StudyNote Tuition · AdelaideTalk to a teacher

Science tutoring
that connects up.

photosynthesis, balanced: living systems, matter and energy in one line

From the Years 7 to 10 groundwork to SACE Stage 2 Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology. Small groups, and sessions built on what your kid’s school is assessing this term.

Talk to a teacher Find your starting point

01 / WHAT WE COVER

Science tutoring at StudyNote.

Senior science asks students to hold three things at once: the content, the practical work, and the writing that gets marked. Most students are solid on one of those and quietly losing marks on another.

We work out which one it is before doing anything else. Sometimes that means content. Often it means learning what a Stage 2 investigation report is actually assessed on.

02 / YEARS 7 TO 10

New curriculum, same four ideas.

South Australia is building its own curriculum for public schools, adapted from the Australian Curriculum, Version 9. Mathematics was in the first group of learning areas through. Science follows behind it, with the phased rollout expected to be complete in 2027.

The knowledge holds steady through the renaming. What the Australian Curriculum calls biological, chemical, physical and Earth and space sciences, the SA Curriculum organises as Living systems, Matter and materials, Forces and energy, and Earth and space systems. Same territory. And because schools sit at different points in the move, we start from what your kid covered in class this week.

Bring the topic name off their timetable and we will map it to whichever version their school is on.

SA Curriculum: Science

Essential Learning

Dispositions Curious · Responsible · Open-minded
Capabilities Engaging and influencing with science · Noticing and questioning · Exploring scientifically · Reasoning with evidence · Communicating with purpose
Knowledge Living systems · Earth and space systems · Forces and energy · Matter and materials

Learning Standards What the three elements look like, together, at each stage.

03 / YEAR BY YEAR

Find your science
starting point.

Pick their year. This is what science covers there, area by area. Sessions begin at whichever idea never quite landed.

Four knowledge areas Particle theory arrives. Most of senior science leans on it.

Living systems
Sorting life with classification keys, plus food webs and what shifts when one link in an ecosystem changes.
Earth and space systems
The Earth, Moon and Sun in motion: why seasons, tides and eclipses arrive on schedule.
Forces and energy
Balanced and unbalanced forces, gravity included: why things speed up, slow down or stay put.
Matter and materials
Particle theory for solids, liquids and gases, then mixtures and choosing the method that separates them.

In the lab Fair tests: one variable changed, the rest held, results measured precisely and repeated.

04 / SACE: YEARS 11 AND 12

Four sciences, one decision.

Science stops being one subject at Year 11. It becomes four, each chosen and graded on its own, whatever a Year 10 report might suggest. Here is the actual map, from the SACE Board’s own subject outlines.

Life and health Stage 1 Biology Stage 2 Biology
Molecules and materials Stage 1 Chemistry Stage 2 Chemistry
Forces and fields Stage 1 Physics Stage 2 Physics
Mind and behaviour Stage 1 Psychology Stage 2 Psychology

If a university course is in mind, check which sciences it names before subject selection night, not after. Changing lanes is easiest early in Year 11.

SACE Stage 1 · usually Year 11

The Stage 1 Science Subjects One semester or the full year each

Year 11 has four separate sciences, and which ones a student takes shapes what Year 12 can look like. Their grade adds up as they go, not on one exam day. The first science exam a student sits is in Year 12.

  • Biology Cells · Disease · Body systems · Ecosystems
  • Chemistry Atoms · Molecules · Mixtures · Acids and bases · Redox
  • Physics Motion · Circuits · Heat · Energy · Waves · Nuclear
  • Psychology Cognition · The brain · Development · Emotion · Wellbeing

Assessment

Investigations folio and skills tasks, all school assessed
100%
External exam
none

No Stage 2 science demands a set amount of Stage 1 first, though each one is written assuming the groundwork. Each school decides how much each task counts, so we work to your school’s plan.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Biology

Life from the molecule up: how organisms build, regulate and pass on their living systems.

