MA
Mrs Angela Reid, parent
June 2026
Verified
7My daughter was terrified of the Individual Oral. Her tutor ran weekly mock orals with real IB images and taught her how to keep talking. She walked in calm and...
IB French B HL · London
IB specialist tutoring
IB FrenchTutoring
Expert 1-on-1 IB French tutoring from qualified UK-based tutors for French B HL, SL, and Ab Initio. Build fluency across the five prescribed themes and reach Grade 6 or 7.
84%
reach Grade 6 or above
+1.7
average grade improvement
10+
years average tutor experience
Free
first lesson, no commitment
IB French B HLIB French B SLIB French Ab InitioIB French B HLIB French B SLIB French Ab InitioIB French B HLIB French B SLIB French Ab Initio
Real specialists
Meet tutors with examiner instincts.
Specialist tutors with board knowledge, strong academic backgrounds, and proven grade-improvement records.
IB French ExaminerMme Claire Dubois
Sorbonne MA · IB French Examiner
IB French B HL and SL, A-Level French (all boards)
Avg +1.8 grade improvement
Oral & Speaking SpecialistMr Daniel Okafor
Oxford BA Modern Languages · IB Teacher
IB French B SL and HL, French Ab Initio — oral and listening
86% of students reach Grade 6+
Ab Initio & Grammar SpecialistMme Sophie Laurent
Lyon Université MA · Ab Initio Specialist
IB French Ab Initio and French B SL, grammar and written production
Average Paper 1 improvement: two bands
Get started
Book a free demo lesson.
Tell us about your child and we'll match a specialist IB French tutor within 24 hours.
- UK-qualified specialist tutors, matched to your exact board.
- We reply within 24 hours with tutor recommendations.
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Our standard
Every tutor clears a high bar.
UK-qualified teachers
Degree-level subject specialists, many PGCE-trained, who teach to the UK exam standard.
Examiner insight
Tutors who know the mark schemes and coach the exact phrasing that earns every mark.
Vetted & background-checked
Every tutor is interviewed, reference-checked, and background-verified before their first lesson.
Matched to your board
You are paired with a specialist in your exact board and tier — never a generalist.
Lesson flow
From confusion to calm, one lesson at a time.
Our tutors build both the accuracy and the spontaneity that IB French rewards — a wide active vocabulary, secure grammar, and the confidence to respond to unseen stimuli in the oral and written papers.
Step 1
Pinpoint the gaps
We start with recent marks, confidence blockers, and the exact exam board so sessions feel personal from lesson one.
Step 2
Teach the mark scheme
Tutors connect concepts to examiner language, worked examples, and the habits that turn knowledge into marks.
Step 3
Track the lift
Parents see what changed after each session: topics covered, next steps, and the grade trajectory we are building toward.
What we cover
A syllabus map students can actually follow.
Identities
Lifestyles, health, beliefs, values, and language and identity. Students learn to discuss personal and cultural identity with precise vocabulary and appropriate register, a recurring source of oral and Paper 1 tasks.
Experiences
Leisure, travel, customs and traditions, migration, and rites of passage. We build the descriptive and narrative vocabulary needed to recount experiences fluently in the past tenses.
Human Ingenuity
Technology, entertainment, communication, and scientific innovation. Students practise expressing opinions and weighing advantages and disadvantages — essential for the argumentative Paper 1 text types.
Social Organisation
Community, education, the workplace, law and order, and social relationships. A theme rich in formal register and the conditional and subjunctive moods that lift a script to Grade 7.
Sharing the Planet
The environment, human rights, globalisation, ethics, and peace and conflict. We develop the abstract and evaluative language that HL students in particular need for sustained argument.
Text Types & Paper 1 Writing
Blogs, emails, articles, speeches, diary entries, brochures, and reports. Each has distinct conventions of register, layout, and audience. We teach the features examiners look for so students choose and structure the right text type under time pressure.
Individual Oral & Paper 2
The Individual Oral is based on a visual stimulus (a photo for SL/HL, linked to a theme). We rehearse the description, the follow-up conversation, and — at HL — discussion of the literary works, alongside Paper 2 listening and reading strategies.
Grammar & Accuracy
Tense system, agreement, pronouns, the subjunctive, and connectors. Consistent grammatical control is what separates a Grade 5 from a Grade 7. We target each student's recurring errors systematically.
Identities
Lifestyles, health, beliefs, values, and language and identity. Students learn to discuss personal and cultural identity with precise vocabulary and appropriate register, a recurring source of oral and Paper 1 tasks.
Experiences
Leisure, travel, customs and traditions, migration, and rites of passage. We build the descriptive and narrative vocabulary needed to recount experiences fluently in the past tenses.
Human Ingenuity
Technology, entertainment, communication, and scientific innovation. Students practise expressing opinions and weighing advantages and disadvantages — essential for the argumentative Paper 1 text types.
Social Organisation
Community, education, the workplace, law and order, and social relationships. A theme rich in formal register and the conditional and subjunctive moods that lift a script to Grade 7.
