About me
I'm Rich Tyson. I run CIE Insider on my own, so the trainers, the emails and the marking are all me.
- BSc Physics (Hons), then a PGCE in Physics with Mathematics. I qualified as a teacher in 2015.
- Former Cambridge examiner for IGCSE Physics (0625) and AS and A Level Physics (9702).
- I've read every examiner report Cambridge has published for both, from 2021 to 2026. That reading is what the site is built on.
Teaching
Before I qualified, I was a physics and maths coach in a school, working with small groups and one to one. Most of my students were Year 10s at risk of exclusion, so we entered them for their exams early to make sure they left with qualifications.
I started teaching at The Blue Coat School in Liverpool, a grammar school with very high-achieving students. My degree gave me the physics. Teaching students that sharp meant knowing it well enough to answer questions far beyond the syllabus, on the spot.
After that I led the physics department at BMAT STEM Academy, and then at an international school, where my last classes sat Cambridge IGCSE and A Level. I've tutored extensively, and I've worked in edtech: I wrote and presented an IGCSE maths course on camera for an e-learning platform, then planned and structured its physics course.
My last IGCSE class
28 students took Cambridge IGCSE Physics (0625) with me. They also sat Biology and Chemistry, each with a different specialist teacher.
got an A* or A in physics.
got their best or joint-best science grade in physics. None did worse in physics than in both of their other sciences.
Because the same students sat all three sciences, each of them is compared with themselves. It's one class in one year, so read it as what happened, and no promise about yours.
From a student I taught
"Mr Tyson taught my A level physics class, expertly delivering the content necessary to help me achieve an A*. I knew exactly what we were going to cover each day, and how it related to our final exams. He consistently made sure I was challenged enough to develop a broader understanding of the subject, which I'm now reaping the benefits of as an engineering undergraduate student."
Jake · A* in A Level Physics, 9702 · now studying engineering at Durham University
Students whose papers I've marked say what they made of it on the marking page, next to their marked scripts.
What I do here
- Marking your past paper, mark by mark against the published scheme, from £25.
- The Maths Behind A Level Physics, a self-paced course for anyone starting 9702.
- Free revision trainers for 0625 and 9702, built around what the examiner reports say.
Find me elsewhere
- YouTube: live sessions and exam-question explainers.
- TikTok: short ones.
- The free help desk: a Skool room where you can ask me physics questions.
- Email: rich@cieinsider.com. I answer everything myself.