One-to-one online IB Physics · Higher Level · current syllabus, first examined 2025

IB Physics HL Tutor Online — the Full AHL Course, with a Documented HL Teaching Record

Renzo Diaz is an IB Physics HL tutor based in Italy, with an M.Sc. in Energy Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, teaching IB since April 2016 and one-to-one online since 2020. His dated record includes his recruitment for IB Physics HL in Milan in March 2018, and a public Google review of 8 July 2026 describes several years of IB Physics HL support. The work covers the full AHL content, Papers 1A, 1B and 2, and the scientific investigation of the current syllabus (first assessment 2025). Lessons are in English or Spanish.

At HL, the problem is almost never that your child has not read the chapter. It is a broken step in the reasoning — a sign convention in fields, a sloppy assumption about energy transfer in induction, a diagram never drawn. Re-performing the syllabus at a lower speed does not find that step. Finding it is a different job, and it is the actual job.

HL is a long game. The students who finish with a 7 are usually the ones who stopped surviving week to week somewhere in DP1 and rebuilt the course on understanding rather than memorised procedures. That is the work I do: diagnosis first, then a fixed weekly rhythm, every session recorded and archived, for students who intend to take physics, engineering, or mathematics further. If your child is pairing Physics HL with Maths AA HL, the two are often repaired together — the maths HL physics assumes is frequently where a physics plateau actually lives.

Request a strategy callExplore the documented results

Documented HL teaching record

Documented IB Physics HL teaching: HL in Milan since March 2018, and years of HL support in a public review (July 2026)

Record 01Dated record

2018

IB Physics HL in Milan

Recruited by Pi Greco Milano Tutoring for IB Physics HL in March 2018, with the first Milan IB student the same month. The correspondence is held on file.

The dated record
Record 02Public review

IGCSE → HL

IB Physics HL — several years

A public Google review of 8 July 2026 describes support from IGCSE Mathematics through IB Physics HL, aimed at the root of the confusion. It states no final grade.

The review in the results record

Sources: the review of 8 July 2026 on Google; the March 2018 correspondence, held on file and dated on the About page.

All documented IB results

Why IB Physics HL grades stall: five situations I work on

The high-achiever gap: ahead at IGCSE or MYP, suddenly behind at HL

The student who coasted through IGCSE Physics or MYP Sciences meets HL pace in the first term of DP1 and quietly switches from confidence to survival mode. Homework gets done, nothing gets understood, and the gap compounds because every HL topic assumes the previous one is solid. The fix is not more hours. It is a precise audit of which foundations — usually vectors, proportional reasoning, or energy bookkeeping — were never actually built, then rebuilding them while keeping pace with the class.

Fields and potentials: where formula memorisation stops working

Theme D is the most abstract region of the course, and it is where memorising equations stops working. Gravitational and electric fields, potential, potential energy, the inverse-square relationships, the link between field strength and potential gradient: students who got this far on pattern-matching find there is no pattern to match. We rebuild this material from the definitions up, on a shared whiteboard, until the student can derive rather than recall — because Paper 2 will ask for derivation, not recall.

Unfamiliar-context questions: electromagnetic induction and quantum, mainly

Electromagnetic induction and the quantum content of Theme E are conceptually counterintuitive, and examiners know it. These are the topics most often dressed in unfamiliar contexts: a novel generator arrangement, a photoelectric setup the student has never seen. Students who "understood the lesson" freeze because their understanding was tied to one diagram. The remedy is practising the transfer — same physics, deliberately strange wrapping — with full written reasoning, until the unfamiliar stops being frightening.

Paper 2 extended response: the multi-mark question that collapses on line two

IB Physics HL Paper 2 is where grades are decided. The longer structured questions carry several marks each, and one early wrong assumption — a misidentified system, a wrong sign, an unjustified conservation claim — can undermine everything built on it. Error-carried-forward rules rescue some of those marks when the later working is sound and visible, but not when the physics itself is wrong. We work these questions line by line, from archived wrong answers, training the habit of checking each step against the physics before building on it. Method marks reward visible reasoning, so we make the reasoning visible.

The 6-versus-7 stakes: aiming at physics or engineering, where it changes your options

For a student applying to physics, engineering, or natural sciences, the HL grade is not decorative. Competitive offers are made and missed on the difference between a 6 and a 7, and the final stretch is the hardest: the marks live in the hardest Paper 2 parts, in data-based Paper 1B questions, and in the scientific investigation, which is marked on exactly the same four criteria as at SL — HL students get no separate standard, only less time to meet it. This is the situation where one-to-one diagnosis earns its keep, because generic revision cannot target a two-mark gap.

