Herzen Centre For History
Dedicated only to teaching history, Herzen Centre’s method is founded on using nothing but the most effective and specialised study techniques to help our students ace the history paper with the most MARKS, using the least EFFORT in the shortest TIME. We achieve this by tackling the three aspects history students find most challenging:
Content Memorisation
Critical Evaluation
Writing
We prize efficiency over anything else and have a firm belief in the power of studying smarter and not harder. We thus conduct lessons in small class sizes of no more than 6 students per class. This encourages free flow of ideas while letting tutors curate the lesson to you and your individual learning style, crafting a personalised history study plan for maximum exam success.
Our History Tuition Services
Our Approach To Learning & How We Conduct History Classes
There are many different ways of writing history papers, and many different writing methods are accepted at syllabus level for both the O and A Levels. Schools across Singapore hence use a diverse range of methods to teach history, so much so that we can hear about six or seven different writing styles from different students within a single year. The problem with this is that many traditional study methods default to the common denominator and tend to place emphasis on working overly-hard to memorise content from the textbook.
We believe this is inefficient. Trying to memorise entire textbooks worth of content is exhausting, and the amount of content needed to do very well at the Os and As is much less than what most people think. Scoring well in history is not about how much content a student writes, but rather about knowing how to use the content to back up a claim that is being made.
It is important to understand what the content is being used for - evidence in the PEEL paragraph.
Without a solid topic sentence and a powerful elaboration, the content counts for nothing. We have seen many generations of students whose paragraphs were full of content yet still scored only 2/10 or 12/30 because their paragraphs were fully example driven.
Brute force memorisation of content leads to rigidity and fear because students will only know how to write in the way they memorised it. There is a risk that it will sabotage them because they won’t know how to apply what they've learnt to different question types.
The key is learning to play with the content students already know and apply it to a variety of questions.
Here lies our secret: a small amount of key content, understood at a deep level, can answer a wide variety of essay questions.
Our method focuses on teaching how to remember the history content efficiently, and then how to apply that content effectively in their writing, saving them the headache of memorising unnecessarily.
All our content and notes are provided for free. Our classes are structured around writing and making corrections with our tutors in real time, with the same factors twisted to form different types of questions. This is crucial in handholding our students through the process of how the content is applied, and making them familiar with different types of examinable questions and how they are phrased.
Content is important, but it must be applied correctly. It should not be treated like an all-purpose tool that can magically answer any question that arises in history exams, because it can't.
We focus on actually teaching the skill of writing, allowing our students to naturally internalise the content over time as they see how the notes link to the topic sentences they write.
This is a skill that takes time and guidance to learn, but once mastered, it will make our students so much more adaptable and creative in their topic sentences, enabling them to handle a much larger variety of topics and question types that they may encounter in exams, confident in applying their knowledge strategically rather than relying on memorization alone.
Our History Tutors
Anthony Choong
Anthony Choong is the head history teacher and curriculum development for Herzen Centre for History.
For the past 7 years, Anthony has taught history to more than 60 students of diverse academic backgrounds and walks of life. He excels in helping his students visualise the content by stepping into the way people thought during different historical periods, putting them in the best frame of mind to understand history in a more natural way, negating the need to memorise content. His keen awareness of the struggles students go through in school coupled with his deep expertise in the subject matter have led him to formulate a study method that not only brings his students the highest marks but focuses on directing his students away from more labour intensive methods, preferring to demonstrate how to get As for history by effectively using the little time and energy they have instead. He does this by using his tried and tested methods that train crucial skills of interpretation, analysis and writing to the point of mastery. His innovative and efficient methods have helped students from SJI, ACJC, SCGS, Queenstown Secondary School, St Patrick's School, St Margaret's School, Catholic Junior College and Gan Eng Seng Secondary...
Steve Chang
Steve Chang the history teacher for lower secondary students.
Steve's passion for history stems from his fascination of how the past have, or have not, shaped our identities, communities and culture. He begun his interest in history primarily with military and political history, but has since branched out to enjoy imperial and postcolonial history.
As the teacher for lower secondary students, Steve's teaching style focuses on giving students the opportunity to write. What he has realised is that students who begin their foray into history in school often believe that history is an exercise of memorisation when it is in fact, an exercise in writing. Thus, his lessons focuses on training students to translate the knowledge they receive from textbooks into clear, concise essays. He seeks to also provide students with a solid foundation for critical thinking, to give his students the edge in discerning, collecting and identifying necessary information to answer Source-Based Questions with pinpoint accuracy...
Our Results & Testimonials
At Herzen, we strongly believe that results are exactly that -
the result of love, care and attention to every aspect of
students’ wellbeing, not just blindly placing grades first.
At Herzen, we strongly believe that results are exactly that - the result of love, care and attention to every aspect of students’ wellbeing, not just blindly placing grades first.
