3 minutes sheltered walk from Novena MRT
101 Thomson Road, #01-29/30/31/32 S(307591)
The Physics Cafe (Novena) The Physics Cafe (Novena) is located at level 1 of United Square Shopping Centre
Step 1: Enter United Square Level 1 and look out for Chocolate Origin.
Step 2: Walk to the back of Chocolate Origin and keep right and walk straight.
Step 3: Walk towards baby room and you will see us!
1 minute sheltered walk from Paya Lebar MRT
10 Eunos Road 8, Singapore Post Centre #01-207 Singapore 408600
The Physics Cafe (Paya Lebar) is located in the retail mall level 1 of Singapore Post Centre.
Step 1: Walk towards Enrichment Zone at Level 1.
Step 2: We are near FunToast, and we are right at the entrance of the Enrichment Zone.
2 bus stops from Bishan MRT
284, #01-201 Bishan Street 22, Singapore 570284
The Physics Cafe North is next to CHS, EJC, 2 bus stop from Bishan MRT.
Method 1: Exit Bishan MRT and take overhead bridge to take bus 13, 52, 88 and alight at the second bus stop.
Method 2: Exit Bishan MRT and walk towards Bishan North Shopping mall in 10-15 mins.
1 minute walk from Marymount MRT
The Physics Cafe (HQ) at Marymount is not open to the public.
1 minute sheltered walk from Clementi MRT
325 Clementi Ave 5, Singapore 120325
The Physics Cafe (Private) is only open for customised private group tuition.
We do not offer call in phone services or walk in enquiries. As we have many enquiries each day, all our conversation must be recorded in the form of whatsapp or email. This allows more efficient and effective communication. The next councillor on duty can also follow up on your message/communication. You may enquire further via whatsapp or email to [email protected].
We have also collated all the questions that you may have in our popular FAQ (Type in the keyword above). We believe in letting the lessons and results speak for itself. Therefore we would like to invite you to verify the quality of our teaching through Past Exam Performance and What Our Students Say.
Have you heard of our signature Physics . Maths . Cafe lessons? Are you interested to sign up for our lessons? Of course, you just want to be very sure before signing up. The Physics Cafe is launching its first ALA CARTE menu (Ad-hoc/Trial) for the first time in 10 years.
The structure behind The Physics Cafe is that you can learn from the best teacher but at an affordable price by sharing the cost with the classmates.
However, parents and students have shared that there are valid reasons why they prefer a private and exclusive 1-1 (Gold Class) session with our tutor ocassionally.
For the first time in 10 years,we are pleased to offer this option on weekdays in all 3 outlets.
[ FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR PRIVATE 1-1 LESSONS ]
You will be surprised that we do not collect a deposit. The student may withdraw at the end of each term if he feels that the lessons are not suitable for him/her. However, there will be a $100 non-refundable registration fee per subject per level. This will be applicable for students attending workshops too. This is the administrative charge and not for us to profit from it.
No, it is not necessary. However, it will be very fortunate to be able to choose your own tutor. We have to accept that the trend today is very different. Students who go for tuition are not weak academically or 'kiasu' in nature. Most students in Singapore attend tuition classes not only to pass exams, but to stretch time as learning will be more effective under a good teacher. While we do not think tuition is necessary, not having tuition is not something to boast about, we must accept that every individual has their own priorities in life and some just want to have the option to choose their teacher.
Many parents asked the same question when they observed that 7 out of 10 students in PMC classes are from IP schools. I do notice a shift in the parents and students’ mindset. In the past, most students tend to adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach. They seek extra help only when they are falling behind in school. This is very different from the students who opt for tuition now. Basically, all my students, regardless IP or non-IP are motivated. They adopt a proactive attitude in life that brings them to where they are today. They constantly seek to better themselves and this is the attitude that motivates them to attend tuition classes. I was not fortunate enough to have any tuition when I was a student. I worked very hard on my own, wrote my own notes, spent hours just to solve one challenging question. Thankfully, I managed to get a distinction without tuition. But with tuition, it would have been less time consuming and stressful for me. What took me 6 hours to learn on my own could have been completed in an hour under the guidance of a good tutor.
