Steve Vorster

About

• Steve has been with Save My Exams since 2022 and is now responsible for all things Economics and Business in his role as Subject Lead. Prior to this, Steve was teaching Economics and Business for 18 years, both in the UK and internationally. In the UK, he was the Assistant Head (Pastoral) of a large Sixth Form. In Singapore, Steve was head of Economics at UWCSEA, the largest international school in the world. He has experience teaching in failing schools, comprehensives, private schools and international schools. He has taught thousands of students across key stage 3, GCSE, IGCSE, A Level, and the IBDP

• Steve has had students achieve full marks for every Economics syllabus he has taught, except for the IBDP (which also came very close!). He loves to help students of all abilities to raise their attainment and his added value scores have always been between 1 to 2.2 grades higher than expected. Steve has run numerous teacher training workshops with a wide focus, including subject specific components (e.g. Internal Assessment), teaching and learning strategies (e.g. Hattie’s Visible Influences), and improving student engagement.

• Steve is currently an IBDP HL Economics examiner for Paper 2. He has also examined Paper 1, Paper 3, the Economics Internal Assessment, and the Extended Essay in Economics.

• Before his teaching career, Steve spent twelve years working in business. He worked in the charity sector in South Africa and the USA, before setting up his own consumer electronics company in the UK. Steve imported products from China and the USA, reselling them into the UK market. He also purchased laptops from UK banks, which were refurbished and sold on.

• Steve’s passion & enthusiasm for economic and business education stem from his experience working in industry. He has a knack for using current, real world examples to bring the topics to life. His desire to make learning relevant to his students has led Steve to run investment clubs, social policy clubs, ‘Dragons Den’ activities, and Young Enterprise. He was also one of the first teachers in the UK to deliver the London Institute of Banking & Finance school qualifications to his students (Certificate of Financial Studies and Diploma of Financial Studies). He prepared around 120 sixth formers annually for these exams.

• In his spare time, Steve is a keen mountain walker and has completed many treks, including Annapurna Base Camp in Nepal. His love for mountains is further pursued by his passion for snowboarding.

Published work or mentions

• Co-author of the Kognity CIE IGCSE Economics Textbook

• Edited the entire Kognity CIE IGCSE Textbook so as to gain Cambridge endorsement

• Kognity Webinar Host: Concept Based teaching & Learning Approaches in Economics

• Kognity Keynote Speaker: Five Power Strategies for more Effective Teaching

• Mention: The Basics of Flipped Instruction

Education

• Steve studied in a second language and graduated from the University of Port Elizabeth with a BCom in Business Economics. He completed his PGCE in Secondary Education through Exeter University, as part of a SCITT scheme (school-centred initial teacher training), in conjunction with The Learning Institute. Steve has completed several modules towards his Masters of Educational Leadership at the University of Bath, gaining a distinction grade for each one.

Expertise

• Steve has led students to success in all of the following exam courses:

  • IBDP HL Economics; IBDP HL Business Management; IBDP Theory of Knowledge

  • CIE IGCSE Economics; CIE IGCSE Business Studies

  • Nuffield GCSE Business Economics; Edexcel GCSE Business; CCEA GCSE Business

  • AQA A Level Business; Edexcel A Level Economics A; Edexcel A Level Economics B

  • Certificate of Financial Studies (CeFS); Diploma of Financial Studies (DipFS)

Top revision quote for students

“Learn the power of spaced repetition. Help your brain turn your daily learnings into long term memory.”