Fun Lessons
From 2/10 to 6-7/10
Insane jump, made it to JC
Our Tuition Rates
History Tuition
$50 / Hour
- Each lesson typically lasts 2 hours
Herzen 2026 Class Schedule
The schedule below is displaying current classes only.
Additional class timings can be arranged upon request.
Do enquire!
Sec 1 History
Wednesday 8pm-10pm
+ More Class Slots Available
Sec 2 History
Tuesday 8pm-10pm
+ More Class Slots Available
"O" Level Elect History
Saturday 12pm-2pm
+ More Class Slots Available
"O" Level Pure History
Saturday 7.30pm-9.30pm
Sunday 7.30pm-9.30pm
+ More Class Slots Available
"N(A)" Level Elect History
Flexible Class Timing Available
"N(A)" Level Pure History
Flexible Class Timing Available
JC H1 History
Flexible Class Timing Available
JC H2 History
Sunday 10am-12pm
Sunday 12pm-2pm
Sunday 2pm-4pm
+ More Class Slots Available
Our Online Only Classes
History is not a subject that requires a physical class to teach since all of the content is written and can be displayed on screen. Moreover, students have to juggle coming for class amid other commitments at school and home, so we strive to make coming for class as convenient as possible so students can better focus on the lesson at hand even after a long day at school.
Furthermore, being in the comfort of their own home gives students the space to better focus on the class as well as gives more room for taking short breaks during the lesson for much-needed breathing space amid the heavy content.
History Lessons That Truly Support Our Students
An Uplifting Class Environment
Some parents are concerned that students will receive insufficient attention from teachers in our group classes. This is a totally understandable concern, as group classes can often become a mess, with students of different levels needing to be addressed individually.
We address this through the usage of a common shared working document full of essays written by students of the class themselves, with corrections. With this method, every single student can see the mistakes that not only they but others make as well, which is crucial for a writing subject, as there are so many different ways to write that there is always something each student can learn from the others.
Mistakes are also never addressed on an individual basis. When someone has room for improvement, we will tell EVERYONE in the class “come, look at this” and scrutinise the essay together. Being able to learn from one another is such a valuable characteristic of group lessons that should never, ever be overlooked. By the time the exams come, the shared document is an invaluable resource.
It differs completely from the notes in the sense that every single essay inside is written by the students themselves, and is a complete record of their progress as well as corrections from everybody in the class since day 1. They can thus use it for much easier internalisation of content as well as better awareness of where the remaining gaps in their learning are. (Watch our sample 2 hour recorded lesson to get a taste of how this is done!!)
Over years, we have had students from all academic and social backgrounds across Singapore, including students with social anxiety, students with learning disabilities and students from overseas who did not have a good command of English. Herzen classes are and have always been an inclusive, supportive and loving environment for all. Every year we hold class reunions for students who miss their teachers and classmates and who want to reconnect.
If this appeals to you, we warmly invite you to be a part of our community as well!
How We Help Different Types of Students
We take time to get to know every student individually and understand their own personal struggles with the subject. During the trial lesson, students are given ample time to explain the challenges they face from their point of view. These challenges are often not straightforward and are not simply “content” or “CK” issues, but have to do with a lack of developed instinct for good writing.
We understand that no two students write and think in the same way. This is so important because we will make the effort to explain topics in different ways so that every student understands. We do so by giving different examples, analogies, and potentially drawing references from their personal lives.
We believe that the teacher-student relationship is crucial. Even for those who are passionate in history, a lack of understanding between teacher and student could prove to be a major roadblock for many students. But it can be overcome by clear communication, expectations and trust.
Thus, we dedicate significant time in our classes to talk to the student and get to understand their thought process - “WHY” do you write in this way?
We Compliment School Classes
We are not trying to "replace" your school teachers.
Unlike school lessons, our classes will be small-batch, seminar style. Our tutors actively foster dialogue among the whole class, with the tutor himself and other students, asking the WHY and HOW questions that prompt students to go deeper and unpack every single sentence of their answers.
We want our students learn what makes a good answer. Model answers rarely work because just “looking” at a model answer doesn’t mean you know how to write one in your own style. This “deep-dive” humanities approach makes students intensely familiar with all the little techniques that make writing work, and gives them unique opportunities to analyse their own writing in an incredibly detailed, we will literally analyse them word by word.
Many teachers in schools across Singapore work very hard to do an incredible job of history education. Our tuition is simply additional help for struggling students, and we encourage our students to communicate with their school teachers to make sure that our methods are aligned, whether it be for writing style or content.
All our students will be required to submit work done in class to their school teachers as their “own extra practice”, to be 100% sure that there are no writing style clashes during exams.
Frequently Asked Questions
Book Your Free First Lesson Now!
Whatsapp: +65 8040 4326
Email: herzencentre@gmail.com