Taipei, Taiwan · UTC+8

SAT tutoring for students in Taipei

One-to-one Digital SAT tuition for students in Taipei, taught live after school in Taiwan time by one native-English-speaking tutor. Most students here have done a buxiban course already; this is what comes after it.

Perfect 1600 SAT score · MEng, University of Cambridge · Tutoring full time since 2015

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The trial lesson is a full lesson, free, with nothing to pay and no commitment afterwards. You can also message +44 7380 493894.

“Lewis helped me get my score up from 1200 to 1400 in a month.”Liora, SAT student

A real lesson board, sped up

Your tutor

Lewis Watson

Lewis read Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge and has tutored full time since 2015. He teaches both halves of the Digital SAT himself — the Math with an engineer’s command of the quantitative section, Reading & Writing with the ear for language the verbal half rewards.

Much of the early work was residential, living with families in Dubai and Saudi Arabia and teaching through term time and exam season, before the practice moved mostly online. More about Lewis →

Why students in Taipei come to one-to-one lessons

Taipei sends a large cohort to the United States every year, much of it from Taipei American School, which is one of the biggest single sources of US applicants anywhere in Asia, and from Taipei European School, Morrison, Kang Chiao and the bilingual departments of the big private schools. Around that cohort sits a well-developed test-prep industry, and most students arriving for one-to-one lessons have already been through a buxiban SAT course, sometimes two.

The pattern is familiar across East Asia. The Math score is high and stable; the Reading and Writing score is stuck, and it has been stuck since the last course ended. What has usually happened is that the verbal section has been learned as a set of rules to apply, and the Digital SAT's hardest questions are written precisely to look like the rule and then break it, so the technique stops working at the point the student most needs it.

What moves that score is a native English speaker watching an individual student's reasoning on individual questions and correcting the habit rather than the answer. That does not take another course; it takes one-to-one lessons.

Lesson times in Taipei

Taipei is on UTC+8. These are the slots students here book most often, with the corresponding UK time in both halves of the year, so you can see the lesson falls inside a normal working day at the tutor's end, which is what keeps a weekly slot stable through a whole term.

Lesson time where you are	UK time, Apr–Oct	UK time, Oct–Mar
4.00pm	9am UK	8am UK
5.00pm	10am UK	9am UK
6.00pm	11am UK	10am UK
7.00pm	12pm UK	11am UK
8.00pm	1pm UK	12pm UK

The UK moves between GMT and British Summer Time in late March and late October; Taiwan does not change clocks, so the UK-side time shifts by an hour twice a year while your lesson time stays put.

What is specific to Taipei

Taiwan is on UTC+8, seven hours ahead of the UK in summer and eight in winter. A 6.00pm lesson in Taipei is late morning in London, so after-school slots stay reliable through the term.
Prior courses are taken seriously. If a student has done buxiban prep, the first job is finding which rules stuck, which did not, and which are now actively costing marks.
Reading & Writing taught by a native English speaker who reads the passages the way the test-writers do; the Math by the same tutor, as a pacing and precision problem.
Taipei test centres fill early for the popular sittings. Register as soon as the date is chosen: the test date table lists every deadline.
Billed in pounds sterling by card link or bank transfer, after each lesson. Fees are on the fee sheet; the intro call and the trial lesson are free.

How the lessons themselves work

Live one-to-one on a shared whiteboard that both tutor and student write on, not a recorded course, and not a screen-share of somebody talking.
Homework set after every lesson and marked before the next, included in the rate.
Full-length timed mocks in Bluebook, set, marked and reviewed, so nothing on test day is unfamiliar.
A live topic tracker (one row per College Board domain) so every content area is covered, practised and signed off before the sitting. Parents can see it whenever they like.
Progress updates to parents after every mock, and a review call whenever you want one.

Where to read next

In the same time zone: Hong Kong and Manila; an hour ahead, Tokyo and Seoul. If the score has stopped moving in the 1400s, the 1400 to 1600 guide explains what changes at the top of the scale. Section by section: SAT Math tutoring and SAT Reading & Writing tutoring. For the test itself, the Digital SAT explained; for the tutor, about Lewis Watson; for comparing tutors, agencies and marketplaces, choosing a one-to-one SAT tutor; and for the wider picture of applying from abroad, SAT tutoring for international students.

Common questions from Taipei

Is online SAT tutoring available for students in Taipei?

Yes. Altair Prep teaches one-to-one Digital SAT lessons online to students in Taipei, live over a shared interactive whiteboard that both tutor and student write on, at a fixed weekly time in Taiwan's own afternoon or evening. Every lesson is taught by Lewis Watson, a Cambridge-educated native English speaker with a perfect 1600, covering both Math and Reading and Writing.

What time are SAT lessons for students in Taiwan?

Taiwan is on UTC+8, seven hours ahead of the UK in summer and eight in winter, so a 6.00pm lesson in Taipei is 11.00am or 10.00am in London. Altair Prep holds after-school and early-evening slots in Taiwan time as a standing weekly appointment, easy to keep for the length of a term, with weekend lessons available too.

We have already done a buxiban SAT course. What would one-to-one lessons add?

Somebody watching how the student actually works. A buxiban course teaches strategy as rules to apply to a room of students, and the Digital SAT's hardest questions are built to look like the rule and then break it, which is why scores plateau after the course ends. Altair Prep's lessons go through individual questions live, find where the learned rules are now costing marks, and replace them with judgment.

Is the SAT still needed if the university is test-optional?

Usually yes, for a student who can score well. Under a test-optional policy a strong score is extra evidence in the application's favour and a weak one can simply be withheld, and a number of selective US universities have reinstated a requirement since suspending it. For a Taipei student aiming at competitive universities, a good score keeps options open that a missing one closes.

Preparing for the SAT in Taipei?

Tell Lewis the current scores, what preparation has already been done and the sitting you are aiming at. The intro call and the trial lesson are both free, both in Taiwan time, and there is nothing to pay before them.

Book a free trial lesson, no commitment Ask Lewis on WhatsApp

Prefer email? Write to lewis@altairprep.com.