You will be surprised that not everyone is looking for the “best teacher”. There are some who look for proximity from home, convenience (home based tuition), class size, school fees affordability or good customer service. Everyone has different priorities. The tuition market is not a transparent market at all. You do not go around trying different tuition centres in Singapore. Supposedly, you like carrot cake, you can go to a different carrot cake stall every week and write a blog to rank all the carrot cake in Singapore. But you cannot do it with tuition centres! This is not a trial and error game. If you choose a wrong tutor, it will waste your time and may lead you to think that you are just “not good” in the subject. If I want to choose the best carrot cake stall in Singapore. I will go to the one with the longest queue. I will go to the one where the picky foodies will go to. This is because I think they will not make the wrong choice. But then when I do, I accept that I cannot complain when the queue is too long. Just like I will not complain if the class size of a popular tuition centre is big.
Firstly, a teacher well-known in his industry will not go over to your house to have a private lesson with you. Most, if not all will opt to offer help to more students at one time, without compromising on the quality of his lessons. The students will also be happy as quality lessons are made more cost effective as they get to share the cost with other students. There are so many tuition centres newly set up in the past 3 to 5 years. Many hope to be super tutors. Their class size will be small unless the tutor is exceptional and the tuition centre is established and reputable, Of course, they can use that as bragging rights that their class size is small and therefore can afford more attention per student. Are you thinking of dividing the effectiveness of a lesson by the number of students in the class? Are you thinking that if the class size is small (about 4 to 6 students), the student will have more opportunity to ask their own questions and the lessons will be customised to them? Assume that I have 50 students in my class and that I know “the best way” to teach. Further assume that I know what you are going to ask, even before you ask. I think class size does not matter. Even if it matters, it is because it gives you an indicative idea on how “amazing the lesson is”. In fact, the more students in the class, the more engaging the lessons are. In fact, the more students in the class, the more engaging the lessons are.
When our class size reaches a critical size, we will open new classes to reduce the average class size.
As we allow our student to make ad-hoc changes every week, we will not be able to commit to a class size.
Generally, the weekend classes are bigger than the weekday classes.
If you are very concerned about having a small class size, my personal advice is to look for a private tutor who can come to your house.
You should not be looking for a tuition centre with a small class size. We know there are reasons why some class sizes are small and some are big. Majority of the classes in tuition centres are small by default,
unless the tutor is exceptional and the tuition centre is established and reputable.
The quality of each lesson should not be determined by the number of students. A good teacher should know what are questions the students will ask and also what they should ask but did not.
Our physics and maths tuition classes are sold out every year! Last year, we had a record breaking of 1000 secondary and JC students attending our Physics and Maths classes. So many that we have to expand and leave our premises in Bishan and Marymoun and Toa Payoh. We decided that we have the resources to expand and open 3 outlets just next to Beauty World, Novena and Paya Lebar MRT. The centers have their own lecture theaters, in-house cafe, exclusive study rooms and digital library. And most importantly, we have the best teachers in Singapore!
Our Principal tutor is the popular physics super tutor in Singapore, Mr. Dave Sim, who had taught in RI(JC) for 6 years. We started specializing in JC Physics with about 200 Physics students, mostly from Raffles Junior College, Hwa Chong Junior College and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. 3 years later in 2013, we decided to offer both Physics and Maths tuition for both the JC and secondary students. Even though we have a small team of popular Maths and Physics tutors from well-known schools, we resisted opening classes earlier. The team invested one entire year preparing lesson materials and delivery before we were confident that we were ready.
My main objective of setting up the Physics Cafe is to share a strategy which I had developed from my experience both as a student and as an educator.
I will reveal the secret on how to solve questions the way they are set.
In addition, I will also share my strategy in adopting a logical approach to solving Physics questions.
I will consider myself successful if all my students score an A or a B in the final examination.
I am confident that this is attainable if each and every one of them believes in the harmonious relationship between tuition/school tutorials and independent learning.
The rule of thumb is:
"For every 1 hour lesson he attends, he should spend 1-hour at home for self-study."
I believe that this is reasonable since the teachers spend at least 6 hours to prepare for an hour of lecture.
Read our A level exam results and national average report (with evidence here)! Close to 8 out of 10 students scored A for the A level Physics and Maths paper each year, doubling the steady national average of 40 percent. This is even higher than the percentage A's of the top IP schools in Singapore! 9 out of 10 students scored a distinction in the Physics and Maths O-level exam. Refer to PMC Results Vs National Average
This will be difficult to answer, unless I can give a quantitative grade to the tutors, just like how we grade students in an exam. Let me give you another perspective. We pay our tutors very well, at least 3-4 times higher than any other tuition centre. Of course, the expectations of them are high. I told them that they must give $2 worth of excitement and knowledge every minute in their lesson. With such a high pay, I should be able to find good IP or JC tutors easily right? No. For the record, I have to interview 30 to 40 school teachers before hiring just 1 tutor.
