Imperial Biology Tutors
Your specialist biology tutor!
+65 92352317 (Singapore)
Profile
Shaun Cheng
Full-time Specialist Biology tutor
- I am a Singaporean full-time professional biology tutor currently based in Singapore and have been teaching biology to A level, IB, GSCE and O levels students since 2007. I graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc (Hons) in Biology and also have an MSc (Environmental Management) from the National University of Singapore.
- In addition, I was also previously a full-time lecturer in biological and environmental sciences at Republic Polytechnic, Singapore. I have also had successful teaching stints in the UK (North London Collegiate School, London and The Astley Cooper School, Hertfordshire) and Australia (Mandurah Catholic College, Western Australia). Hence I am well-acquainted in teaching students of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and academic abilities. My skills are also supplemented by my strong content knowledge, patience, and receptiveness to teaching students be they from top schools or re-attempting examinations as private candidates.
- I am able to succinctly explain topics which students typically find challenging such as DNA replication, transcription and translation, independent assortment of alleles, linked genes, regulation of gene expression, oxidative phosphorylation, Calvin cycle, somatic recombination and hypermutation etc. In addition, I have extensive experience in assisting students in the coursework such as lab reports, tutorials and the all-important examinations such as A levels, IB, GCSE and O levels.
- I teach only biology and have every confidence in making learning as painless as possible for students!
Biology Tuition
International Baccalaureate
Worldwide
- Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL) Biology for IB students
- Papers 1, 2 and 3 for HL and Papers 1 & 2 for SL.
Typical lesson plan
- The lesson plan can be very flexible and I can cater to whatever academic requirements a student finds most urgent, which can include any of combination of the following:
- Reviewing syllabus content – I can run through topics that a student has difficulty understanding or is just seeking to revise. We can use his/her own notes or textbook(s), or alternatively I typically use the study guide “Biology for the IB Diploma” (published by Oxford) by Andrew Allott.
- Internal Assessment + Extended Essay – The key to doing well for a biology IA or EE is to get the experiment design correct from the start! The student is free to seek guidance on any or all section(s) such as Introduction, Materials, Methods, Raw Data, Processed Data, Conclusion and Evaluation. Where the student has designed an experiment wrongly or gathered wrong or insufficient data, I can still help by “salvaging” any remaining data to produce a decent report. For instance, one previous student performed an experiment on yeast respiration using lactose only and was wondering why no carbon dioxide was produced at all lactose concentrations – he hadn’t realized that yeast is unable to utilize lactose as a respiratory substrate!!
- Exam technique – Question practice is essential for any student who aspires to score a 7 in IB Biology. I have my own range of up-to-date past year questions categorized by topic and year which can be shared with the student. Practice can be done for data-response type of questions, content-based (i.e. essay + short answer) and MCQs, depending on what the student prefers.
A’ Levels (UK)
United Kingdom
- I am able to tutor AS and A2 topics from all five examination boards in the UK – AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC
Typical lesson plan
- The lesson plan can be very flexible and I can cater to whatever academic requirements a student finds most urgent, which can include any of combination of the following:
- Reviewing syllabus content – I can run through topics that a student has difficulty understanding or is just seeking to revise. We can use his/her own notes or textbook(s), or alternatively I typically use the range of Biology study guides from the publisher CGP.
- Coursework – the student is free to seek guidance on any coursework due for submission such as lab reports or essays
- Exam technique – Question practice is essential for any student who aspires to ace the A’ levels. We can do question drilling by using the student’s own past year questions or alternatively, I have my own range of past questions categorized by topic and year which can be shared with the student
GCSEs (UK)
United Kingdom
- I am able to teach GCSE Biology offered by all five examination boards in the UK – AQA, CIE, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC
Typical lesson plan
- The lesson plan can be very flexible and I can cater to whatever academic requirements a student finds most urgent, which can include any of combination of the following:
- Reviewing syllabus content – I can run through topics that a student has difficulty understanding or is just seeking to revise. We can use his/her own notes or textbook(s), or alternatively I typically use the range of Biology study guides from the publisher CGP.