DNA and proteins · Cell biology · Homeostasis · Evolution

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
40%
Investigations folio
30%
Exam
30%

Its 130-minute exam is an e-exam, and from 2026 it carries fewer multiple-choice questions.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Chemistry

Matter and its changes, measured precisely, from the lab bench to industry and health.

Environment · Processes · Organic chemistry · Resources

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
40%
Investigations folio
30%
Exam
30%

Adelaide accepts Stage 2 Chemistry for both its Medical Studies and its Pharmacy degrees.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Physics

Motion, fields and light made quantitative: the science that runs on the maths.

Motion and relativity · Electromagnetism · Light and atoms

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
40%
Investigations folio
30%
Exam
30%

Flinders assumes Stage 2 Physics for its biomedical engineering degree, on top of Mathematical Methods or Specialist Mathematics.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Psychology

Mind and behaviour studied as a science: the individual, the group, and the evidence.

Individual · Wellbeing · Organisations · Influence · Learning

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
40%
Investigations folio
30%
Exam
30%

Runs on the newest outline of these four subjects, and its 130-minute exam is an e-exam.

Where it leads

Pharmacy Pharmacy at Adelaide asks for Stage 2 Biology, Chemistry or Physics, any one of the three
Medical Studies Adelaide’s Bachelor of Medical Studies accepts Biology, Chemistry or Mathematical Methods, any one of the three
Engineering Biomedical engineering at Flinders requires Methods or Specialist, and expects Stage 2 Physics on top

No science earns SATAC adjustment points. The sciences pull their weight as prerequisites instead. Course pages move, so check the one in mind before subject selection night. We will read its actual entry rules with you.

Taking a science we have not listed?

SACE offers more sciences than these four, including Nutrition, Earth and Environmental Science and Scientific Studies. Tell us which one your kid needs and we will try to find someone.

Ask about a subject

05 / HOW SESSIONS WORK

Find it, fix it, show it moved.

  1. Find what is costing marks

    Science marks sit in three places: content, practical work, and the write-up. Early sessions find which one is leaking. It is rarely all three.

  2. Rebuild the model underneath

    Science runs on models: particles, cells, energy. We re-teach the model the gap sits on before touching this week’s homework.

  3. Practise like the assessment

    Timed and unprompted for tests, then drafted, marked and redrafted against the rubric for investigation reports.

  4. Show what moved

    Practice notes from each session, and a short progress note before each assessment, so nobody is guessing.

06 / QUESTIONS

About this
subject.

General questions are answered on the main questions page.

Who teaches science?

A straight answer first. Science sessions are taken by the teachers who founded StudyNote, and the Your teacher page names them with their qualifications so you can check before you book. Tell us the subject and the year level and we will tell you exactly where we are up to. If it is a subject we cannot cover properly yet, we will say so rather than take the booking, and we will try to point you to someone who can.

Do you cover the practical investigations?

Yes, and it is often where the marks are. Stage 2 science is assessed heavily on the investigation folio, and the writing conventions are learnable in a way the content sometimes is not.

Can you help with more than one science at once?

Yes, ask us about it. Most of the time we would suggest starting with the science that is costing the most marks, rather than splitting one session in two. If your kid needs help across two, tell us and we will work out the best way to cover it with you.

What about Earth and Environmental Science, or Nutrition?

Please ask. Both are real SACE subjects. Tell us the subject and the year level, and we will try to find someone.

Do the sciences earn SATAC adjustment points like Methods does?

No, they do not. That scheme covers the English subjects, Mathematical Methods, Specialist Mathematics and languages. No science is on the list. The sciences pull their weight as prerequisites instead. Pharmacy at Adelaide accepts Stage 2 Biology, Chemistry or Physics, and Medical Studies takes Biology, Chemistry or Methods. If a course is in mind, tell us and we will read its entry rules with you.