Sharing the Planet
The environment, human rights, globalisation, ethics, and peace and conflict. We develop the abstract and evaluative language that HL students in particular need for sustained argument.
Text Types & Paper 1 Writing
Blogs, emails, articles, speeches, diary entries, brochures, and reports. Each has distinct conventions of register, layout, and audience. We teach the features examiners look for so students choose and structure the right text type under time pressure.
Individual Oral & Paper 2
The Individual Oral is based on a visual stimulus (a photo for SL/HL, linked to a theme). We rehearse the description, the follow-up conversation, and — at HL — discussion of the literary works, alongside Paper 2 listening and reading strategies.
Grammar & Accuracy
Tense system, agreement, pronouns, the subjunctive, and connectors. Consistent grammatical control is what separates a Grade 5 from a Grade 7. We target each student's recurring errors systematically.
See this plan built around your child's exact paper.
Book Free Demo
+1.7
average grade improvement
Common blockers
Where students struggle, and how we fix it.
1Speaking spontaneously in the Individual Oral+
Many students freeze when asked to describe an unseen visual stimulus and sustain a conversation. We run repeated mock orals with real IB-style images, teaching a reliable framework for describing, interpreting, and linking the image to its theme, plus stock connectors that buy thinking time and raise fluency marks.
2Choosing and structuring the right text type in Paper 1+
Paper 1 rewards command of register and text-type conventions — a formal report reads very differently from a blog. We drill the layout, tone, and audience of each text type and practise timed responses, so students recognise the task quickly and hit the conventions the mark scheme demands.
3Grammatical accuracy under time pressure+
Fluent ideas lose marks when tenses, agreements, and the subjunctive slip. We diagnose each student's recurring errors and build focused correction routines, so accuracy becomes automatic rather than something to check for at the end.
Proof that feels close to home.
LM
Leo M., student
June 2026
Verified
6I started French in the IB from scratch with Ab Initio and it felt impossible. My tutor built my grammar step by step and my Paper 1 writing went from a 3 to a ...
IB French Ab Initio · Geneva
MK
Mr Karim Haddad, parent
June 2026
Verified
7We wanted a tutor who actually knew how the French B mark scheme works. Ours was an examiner and knew exactly which text types come up in Paper 1. Our son achie...
IB French B SL · Dubai
Sarah M.
June 2026
Verified
Grade 4 → 6My daughter was struggling with IB Mathematics HL and had almost given up hope of getting a 7. After just two months of weekly sessions with her ComboTutors tut...
Parent of IB Student · London
James P.
June 2026
Verified
B → A*My son started tutoring for A-Level Physics about three months before his exams. His tutor was incredibly patient and broke down complex topics like electromagn...
Parent of A-Level Student · Manchester
Priya K.
June 2026
Verified
+2 GradesWe needed help with GCSE Science for my son who found chemistry particularly challenging. His tutor made the sessions engaging and relatable—using real-world ex...
Parent of GCSE Student · Birmingham
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Family trust
Why parents chose Combo.
Families usually want three things: a tutor their child respects, a plan that fits the real paper, and updates that make progress easy to follow.
Handpicked tutors
We shortlist tutors who know the curriculum, teach clearly, and can coach the exact exam habits that lift marks.
Top-university academics and exam-savvy specialists.
Clear weekly updates
Parents see what was covered, what improved, and what needs attention next, so progress never feels vague.
Structured feedback after every lesson block.
A plan built around your child's paper
Sessions are matched to the student's board, tier, topic gaps, and exam timeline instead of generic subject tutoring.
Board-specific support with a measurable target grade path.
Ready to close the gaps? Start with a free demo.
Book Free DemoIB FAQ
Common Questions.
French B is for students with several years of prior French and is offered at both SL and HL. Ab Initio is a beginners' course at SL only, for students with little or no French, covering three themes rather than five. We match you to a tutor experienced in the exact course your school offers.
We run repeated mock orals using IB-style visual stimuli tied to the prescribed themes. Students practise the timed description, the follow-up conversation, and — at HL — discussion of the literary works. We teach a reliable framework plus connectors that improve fluency, so the real exam feels familiar.
Yes. IB French B HL requires two literary works, which feed into Paper 2 and the Individual Oral discussion. SL and Ab Initio do not include set literary works. Our HL tutors work through the texts with your school's chosen works and the language and analysis they demand.
They are broadly comparable. IB French B HL covers five themes with two literary works and a strong oral and listening component, while A-Level French goes deeper into culture, film, and literature. Both reward accuracy, range of vocabulary, and confident spontaneous speaking, all of which our tutors build systematically.
Starting in Year 1 (Grade 11) is ideal for building secure grammar and vocabulary across the themes before the workload intensifies. That said, students who begin in the final semester still make strong gains — the oral and Paper 1 in particular respond quickly to focused, well-targeted practice.
Transparent pricing
See pricingSpecialist tutoring from $15/hr.
Every exam board, every tier. No hidden fees and no long contracts — start with a free trial lesson.
Ready to Excel in IB French?
Book a free consultation and we will match you with a specialist IB French tutor who can make a real difference.