- Coursework – the student is free to seek guidance on any coursework due for submission such as lab reports or essays
- Exam technique – Question practice is essential for any student who aspires to ace the GCSEs. We can do question drilling by using the student’s own past year questions or alternatively, I have my own range of past questions categorized by topic and year which can be shared with the student
A’ Levels (SG)
Singapore
- I am able to teach the current syllabus 9744
- H1 and H2 Biology for Junior College (JC) students
- Papers 1 (MCQ), 2, 3 and 4
Typical lesson plan
- The lesson plan can be very flexible and I can cater to whatever academic requirements a student finds most urgent, which can include any of combination of the following:
- Reviewing syllabus content – JC lecturers have a habit of speeding through content in lectures, making understanding very challenging. I can run through topics that a student has difficulty understanding or is just seeking to revise. I can use his/her own JC notes, or alternatively I can share my own summarised notes gathered from various JCs.
- Tutorials – the student is free to seek guidance on any tutorials due for submission
- Exam technique – Question practice is essential for any student who aspires to score in the A’ levels. I have my own extensive set of up-to-date past JC papers categorized by topic and year which can be shared with the student
O’ Levels (SG)
Singapore
- Biology syllabus 6093
- Paper 1, 2 and 3 for O’ level Biology students
Typical lesson plan
- The lesson plan is very flexible and I can cater to whatever academic requirements a student finds most urgent, which can include any of combination of the following:
- Reviewing syllabus content – I can run through topics that a student has difficulty understanding or is just seeking to revise. We can either use the common secondary school Biology textbook by Lam Peng Kwan (“Biology Matters”, ISBN: 9789810117238, published by Marshall Cavendish) or the student’s own school notes.
- Tests and assignments – the student is free to seek guidance on any assignments due for submission
- Exam technique – Question practice is essential for any student who aspires to score an A1 in school tests, exams and ultimately the O’ levels. I have my own extensive set of up-to-date past prelim papers from a variety of secondary schools which can be shared with the student
Schools of my past & present students
United Kingdom Schools
- Chelsea Independent College
- Coopers’ Company and Coborn School
- Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School
- Kingsdale Foundation School
- La Swap Sixth Form
- North London Collegiate School
- St Albans High School for Girls
- St Marylebone Church of England School
- Sydenham and Forest Hill
- St. Helens School, London
- The Astley Cooper School
- Prendergast School
- Ursuline High School
United Arab Emirates Schools
- Jumeirah English Speaking School
Singapore Schools
Secondary schools
- Ang Mo Kio Sec School
- Bedok Green Sec School
- Bukit View Sec School
- Catholic High School
- CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School
- Hwa Chong Institution (Integrated Programme)
- Jurongville Sec School
- Maris Stella High School
- Methodist Girls’ School
- Raffles‘ Institution (Integrated Programme)
- Seng Kang Secondary School
- Temasek JC (Integrated Programme)
Zambia Schools
- American International School of Lusaka
Singapore Schools
Junior Colleges
- Anderson Serangoon JC
- Anglo-Chinese JC
- Catholic JC
- Yishun Innova JC
- Jurong JC
- Tampines Meridien JC
- Millenia Institute
- Nanyang JC
- National JC
- Raffles Institution (JC)
- Saint Andrew’s JC
- Temasek JC
- Victoria JC
Australia Schools
- Mandurah Catholic College (Western Australia)
Singapore Schools
International Schools
- Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)
- Anglo-Chinese School (International)
- Australian International School
- Canadian International School
- Dulwich College Singapore
- Global Indian International School
- Overseas Family School
- School for the Arts (SOTA)
- Singapore American School
- St. Joseph’s Institution International
- Tanglin Trust School
- United World College
Others
- Republic Polytechnic
- Ngee Ann Polytechnic
- NUS High School of Math and Science
- Singapore Sports School
- Home schools
- Private candidates
Testimonials
The BEST tutor I've ever had
Shaun is an extremely knowledgeable and inspirational tutor. Back then, I was in desperate need of a tutor who could lead a lost student back on track on his studies. Fortunately enough, Shaun was just that very person who helped me all the way, even outside of tuition hours where i could call him for help anytime. I would highly recommend him to anyone who is in need of last minute help or just need some extra help in Biology.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: From failing in all my school exams("Ungraded") and being ranked the last 10th percentile in my entire school to getting decent grades for my GCE A Levelsby Hugo Tan
Shaun Cheng - My Biology Tutor
