Technically, there is no requirement to have studied physics at high school in order to enrol in HSFY. However, the University of Otago strongly recommends Level 3 NCEA physics, and Level 2 at the least. Given the highly competitive nature and immense workload of HSFY, it would be in your best interests to be as capable as possible in physics prior to starting. If you have not done any physics at all, I would recommend one or more of the following:

- Completing my PHSI191 Online Course prior to starting HSFY

- Doing NCEA physics or equivalent via high school or correspondence school, this will take 1 year per Level, e.g. it would take 2 years to do Level 2 and Level 3 (this is what I did while working full-time)

- Jumpstart Physics at Otago Uni: a 3-week in-person fulltime course in Dunedin. Cost $990 for domestic and $1570 for international students. Cannot have already gained more than 14 credits in NCEA Level 2 physics.

- Foundation Studies Certificate in Health Sciences at Otago Uni: A year-long certificate studying the foundations necessary for HSFY including physics, chemistry, biology, maths and English. Probably the most comprehensive option but requires a full additional year at uni with the associated costs. The tuition fee alone is $5,703.

No, Tom Lee Tutoring operates independently and is not affiliated with, employed by, or endorsed by the University of Otago. All content in the PHSI191 Online Course is created independently by myself Tom Lee, based on my knowledge of prior examinable material in PHSI191.

If you have 1-on-1 tutoring sessions with me, then we can work through past exam questions that you provide.

It is true that you can find free physics resources online, and many of these are of very high quality. In fact, I used many of these resources myself when I was studying. I have also provided (and continue to provide) free recordings of my 2019 hall tutorials on YouTube, which have helped many HSFY students.

However, the value of the PHSI191 Online Course lies in the fact that it is tailor-made for the PHSI191 paper. Therefore, the content is specifically selected to only include the physics necessary to excel in this paper. In addition, the framework of the course allows you to progress through the content in a structured way, which is hard to do if you are studying at home independently.

This will depend on how fast you progress, which will depend on your pre-existing level of knowledge.

Completing the A+ Course (Essential + Advanced) will likely take around 48 hours, with 8 hours per module.

The Essential Course will likely take 36 hours to complete in total, with 6 hours per module.

Remember that it doesn't matter how fast you complete this course, what matters is the grade you get at the end of the Semester. Simply progressing through the A+ Course quickly will not be as helpful as taking the time needed to fully understand the content.

If you would like to complete this course over the 3 months prior to starting HSFY, then I would advise 4 hours per week to complete 1 module per fortnight. Of course, if you start on this course after December, then you will need to put in more time per week to progress at a faster rate.

I highly recommend completing this course at least once prior to the start of HSFY. There is no limit to the number of times you access this course until access ends in June 2025. If you can go through the course multiple times before Semester 1, then this will be very beneficial for you. You will be able to go through the course much faster on each subsequent attempt as you will be familiar with the content.

This online course is meant to be used for preparation before HSFY starts and for revision assistance during the semester. You should still watch all lectures, attend every PHSI191 lab and seek clarification from Otago Uni staff regarding examinable material and exam rules.

Past exam papers are crucial for performing well in all HSFY papers, but PHSI191 physics especially. I highly recommend that you do at least 3 years of past mid-semester exams prior to the mid-semester exam, then at least 3 years of past final exams prior to the final exam. The more you do, the better. I personally did the last 8 years of past exams. To avoid copyright issues, I cannot use past exam questions verbatim in my PHSI191 Online Course,  however if you get stuck while doing past exam papers I can help you in 1-on-1 tutoring sessions with past exam questions that you provide.

Although there have been no significant changes in recent years apart from a small reduction in examinable content, Tom Lee Tutoring takes no liability for any loss arising from students relying solely on my Online Course for PHSI191 study.