialise in one discipline.
- Working knowledge of the current MOE primary Science themes and the structure of the PSLE paper's two booklets, plus how Lower Secondary opens into Pure and Combined Science tracks.
- The ability to read a child's marked answer and say precisely which mark was missed and why, rather than only whether it was right or wrong.
- Patience with 10-to-14-year-olds who can talk fluently about a concept and freeze when asked to write it in four lines.
- NIE-trained tutors and MOE ex-teachers are preferred and earn at the upper end of the range. Strong graduates with real primary or lower secondary teaching experience are welcome to apply.
Pay
Your rate
S$35 – S$85 per hour
Paid hourly in SGD, reliably. Where you sit in the band depends on your credentials, your track record with PSLE and lower secondary cohorts, the level you take on, and whether the assignment is one-to-one or small group. NIE-trained tutors and MOE ex-teachers sit at the upper end. Rates are agreed before the first lesson and are not adjusted after the fact.
How it works
From application to first lesson
- 01
Send us your application
Fill in the contact form on this site. Tell us which levels you are confident with — P3–P6, Sec 1–2, or both — and whether you have taught the open-ended booklet before. That is the whole first step; there is no other application channel.
- 02
We check who you are and what you have taught
Our team screens your background and verifies your subjects and teaching experience. For Science we ask specifically about your comfort across all three disciplines, because a tutor strong only in biology will struggle the moment a Sec 1 lesson turns to force and pressure.
- 03
We match you to students
You are matched with students by subject and by area, so a P5 Science assignment lands with a tutor who teaches P5 Science and can reach the home without a cross-island commute.
- 04
Agree the schedule and start teaching
You settle timing and format directly with the family and begin. Support stays available afterwards — for scheduling, for the awkward conversations, and for the parent who wants to know why their child's answer 'sounds correct' but scored one mark.
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
Questions Science tutors ask us
I am a Chemistry specialist. Can I take Primary Science assignments?
Only if you are genuinely comfortable across biology and physics content too. Primary Science moves from the digestive system to electrical circuits to plant reproduction inside a single revision paper, and a student notices immediately when a tutor is confident in one theme and hedging in another. If your strength is one discipline at upper secondary or JC, our separate Chemistry role is the better fit.
Do parents expect me to guarantee an AL1 or a specific PSLE grade?
Some ask. We do not make that promise and neither should you. What you can honestly offer is a diagnosis — which themes are weak, which marks are being lost to phrasing rather than knowledge — and a plan against it. We back tutors who set expectations honestly with families from the first lesson.
How much of the work is really answering technique versus content?
It varies by student, and diagnosing the split is your first job. A common P6 profile is roughly sound content with weak structure: the child knows that a dark surface absorbs more heat but writes only the observation, never the cause or the effect. That student needs writing drills, not more notes. Another child genuinely cannot separate evaporation from condensation and needs the concept rebuilt first.
Will I be asked to run experiments or practical work?
Inquiry is expected in some form at every level — a prediction, a test, a revised explanation, even with household materials. Formal practical skills matter for the Lower Secondary track, including fair-test design, variables and the safety habits schools assess. Home lessons stay within what is safe and sensible in a flat; you will not be asked to bring hazardous chemicals to a family's kitchen table.
Can I teach online, and does Science survive the format?
Yes to both, though it takes deliberate setup. Science online lives or dies on the shared writing surface, because the whole point is watching the student construct an answer clause by clause and interrupting at the right moment. Tutors who make it work use a tablet or document camera and mark scripts live rather than talking over slides. Assignments are available in-person across Singapore and online.
Are lessons one-to-one or group?
Both exist. One-to-one suits the answering-technique work, where you are reading one child's phrasing line by line. Small groups work well for inquiry and discussion, where students argue over a prediction and sharpen each other's explanations. Group assignments usually carry a higher hourly rate.
Teach the answer, not just the science
If you can look at a child's two-clause answer and see exactly which third clause is missing, we have families in Singapore waiting for you. Send us the form and we will take it from there.