Biology has always been a love-hate subject for me; with its demanding content and concise answering requirements. Under Shaun's tutelage for 3 years, he has been extremely meticulous in his explanations of content, as well as helpful in guiding my thought processes and answering techniques. With his advice and correction, I was able to tackle novel and difficult questions posed in the examinations. Shaun makes the subject of Biology fun to study with his clear explanations, and also never fails to clarify any of my questions. He goes out of his way to suggest different methods or means to memorise content-heavy topics, and I found it incredibly useful.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: For my O Levels, I achieved a distinction grade (A1) under the tutelage of Shaun. As i'm currently awaiting the results for my A levels, i'm confident that with Shaun's help I will do well.by Victoria Chow
Most effective and inspiring biology tutor
Shaun taught me H2 A level Biology from December 2014 to November 2015. Within a short period of 2 months, I improved significantly from a U to a B, which made me top of the class for biology and placed me at 83rd percentile of Raffles Institution (Junior College) (the best junior college in Singapore). It was a miraculous feat that never could have been achieved without Shaun's clear and concise method of teaching. He focused heavily on answering techniques, yet he never failed to make each lesson interesting with his thought-provoking discussions on the newest scientific discovery. Being highly resourceful, he also provided very comprehensive summaries and practice papers that helped to familiarise me with exam conditions and allowed me to sustain my top performance in Biology throughout the entire year. I fully recommend him for any student, be it a student keen on pursuing biology as a career choice or a student who is just struggling to keep up with the rigorous biology syllabus.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: Top in class for Biology for the entire year 2015, expecting an A for H2 A level Biologyby Grace Yeo
Reference
I learnt a lot over the course of 2 years, learning more about the subject matter and how I would apply it in the exams. Learning how to be exam smart is also another major take away. He always takes the extra mile to help out whenever he is free!
Subject: Biology
Outcome: From C6/D7 in Secondary 3 to a B3 in the O levels.by Elaine Tiong
A teacher you both want and need.
Shaun is an excellent tutor. My biology grades used to fluctuate a lot before until he begun tutoring me. He is a patient, caring and supportive tutor. He never gave up on me and pushed me to be the best I could be at biology. He makes hard concepts easy to understand through clear explanations and makes constant links between concepts to help you remember, relate and gave a more in depth understanding of the topics. It is also a great added bonus that he is a very friendly, committed and patient and would not mind repeating explanations if you did not get it the first time. If I needed to a biology tutor to get me through IB biology HL again, I would not hesitate to get him as my tutor again. Best teacher ever! Thanks for everything Shaun!
Subject: Biology
Outcome: An Unsteady 4-5 in Biology HL to a high 6 in the IB exams.by Ng Xinyao
The Most Encouraging and Friendliest Tutor You Will Ever Meet
For anyone looking for a Biology tutor, Shaun will be the best choice for you. He is an experienced Biology tutor, who has tutored me for my GCE A Levels. Initially, I didn't like Biology as much because I thought that the subject was boring and studying for something that I didn't like was too tedious for me. However, throughout the period, Shaun has heightened my interest for Biology and I found myself loving Biology more and more. Studying for that subject became more of a enjoyment rather than a burden to me.
Not only that, Shaun has also taught me many life-skills by sharing short stories and experiences that he went through in his life. This made me learn about many things, not just on Biology, but also about life as a whole. Overall, Shaun is an affable guy and his flexibility in teaching gives him the edge over other tutors. I would definitely recommend him to anyone who is in need of a Biology tutor!
Subject: Biology
Outcome: From failing in previous school examinations to passing and getting decent grades for preliminary exams nearing the GCE A levels examinations.by Sim Shuang
Tutor reference for Yen Shaun Cheng
Teacher Shaun is an exceptional biology teacher with a penchant for "diffusing"(haha) knowledge to his students. His fun and interactive teaching style serves to reinforce key concepts. Most importantly, he constantly links new concepts to existing ones so that the retention of said knowledge would be prolonged.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: He has firmed up my foundation in biology and taught me key concepts that allowed me to achieve an A1 in the 'O' Level Singapore examinations; where only 4 students in the whole school cohort achieved this top grade.by Marcus Tan
Excellent tutoring
Shaun taught me H2 biology for the Singapore A levels. During the lecture periods before exams, he'd go through chapters with me in advance to improve my knowledge of thst particular chapter. He helped me to clear my doubts in any topic which I was uncertain about, after the lectures.