Coverage — the full HL course, first assessment 2025

IB Physics HL syllabus coverage: the full course, including every AHL topic

I teach the current IB Physics syllabus (first exams May 2025), which you can verify against the IB's official subject page. HL students study the complete core plus the additional higher level material across all five themes, and we work through all of it — in the order the student's school teaches it, with extra depth wherever diagnosis finds weakness. Assessment is Paper 1 (1A multiple choice plus 1B data-based questions), Paper 2 (structured and extended response, including AHL content), and the scientific investigation worth 20%. There are no longer any options papers.

  • Theme A: Space, time and motion — kinematics, forces, momentum, energy, plus two HL-only topics: rigid-body mechanics (torque, moment of inertia, angular momentum) and Galilean and special relativity
  • Theme B: The particulate nature of matter — thermal energy transfers, the greenhouse effect, the gas laws and circuits, plus HL-only thermodynamics: the first law, entropy and cycles
  • Theme C: Wave behaviour — simple harmonic motion, wave phenomena including interference and diffraction, standing waves and resonance, and the Doppler effect, with HL extensions: phase and quantitative energy in SHM, single-slit diffraction and diffraction gratings, and the Doppler equations for sound
  • Theme D: Fields — gravitational, electric and magnetic fields with their HL extensions into potential, equipotentials, escape speed and orbital speed, motion in electromagnetic fields, and HL-only electromagnetic induction (Faraday's and Lenz's laws), a section where HL marks leak quietly
  • Theme E: Nuclear and quantum physics — the structure of the atom and radioactive decay with their HL extensions (the Bohr model, nuclear radius, the decay constant), fission, fusion and stars, plus HL-only quantum physics: the photoelectric effect, matter waves and Compton scattering
  • IB Physics HL Paper 2 technique — extended-response structure, derivation practice, mark-scheme literacy, and timing under exam conditions
  • Paper 1B data-based questions — interpreting unfamiliar experimental data, uncertainty analysis, and critique of method
  • IB Physics HL IA help — choosing a feasible research question, designing the experiment, and reaching genuine analysis depth, within the IB's academic honesty rules

What's actually examined

IB Physics HL exam structure: two papers and one investigation

The current IB Physics course was first examined in May 2025. HL sits the SL structure for longer, with more questions and the HL-only content; there is no Paper 3 or options paper, and a calculator and a clean copy of the physics data booklet are required in every written paper.

IB Physics HL exam papers and the scientific investigation: duration, marks, weight and what each tests
PaperDurationMarksWeightWhat it tests
Paper 1 — HL2 hours for 1A and 1B together60 marks (40 multiple-choice + 20 data-based)36%Paper 1A is multiple choice across the syllabus, including the HL content; Paper 1B is built on experimental data.
Paper 2 — HL2 hours 30 minutes90 marks44%Short-answer and extended-response questions across the full HL syllabus.
Scientific investigation10 hours of class time24 marks20%An open-ended investigation of the student's own research question, reported in at most 3,000 words and marked on four criteria: research design, data analysis, conclusion and evaluation.

Online lessons

How online IB Physics HL lessons work: diagnosis first, then a weekly rhythm

Every engagement starts by finding the exact step where the reasoning broke — not the topic, the step. From there we settle into a fixed weekly session that opens with last week's wrong answers, because an error revisited is worth more than a new chapter skimmed. Sessions run on Zoom with a shared Excalidraw whiteboard, and every session is recorded, summarised and archived into a searchable library, so a step we have fixed can be revisited before the exam. I am based in Milan and teach online, one-to-one, with students worldwide.

  • Fields, induction and thermodynamics, drawn live by an engineer

    The AHL topics where memorised formulas stop working — fields and potentials, electromagnetic induction, thermodynamics — are core subjects of an energy-engineering degree. On the shared whiteboard we draw the field, the flux or the energy transfer first, then build the equations from it.

  • Return to the part you need to practise

    The archive connects each session summary to the recording, so a student can go back to the relevant explanation between lessons.

Session archive

Screenshot of a session summary for an IB Physics HL past-paper revision session: the concepts covered (inclined plane, projectile motion, terminal velocity, black body radiation) as timestamped links into the recording, and a formula card for Stefan–Boltzmann luminosity.
Example from an IB Physics HL session archive: an AI-generated summary with timestamped links into the recording.