Although I cannot reveal what happens in the class, I can tell you that I put aside time to watch the videos of all Physics and Maths lessons every week. Existing students will realize that there are video cameras at the front and back of the classroom, capturing both the tutors and the students. I look at how the teachers teach, and how the students react. I have a stopwatch beside me to keep watch of every minute to ensure that the pace of lessons are appropriate. My priority is for my tutors to present knowledge in the most interesting way in the shortest time possible. Our tutors have been trained to deliver lessons efficiently as aforementioned. I will even go to the extent of zooming into details such as the tone and the expression of the tutors during the presentation, so that the lessons will be more memorable. It is my job to ensure that the tutors will 'WOW' you every single lesson. -Mr Dave Sim
Many students complained that their teachers were lousy and that the lecture notes lacked details. Ironically, there were also others that complained about the notes being too comprehensive. There were many complaints about the exam papers being too difficult and others about it being too easy. Some students felt like they tried too hard to solve a simple question.
Regarding teachers, it is true that some are better than others. Regarding the notes, different students have different preferences as to what kind of notes they hope to receive. The solution to this is to customize and write your own notes.
There are two parts to my lesson – concepts explanation and problem-solving. I prefer to first go through the physics concepts and give numerical examples to support the concepts in a way that illustrates how to solve the problem. I will then further support the concepts with live demonstrations, because seeing is believing. I try to inspire you and at times I try to make you wonder and think. And I want to keep it this way.
The second part of my lesson is problem-solving. I think that concepts explanation and problem-solving are complementary. The difference between the two is that I will take 80% of the responsibility to ensure that you understand the concepts, but you must take 80% of the responsibility to master problem-solving. How do you do it? You must digest the extra questions that I will be giving you. It's very important that you make homework part of your culture, that you study the solutions. Believe me, they are truly excellent solutions, not cookie-cut and dry. If you digest those solutions, then the concepts will sink in.
The Physics and Maths Cafe is a one stop station. Our tutors have spent more than 10 years as students studying and scoring in exams,
another 10 as lecturers teaching and setting questions to differentiate the students. Having gone through the rigour of education in Singapore, we have learned how to play the game well.
You can leave it to us to prepare you for the paper. You will just have to enjoy the process.
What happens in the classroom is confidential and therefore we cannot reveal much. We will teach the students how to be smart, how to think smart,
how to show the examiner that they are smart. We make everything look simple in class, so students will have the confidence to answer questions even if they may seem tedious at first. Our intention is to make you feel smart in class and keep this feeling with you for the rest of your life. You will never believe something so difficult can be so simple.
There are two other ways to find out more.
First, read the students’ testimonials and you may be able to learn more. The testimonials in the website are genuine as they are linked to the Facebook account of the students.
Secondly, our fees are not cheap. But we have the largest intake of Physics and Math IP and JC students in Singapore. Our tuition center even has our own library, cafe, and shuttle bus.
As a student, I had always written my own personal notes. Since I first started my teaching career, I was pleasantly surprised by how my Physics notes from 10 years ago contributed to helping my students understand the key concepts in Physics.
Firstly, there is definitely a need to summarize the lecture notes (which make up at least 2-3 thick ring files). Have you ever encountered a situation when a few examinations fall on the same day? Though you may have completed your revision, you will still need another 2-3 hours to glance through the notes, to reassure yourself that you are able to recall all that you have learned. This empowers you to walk into the examination hall confidently. For a quick last minute glance, you need your own personal notes (a maximum of 3 pages per topic).
Secondly, I always feel it’s easier to read and remember my own handwriting, as opposed to the lecturers. (Yes! I know they are type-written).
Not all may agree with me on this, but I am a visual person. I do not like memorizing individual equations and definitions. Instead, I remember the visual image of every page of my notes - the whole A level syllabus summarised into 30 odd pages! Since then, all examinations have been ‘Open-Book’ to me. Imagine me flipping pages of my summarized notes in my head! Yes! That’s what I do.