During periods of revision before exams, I would do tutorials, past year papers s and other school prelim papers, which Shaun would tirelessly work to mark each and every paper. Then on the weekends, he would go through with me my mistakes and provide methods to prevent making the same mistakes again.
Shaun also allowed a very flexible schedule. This allowed me to finish more papers for him to grade, as well as give me more time to focus on other subjects when needed, or for covurricular activities.
Shaun pooled resources from all his students by sharing prelim papers,lecture notes and other cheat sheets from his various students, allowing all of us to benefit from each other's study materials. It came in both hardcopy and softcopy, and really helped me in improving my grades with all the insights from other schools, as well as the extra practice.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: Grades improved from C/D to expected A/Bby Clarence Chong
Mr Shaun - A Bio Beast
I have to say that Mr Shaun is an excellent tutor. He makes the lessons seem very lively and engaging for the student. It's very easy to understand what he says, as he is able to take complex information and help break it down into smaller pieces for the student to learn. This really helps with contextual information, creating a solid base for knowledge to later be supplemented - which is very essential for subjects such as biology. Additionally, there are a lot of usage of diagrams which again help condense the information we are required to know, into an easy-to-understand format which can be simply memorized. He also carries with him sample questions dating back to even 10 years before, and this helps lessons as students can employ their theoretical knowledge into questions and make sure they can answer it. As an IB student, Mr Shaun had a lot of questions to give, ranging from multiple choice to data analysis to essay questions, all provided with a mark scheme. This helped me learn how to answer the questions, taking into account things such as key words and presentation of the answer.
Subject: Biology
Outcome: With Mr Shaun, I was able to develop my own understanding of biology and score the equivalent of A's in all of my exams up till I graduated. I have greatly benefited from his help and would highly recommend him to any student needing help in biology.by Adarsh Balaji
IB Biology - Reference
Initially, IB Biology was a subject I found overwhelming because of the amount of content that had to be grasped. After Shaun Sir's tutoring, I not only found the subject easy to understand, but I also became immensely interested in it. He would skilfully condense information into the most relevant points that were required from an exam perspective. His guidance on exam technique and revision tips during the final stages of my preparation for my exam were invaluable, as it enabled me to understand the way in which questions should be answered. However, his teaching went well beyond the objective of doing well in exams; he would illustrate each of his points with real-life examples that allowed me to see the relevance of the material I was learning. His patience and commitment towards teaching is evident in the way he addresses the individual needs of each student and tries to build upon weak areas. I will always be grateful to him for making by IB Biology journey such a memorable one!
Subject: Biology
Outcome: I received a 7 in my final IB Biology exams and gained admission to medical school of my choice, Leicester University!
by Tanvi Ambulkar
Conduct of Lesson
- Minimum lesson duration: 1 hour for online classes via Zoom OR lesson at my home at Tanglin Road (Singapore). 1.5 hours for lesson at student’s home.
- There is no minimum number of lessons to be purchased. Book my time as and when needed.
- Students taking online classes should send me a softcopy of any materials via email or Whatsapp they would like to discuss. If not, I can share my own materials too.
- For all other students (Worldwide, Singapore or UK) lessons will be via Zoom.
- There will be no refunds for lessons paid, but postponements are possible based on mutual agreement.
Fees
Face-to-face Tuition at Student's Home (Singapore Only)
- GCSE / IB / A’Levels
- Face-to-face Tuition (At Student’s Home)
- Minimum 1.5 Hour Per Lesson
- Payment via PayNow, PayPal or Cash
Tutoring via Video Conferencing via Zoom (Worldwide)
- GCSE, IB, A’ levels
- Video Conferencing via Zoom or Face-to-face Lessons at My Home in Novena
- Minimum 1 Hour Per Lesson
- Payment via PayPal
