United Kingdom · Mathematics · Ages 5–16
Online Maths Tuition in the UK —
1-to-1 Lessons for Years 1–11
Live one-to-one maths lessons taught to the National Curriculum. KS2 SATs, 11+ entrance, GCSE Foundation and Higher, and UKMT challenge coaching. One tutor, one child, every lesson — from £12.
- 1-to-1 never a group
- Same tutor start to finish
- UK time after school & weekends
- 200 students a year
- From £12 per lesson
2ndRank provides live 1-to-1 online maths tuition for students in the UK, from Year 1 to Year 11, covering Key Stages 1 to 4. Lessons follow the National Curriculum and prepare students for KS2 SATs, 11+ entrance exams, and GCSE Maths at both Foundation and Higher tier with AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Every student begins with a free diagnostic assessment that identifies the earliest unfinished concept — most often fractions, ratio or negative numbers — and is placed by ability rather than by school year. Lessons run 55–60 minutes in UK time and start at £12, compared with around £25 for a typical online group maths class.
The price difference
Half the price. And nobody else in the room.
UK families are quoted £30–£50 an hour for a tutor who comes to the house, and around £25 a lesson for an online class that still has eight other children in it.
Typical online maths class
£25
per lesson
- Group of 6–12 students
- Lesson moves at the room's pace
- Tutor often changes each term
- Full course paid upfront
- Progress reports on request
2ndRank 1-to-1
£12
per lesson, from
- One child, one tutor — always
- Lesson moves at your child's pace
- Same tutor from the first lesson to the last
- Pay 25 lessons at a time
- Written progress report every month
Why we can do this: we run no centres, no franchises and no sales floor. We teach 200 students a year per subject and spend the difference on tutors rather than overheads.
The UK maths system
Where your child sits, and what comes next.
Schools in England follow the National Curriculum, organised into Key Stages. Scotland follows Curriculum for Excellence, and Wales and Northern Ireland have their own frameworks. We ask where your child is at school before the first lesson, because the sequence differs.
| Key Stage | Years | Ages | What your child is learning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Stage 1 | Years 1–2 | 5–7 | Number bonds, place value, addition and subtraction, simple shapes and measures |
| Key Stage 2 | Years 3–6 | 7–11 | Times tables, fractions, decimals, percentages, area and perimeter, long multiplication and division |
| Key Stage 3 | Years 7–9 | 11–14 | Ratio and proportion, negative numbers, algebraic expressions, equations, angles, probability |
| Key Stage 4 | Years 10–11 | 14–16 | The GCSE course — number, algebra, ratio, geometry, probability and statistics, at Foundation or Higher tier |
If you are comparing with the American system: add one to a US grade to get the UK year. A US Grade 6 student is in UK Year 7.
The decisions that matter
UK maths isn't a ladder. It's three forks in the road.
Fork 1 · Year 6 SATs and secondary setting
KS2 SATs results follow your child into secondary school, and most secondaries use them — alongside their own baseline tests — to decide which maths set a child goes into in Year 7.
Top set in Year 7 is not a fixed destiny, but moving up is harder than being placed correctly. The work that decides it happens in Years 4 and 5.
Fork 2 · 11+ and entrance exams
Grammar schools and independent schools test maths well beyond the Year 5 curriculum — worded problems, reasoning under time pressure, and non-routine questions.
11+ maths is a different skill from school maths. A child who is strong in class can still struggle with it, and preparation realistically starts in Year 4 or 5.
Fork 3 · GCSE Foundation or Higher
Foundation tier is capped at grade 5. Higher tier reaches grade 9 but a student who is not ready can fall below grade 4 — and grade 4 is the pass that sixth forms, apprenticeships and employers ask for.
The entry decision is made in Year 11. The year to improve your options is Year 9.
GCSE Maths
Foundation or Higher — the choice that decides the ceiling.
GCSE Maths is assessed across three papers of equal weight: one non-calculator and two calculator. Grades run from 9 down to 1. Grade 4 is a standard pass; grade 5 is a strong pass. Check your child's exam board — AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR differ in question style.