Firstly, I have to convince you that if your notes are NOT organized, then the contents in your brain are most probably NOT organized as well! That’s logical. If I ask you to list out the 6 assumptions for Kinetic Theory of Gases, you may be able to randomly give me 4 or 5 of them. You will need a bit more time to give me the last remaining one. If you understand and remember all the 6 assumptions in order, you create a system. You will be able to list all of them in the exact sequence almost immediately.
I am aware that many of your teachers have already been advising you to write your own notes. Good advice is almost always ignored, but that is not going to stop me from giving it. Before you become cynical about this, let me assure you that the notes I am referring to are going to be constructed in a very unique way. We must first agree on a common objective. The notes we are going to prepare should be organized in a way to help you at a time when you need it most and that’s during the examinations!
It’s not that easy to score an A. Anyway if it’s too simple, you are not interested in doing it. Understanding is still the core business here. A IP or JC physics student who simply memorizes the system and follows step 1 to 5 will not improve significantly. Yes, he should be able to pass since he is simply recognizing the concept being tested in the question and then following a set of procedures to reach the final answer. But this will not help improve his cognitive and analytical ability. An ‘A’ grade student behaves differently. He looks at your system, understands the principle behind the system, tests the system on different questions, and fine-tunes the system to cover a wider scope of questions. He will first accept and then improve. How do you know when you are ready? When your own notes are more precious than any other notes or textbook, that’s when you know you are ready.
How do you know if you are improving? How do you know if you are on the right track? I will test you! With each physics or maths tuition class, you will have a 30 minutes short test after every 3 to 4 topics. You will soon realize that for all the hard work you and your teachers put in, you have only 30 minutes to perform. You will learn how to perform under stress, under exam conditions. Most importantly, I will make sure you improve. When I give my test review, I will highlight the concepts. You will discover your weakness and improve. Eventually, you will realize that every problem I have given you is extremely simple. Conceptually, they were not so simple. But from a math point of view, they are trivial. I may make it sound easy, but when you really attempt it, it’s going to be difficult. However, you are not alone. The initial phase is always difficult, but the path will get smoother gradually, sooner than you can realize.
The Maths lessons are only suitable for IP students and main-stream students who are taking A Maths. All A and E Maths content will be covered in the lessons but a larger proportion of time and tests will be on the A Maths syllabus. E Maths revision will be more intense during the critical period just before the exams.
The tuition fee of The Physics Cafe may not be in the comfortable range of everyone's' budget,
but it has already helped many Singapore students because of its structure today. Because of The Physics Cafe's policy,
you will get to listen to the best teacher in Singapore, to be able to learn and be inspired the way you never thought is possible,
and you can share the cost with so many students in the classroom. Otherwise, there will be many students who will not be able to afford to attend these lessons.
I could not afford tuition when I was younger. I was lucky as I was willing and able to work hard, with sacrifices, of course. There is one more option.
Let me present to you The Physics Cafe Digital Cafe.
You will pay less than half the usual fee to attend the same lesson, with the same tutor and same materials in the comfort of our very own cafe library.
"The centre specializes in Physics and Maths. Hence, we offer many different timeslots for the same level and subject acroess all outlets within the same week. We trust that you see this flexibility as an advantage. We understand the importance of an optimal class size for effective learning and the flexibility to be able to change class on an ad-hoc basis. In order to have a balance of both, all students are allowed to make a maximum of 3 out of 10 ad-hoc or permanent changes or make up in a term." If you missed all the lessons in the week, we have The Physics Café Digital lessons where you can watch a video recording of the lesson that you missed.
"We have to be honest with you – we have not found a way to create TIME. While you are trying to catch up with those who have good results for their mid years, they are not slowing down for you. Inevitably, you will only be able to run alongside with them if you are working harder than them for the rest of this journey. Indeed, this is necessary. To help you with this, we have thoughtfully prepared all the materials for the lessons that you have missed, with the tutors’ solutions for your own revision. Our materials are all printed in A5 size neatly packed into the Little Box of Secrets. This will help you stretch TIME."
We do not sell. We have no trial lessons or other business gimmicks to boost enrolment. Our fees are not cheap, yet we have the largest pool of secondary and JC students in Singapore (look at the photo gallery). Furthermore, 8 out of 10 of our students are recommended by friends and relatives and we will certainly like to keep it that way. Personally, I don't think it is the right time for us to do that now. We are not keen to push profits by getting more admin staff or teachers now. Because I know I will not be able to train or get enough good teachers to meet the demands if we open up our sales channel. That's why we do not sell.
