Pre-IB Maths AA Head Start
Five mornings, 24 to 28 August, the last week before term. For students starting IB Mathematics: Analysis & Approaches in September, at Standard or Higher Level. One course, taught by the founder, on the ground AA assumes you already stand on.
ABOUT THE COURSE
The gap nobody warns you about
Analysis & Approaches does not begin where most Year 11 courses end. It assumes a level of algebraic fluency, notation discipline and problem-framing that schools rarely have time to build in the final weeks before the summer. Strong students feel it in the first term: the maths is not harder in principle, but it moves faster and expects more to be automatic. AA is also the more demanding of the two Diploma courses on exactly this front, since Paper 1 is sat without a calculator.
This course closes that gap while there is still time. Five mornings in the run-up to term, spent on exactly the skills Year 1 will assume from day one. Students arrive in September able to follow the lesson rather than decode it, which is the difference between a good first term and a year spent catching up.
It is taught by Suneel Gupta, an MSc physicist with more than thirty years of teaching, in person at our Sant Gervasi centre or live online worldwide.
WHAT WE COVER
Four foundations, then the exam itself
This is not a preview of Year 1. It is the ground Year 1 stands on, taught until it is automatic, so that September is spent learning new mathematics rather than repairing old. Every topic is worked both with a calculator and without, because AA splits its papers that way.
Algebraic fluency
- ✓Surds, indices and the laws that govern them
- ✓Rearranging formulae without losing the thread
- ✓Algebraic fractions, expanding and factorising
- ✓Notation discipline: writing maths an examiner can follow
Quadratics and functions
- ✓Factorising, completing the square, the discriminant
- ✓Domain, range and what a function actually is
- ✓Transformations of graphs, and reading them back
- ✓Composite and inverse functions
Trigonometry
- ✓Exact values and the unit circle, from memory
- ✓Sine and cosine rules, and when each applies
- ✓Identities and the first trigonometric equations
- ✓Graphs of sin, cos and tan, and their transformations
The approach to calculus
- ✓Sequences and series, arithmetic and geometric
- ✓Exponentials and logarithms as inverse ideas
- ✓Gradient, rate of change and the limit that follows
- ✓Why Year 1 calculus is easier than it looks from here
Taking Applications & Interpretation instead? This course is not built for it. Our guide to choosing between AA and AI explains the difference, and we will arrange AI preparation separately if you get in touch.
COURSE DATES
One week left before term
NOW ENROLLING
Monday 24 to Friday 28 August
The last week before school, so it stays freshest. Places are limited.
RUNNING NOW
Monday 17 to Friday 21 August
This week is under way and closed to new students.
Both weeks cover the same ground, so nothing is lost by taking the second. It is the last teaching we run before the Diploma begins, which makes it the closest preparation to the start of term.
WHEN
5 mornings
Monday to Friday, 09:30 to 12:30 with a short break
WHERE
Barcelona or online
Sant Gervasi centre, or live online worldwide
GROUP SIZE
Small group
Small enough that nobody sits at the back
- MonAlgebraic fluency: surds, indices, rearrangement and algebraic fractions, until they are automatic.
- TueQuadratics and the function toolkit: transformations, domain and range, composite and inverse functions.
- WedTrigonometry: exact values, the unit circle, identities and graphs. Calculator work begins.
- ThuSequences, exponentials and logarithms, and the first ideas of calculus.
- FriPaper 1 discipline: command terms, the formula booklet, and working without a calculator. A short assessed paper, and a written note home on what to watch in Year 1.
Every student leaves with a personal summary: what is solid, what to keep practising, and the specific habits to carry into September. Parents receive it in writing.
Learn from experienced expert tutors who actually raise scores.
The biggest difference between a good score and a great one is who teaches you. Our tutors bring decades of experience and the kind of one-to-one attention a tutoring platform simply cannot match.
Seasoned subject experts
You are taught by experienced specialists with deep subject and exam knowledge, never a rotating roster of part-time college students.
Exam-focused teaching
Every topic is taught the way it is examined: mark schemes, command words, calculator strategy, and past-paper technique from day one.
Genuine personal attention
1-on-1 and small groups only. Every lesson is built around you and your target score, not a packed classroom pace.
30+
Years of teaching experience
5.0
Google rating
15+
Countries taught
QUESTIONS
Before you book
Who is this course for?
Students who finish Year 11 (or Grade 10, or 4t d'ESO) this summer and begin IB Mathematics: Analysis & Approaches in September, at either Standard or Higher Level. It suits students at any starting point, whether they found the last year comfortable or a struggle, because the aim is the same for everyone: arrive in Year 1 fluent in the algebra AA assumes.
Does it matter whether my child is taking SL or HL?
Not for this course. The foundations AA rests on are the same at both levels, and the first term diverges less than parents expect. Tell us the level on the form and we will pitch the harder work accordingly, but SL and HL students sit in the same room.
My child is taking Applications & Interpretation. Can they come?
This course is built for Analysis & Approaches, and much of the week is weighted towards the pure technique AA tests without a calculator, so it would not be the right use of your money. Speak to us about AI preparation separately and we will arrange something that fits.
Who else is it not for?
Students already partway through the Diploma. If your child is entering IB Year 2, the material here will be too early. Speak to us about Year 1 to Year 2 bridging instead, which is a different course.
Does my child need a graphic display calculator?
Bring one if you already have it, since we use it from day three. If you have not bought one yet, wait: we will tell you which model your school expects before you spend anything.
I heard there was an earlier week. Has it gone?
Yes. The course ran once from 17 to 21 August and that group is under way, so it is closed. The 24 to 28 August week covers exactly the same ground, and being the last week before term it is arguably the better of the two, since nothing has time to fade before the Diploma starts.
How large are the groups?
Small, so every child is seen and asked to speak. Once the week fills we open a waiting list rather than expand the room.
How does the online group work?
Live with the founder, not a recording. Shared whiteboard, work sent for marking between sessions, and the same materials as the Barcelona room. Morning sessions in Barcelona time suit families across Europe, and early morning in the Americas.
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Parent + student welcome. No commitment, just a clear plan for the next steps.