1 – 5
Foundation tier
Secure number work, basic algebra, ratio and percentages, standard shape and averages. The ceiling is grade 5. For a student working around grades 3 to 5, a secure 5 on Foundation is worth more than a 3 on Higher.
Marks are lost to arithmetic, not to hard topics.
4 – 9
Higher tier
Everything above plus quadratics, trigonometry, circle theorems, vectors, surds, algebraic proof and functions. Required for most A-level Maths courses, which typically ask for grade 7.
Grade 9 is as much about speed on unfamiliar problems as it is about knowledge.
Where GCSE marks are actually lost
Not on the hardest questions. On these:
- Fractions on the non-calculator paper — a Year 5 skill costing marks at GCSE.
- Ratio inside worded problems — students can do ratio; they cannot always find it in a paragraph.
- Not showing working — method marks are awarded even when the final answer is wrong. A bare wrong answer scores nothing.
- Negative signs in algebra — the single most common careless error in the whole subject.
- Units and rounding — right value, wrong units, no mark.
- Blank answers — the first line of a method often earns a mark on its own.
Four of those six are habits, not knowledge. Habits correct faster than content — which is why a student stuck on the same grade across three mocks can move once somebody diagnoses why the marks are going.
Exams and competitions
Everything your child will actually sit.
| Assessment | Year | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplication Tables Check | Year 4 | Statutory check on times tables recall to 12×12 |
| KS2 SATs | Year 6 | End of primary assessment; widely used for secondary set placement |
| 11+ entrance exams (GL, CEM and school-set papers) | Years 5–6 | Grammar and independent school admission |
| 13+ Common Entrance | Year 8 | Entry to many independent senior schools |
| School mocks | Years 10–11 | Tier entry decisions and predicted grades |
| GCSE Maths | Year 11 | Three papers, grades 9–1, Foundation or Higher tier |
UKMT maths challenges and olympiads we coach for
Challenge maths is where an able student finally gets stretched — and it is one of the few things on a sixth form or university application that cannot be bought.
| Challenge | Who it's for | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Maths Challenge | Years 5–6 | The gentlest entry point. Reasoning puzzles rather than curriculum speed |
| Junior Maths Challenge (UKMT) | Year 8 and below | Leads to the Junior Kangaroo and Junior Mathematical Olympiad |
| Intermediate Maths Challenge | Year 11 and below | Leads to Grey and Pink Kangaroo, and the Cayley, Hamilton and Maclaurin olympiads |
| Senior Maths Challenge | Year 13 and below | Leads to the Senior Kangaroo and the British Mathematical Olympiad |
Challenge maths is not harder textbook maths. It is a separate skill — reading an unfamiliar problem and finding a way in. We teach it as its own track, alongside school maths, never instead of it.
What UK parents tell us
You've probably said one of these.
“She's fine in class but falls apart in tests.”
A memorised method rather than an understood one. Classwork is done with the example on the board; an exam isn't. We check understanding by asking a child to explain the method, not perform it.
“I can't help — they do it completely differently now.”
You're not imagining it. Bar models, the grid method and chunking teach the reasoning behind the arithmetic rather than the shortcut you were taught. Both reach the same answer. You don't need to learn the new method — use the four checks further down this page instead.
“Will he get into the top set in Year 7?”
That rests on Year 5 and Year 6 work, especially times tables fluency, fractions and worded problems. If your child is in Year 4 or 5 now, this is the cheapest moment there will ever be to influence it.
“We're doing the 11+ and I don't know where to start.”
11+ maths tests reasoning under time pressure, not curriculum coverage. A child who is strong in class can still find it hard. We prepare for the paper your target schools actually set, and we'll tell you honestly whether the timescale is realistic.
“The school has put her in for Foundation and I'm not happy.”
It's worth a conversation, not a fight. A secure grade 5 on Foundation beats a grade 3 on Higher. We'll assess her against the Higher content and give you an honest view you can take back to school — in either direction.
“He needs a grade 4 to get into sixth form.”
Then the work is accuracy, not ambition. At grade 3 to 4, marks are lost to arithmetic, missing working and blank answers far more than to difficult topics. That is fixable, and faster than most parents expect.