You do not have to choose me. We did not invest money in The Straits Times or other major newspaper to become super tutors overnight. The Physics and Maths Café has already grown to become an established tuition center in Singapore. We have the most number of Physics students in Singapore (many times more). The reason why we can be who we are today is because we are different. You may not believe that we can teach that well. Read the testimonials from our students. They are not just making general positive statements, they are talking about how effective the lessons are and they are real people who can even be one of your friends. But you will be surprised that not everyone is looking for the best tutor. There are some who look for the centre that is nearest their house or school. Some wants the tutor to come to their house. Some wants the tuition fee to be more affordable. Some want the class size to be small. Some want good customer service. The tuition market is not a transparent market at all. You do not go around trying different tuition centre in Singapore. This is not the same as going to a different carrot cake stall every week, and writing a blog so that you can rank all the carrot cake in Singapore. It is going to be difficult for you to choose. You have to listen to the people around you, instead of being attracted by the marketing techniques. Because once you do, you will get distracted and confused. I even have a tuition competitor who use a lot of money to buy over the domain www.physicscafe(.com) to redirect it to his own tuition website, passing off as The Physics Cafe. He is definitely not related to us. You can also see the content in www.ThePhysicsCafe.com duplicated in many other tuition websites too. Anyone can set up a tuition center, pay money and become a Super Tutor today. This is why we are not able to convince you that we are better than the rest. You do not have to choose The Physics Cafe over the other tuition centres. We can't teach every JC and IP student in Singapore too. There are always options.
Following initial enrolment into physics and maths tuition for IP or JC students (weekly lessons or workshop), the student’s entitlement to a place in subsequent terms is automatic. There is no need to register again for the new term. Student who does not wish to continue lesson in the next term may submit the online withdrawal form at Goodbye PMC We encourage students to give us early notification (before week 8 of the term or 3rd lesson of any holiday workshop or the deadline stated in the invoice) so that we can release the seat to the other students on the waiting list.
The course fee for group tuition is shared among all registered students based on the scheduled lessons. We would like to thank you for understanding that the fee remains payable regardless of attendance.
The lessons here catered for both IP and non-IP students as the syllabus is the same. The only difference is that the questions in IP are more challenging. The students in our Physics and Math tuition classes are mostly above average students who are already self-motivated including students from IP schools. The pace of lessons in The Physics Cafe are generally accelerated and questions are more challenging to cater to the nature and needs of our students. We have a good mix of students from both IP and non-IP streams.
There are year 5 and year 6 IB students from ACSI and SJI joining the JC Physics classes here. We will be following the A level syllabus in our classes and therefore the questions may be more difficult than is required by the IB students. The students who join the JC physics tuition classes usually do so as the questions set in their schools are the same level of difficulty as the A-level. 100% of our IB students scored a 7 as of now. As for JC Maths classes, the sequence of topics is quite different so JC Maths classes are not suitable for IB students. IB secondary students may join our physics tuition classes as the difference is minimal. Be rest assured that any differences will be addressed. Alterntivly, you may consider to arrange for an exclusive one to one session.
It is a termly payment (usually defined as 10 weeks). Both the student and the parent will receive an invoice from us at the end of the term for the payment of the new term.
We currently only accept Internet transfer, Cash, Cheque or Paypal (additional 2.5% paypal processing fee). If you choose to pay by paypal, you can clock your credit card points at the same time!
Yes, the students can ask questions after class.
The Physics Cafe is launching its first scholarship for the first time in 10 years.
As 8 out of 10 of our secondary, IP and JC students are introduced to the centre by word of mouth, most of them are friends from the same school.
We are looking for the role model of each school to be PMC ambassador. He/she should be a role model to their school mates and PMCians.
The scholarship holder should be independent, mature and motivated. He/she will be given small admin tasks,
example collating the exam results from the school mates so that we can see how the PMCians fare relatively,
compared to their peers. He/she may assist in the PMC outreach programme such as social media pages of the school.
From time to time, he may be required to help fellow students as an assistant tutor. If you are highly motivated and has an outgoing personality,
you can try to apply to be our honourable ambassador. We are looking for at least one ambassador per school.
Successful applicants will be given either a full or partial scholarship (worth up to $8000) to attend Physics, Math and Chemistry classes in PMC.
Apply at Scholarship Online Application