Online teaching publicly described in July 2020

A Google review from an IB student, dated , describes my use of a touch tablet and screen-shared online lessons: a dated public reference for the online setup already in place at that time, also mirrored on Trustindex.

Documented · public reviews since 2020

IB Physics HL in public Google reviews: from IGCSE to HL, and two years to university

Two public reviews describe Physics support sustained over years. Each card says what its review states, and what it does not. Each review is dated by Google and verifiable on Google, on the Business Profile.

IB Student · Physics HL ·

From IGCSE Mathematics to IB Physics HL

Several years of support, first in IGCSE Mathematics and then in IB Physics HL. The review describes work aimed at the root of the confusion, new ways of explaining complex concepts, and encouragement after tests; it states no final IB grade. Read the review on Google.

IB Student · Physics & Mathematics ·

Two years of IB Physics and Mathematics, then applied physics

Physics and Mathematics through the two-year Diploma, with the diploma and results received and lessons set to continue during an applied physics degree. The review does not state the course levels or the final grades.

Questions

IB Physics HL tutoring online: questions parents ask

How much does IB Physics HL tutoring cost?

IB programmes start at €400 a month. That price is for booking directly with me; tutoring platforms that list me add their own commission. The exact fee is set out before you commit to anything, once I understand the student's level, timeline, and what the work will actually involve. The strategy call is free, and the first month is four one-hour sessions with no minimum term after it.

Do you cover the current HL syllabus with first exams in 2025?

Yes. I teach the current syllabus only: Paper 1 split into 1A multiple choice and 1B data-based questions, Paper 2 structured and extended response including the AHL material, and the scientific investigation. The old options topics and Paper 3 are gone, and I do not teach to them.

Can you help with the IB Physics HL IA?

Yes — IA help is a regular part of the HL work. I help students choose a research question that is actually feasible (15 IB Physics IA ideas has starting points by theme), design a sound experiment, and push the analysis to the top of the criteria, including a proper treatment of uncertainties. The investigation is marked on the same four criteria at SL and HL — research design, data analysis, conclusion and evaluation, 6 marks each — and the IB suggests about 10 hours of class time for it at both levels. The investigation must be the student’s own work, so I work on method and reasoning rather than producing content, in line with IB academic honesty rules. For the actual weighting, mark scheme and word limit — and what the IB really says about how much data is enough — see the IB Physics IA guide.

My child takes Physics HL with Maths AA HL — can you cover both?

Yes. At HL a physics plateau is often a maths gap in disguise — calculus fluency, vectors, handling of proportional relationships. Where that is the case, sessions split time deliberately between the two subjects, so the physics grade stops paying for a mathematics weakness. I teach all four IB Mathematics courses, AA HL included. Engineering degrees usually ask for both at Higher Level; the requirements, university by university, are in IB requirements for engineering.

We're mid-DP2 and behind — what is realistic?

It depends on what the diagnosis finds, and the strategy call is where we assess it. Written-paper technique moves fastest: Paper 2 structure and Paper 1B data handling respond well to focused work even in a few months. The documented Physics case ran two years, from DP1 to the May exams; a mid-DP2 start narrows the work to the highest-yield gaps and exam technique.

How long have you been teaching IB Physics HL online?

My teaching practice has been online since 2020; a Google review dated 12 July 2020 already describes teaching with a touch tablet and screen-shared online lessons. IB Physics HL goes back further: the dated record on my About page includes my recruitment for IB Physics HL in Milan in March 2018, and a public review of 8 July 2026 describes several years of IB Physics HL support.

Can my child take online IB Physics HL lessons from another country?

Yes, subject to a suitable recurring slot. I’m based in Italy and teach online in English or Spanish. When you request a strategy call, share the student’s country, time zone, school timetable and exam session, so we can confirm the schedule works before starting.

How do we start?

Request a strategy call through the site. If the time and terms fit, you choose a slot straight away. The call is free — 15 minutes with a parent, then 30 with the student on a topic they choose, and you see how I work before anyone commits. If there is a fit, the first month is four one-hour sessions, with no minimum term after it. There is no obligation at any point before that decision.

Related pages

Free IB Physics HL strategy call: find the next step in your child’s preparation

If your child is serious about Physics HL — whether the target is survival, a 6, or the 7 that keeps a physics or engineering offer open — the next step is a conversation, not a commitment. Request a strategy call, and we will find out together whether this is the right fit. An IB Physics HL tutor who starts with diagnosis will tell you more in one session than a term of re-explained textbook ever will.