Maths & Sciences tutoring

If there is any chance your child will apply for engineering, medicine, science, IT, actuarial science or most commerce degrees, they need core Mathematics — Mathematical Literacy is not accepted for those programmes. Maths Lit is the right call only when the intended career path genuinely does not require maths. If the worry is a weak Grade 9 mark rather than the career plan, targeted tutoring in grades 9-10 to fix the algebra foundation is usually a better move than switching.

In the 2025 NSC results, announced in January 2026, the Mathematics pass rate was 64%, down from 69% the year before — and only around a third of matric candidates wrote Mathematics at all. The numbers reflect how demanding the subject is nationally, and why so many families bring in one-on-one support well before matric.

Requirements vary by university and programme, but as a guide, engineering and medicine typically ask for 70%+ (level 6-7) in both Mathematics and Physical Sciences, while BSc and many commerce degrees commonly ask for 60%+ in Mathematics. Always check the specific faculty's admission point score and subject requirements, since popular programmes select well above their published minimums.

This is the most common pattern we see. Grades 8-9 maths can be passed on procedure and memory, but from Grade 10 the syllabus assumes fluent algebra, and Grade 11 adds functions, trigonometry and geometry that build directly on it. A tutor's first job is diagnosing which earlier gaps are causing the collapse, closing them, and then catching up the current syllabus — marks usually recover once the foundation is repaired.

They are hard in different ways. Physical Sciences is calculation-heavy and depends strongly on your Mathematics ability, while Life Sciences involves a large volume of content and rewards precise terminology and well-structured written answers. Learners aiming at medicine or health sciences often take both, which is exactly where a structured tutoring plan across the two subjects helps most.

Yes — for these subjects it works particularly well. A shared digital whiteboard lets the tutor and learner work through problems step by step exactly as they would on paper, lessons can be more frequent because there is no travel, and everything the tutor writes can be saved for revision. The key ingredient is one-on-one attention on the learner's specific gaps, which is what a classroom cannot provide.

Earlier is better: gaps fixed in grades 8-10 pay off through every later year, and Grade 11 is the ideal time to consolidate before matric, since Grade 11 work is examined again in the NSC. Matric is not too late, though — a focused programme of past papers, exam technique and targeted gap-filling from the start of the year can still move a mark by a full symbol or more.