“She's bored. She finishes everything first.”
Then she needs stretching, not revision. We run an accelerated track and coach the UKMT Junior and Intermediate Challenges. Top of the set is not the same as having nothing left to learn.
“He's never caught up since lockdown.”
Common, and fixable. Rebuilding is faster than learning the first time. A gap of one to two years usually closes in three to six months of twice-weekly 1-to-1 work, with schoolwork running in parallel so he doesn't fall further behind.
Why one-to-one
The whole point of tuition is that the lesson can go backwards.
A child with a Year 5 gap sitting in a Year 9 group class gets the Year 9 lesson — which is exactly what's already failing at school.
| School classroom | Online group class | 2ndRank 1-to-1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Students per tutor | 28–32 | 6–12 | 1 |
| Can the lesson go back 3 years? | No | No | Yes |
| Whose pace | The scheme of work's | The room's | Your child's |
| Saying "I still don't get it" | In front of the class | In front of peers | Privately |
| Same tutor throughout | Changes yearly | Often rotates | Yes |
| Diagnostic before starting | No | Rare | Always, free |
| Written progress reports | Termly | On request | Monthly |
| Price per lesson | — | ~£25 | From £12 |
The 2ndRank method
Five steps. The second one is the one that works.
- 01
Diagnose
A free 30-minute assessment with a real tutor — not a quiz, not a sales call. We find the earliest concept your child cannot explain, which is rarely the one they are currently failing.
- 02
Go back
We teach that concept properly, even when it sits three years below. This feels wrong to most parents and it is the step every other programme skips.
- 03
Run two tracks at once
School maths continues alongside the repair, so your child never falls further behind the class while catching up on the past.
- 04
Make them explain it
Every lesson ends with your child teaching the method back to the tutor. A student who can explain it won't lose it before the exam.
- 05
Report in writing
A written progress report every month, sent without you asking. You will always know what changed and what is next.
What we won't do: promise a grade by a date, stretch a 50-lesson course across 100 lessons to bill longer, or sell you a package your child doesn't need. If the assessment says they're fine, we'll tell you that.
Programmes by year group
Years 1 to 11, one track each.
| Age | Year | Programme | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–7 | Years 1–2 | Maths Foundations | Number bonds, place value, addition and subtraction fluency, early shape |
| 7–9 | Years 3–4 | Lower KS2 Maths | Times tables to automatic recall for the Year 4 check, written methods, fractions. Primary Maths Challenge |
| 9–11 | Years 5–6 | Upper KS2 & SATs | Fractions, decimals, percentages, ratio, worded reasoning problems, KS2 SATs preparation |
| 9–11 | Years 5–6 | 11+ Maths | Reasoning under time pressure, non-routine problems, past papers for your target schools |
| 11–14 | Years 7–9 | KS3 Maths | Ratio, negative numbers, algebra, equations, angles. Junior Maths Challenge |
| 14–16 | Years 10–11 | GCSE Maths | Full Foundation or Higher specification, exam technique, past papers by board. Intermediate Maths Challenge |
| Any | Any | Accelerated Track | For students already ahead — UKMT challenge coaching and deeper problem solving. One rank above wherever they are |
Scheduling
Lessons in UK time.
After school and weekends
Weekday after-school and evening slots, plus weekend mornings. Your lesson time is fixed and always shown in UK time.
BST and GMT handled for you
When the clocks change in March and October, we move the lesson. Your slot stays where it is in your calendar.
Our tutors are based internationally and teach the National Curriculum in UK hours. You will meet your child's tutor at the free assessment, before you commit to anything.
Try this tonight
Four checks that tell you more than a school report.
1 · The explain test
Ask why a method works, not to do it. "Why do you turn the second fraction upside down when you divide?" A child who can only perform it has memorised, not understood.
2 · The speed test
Times tables and number bonds should be recalled, not worked out. Watch for the pause and the glance upward — that pause costs marks in every exam they will ever sit.
3 · The backwards test
Give them a question from two year groups below. It should be effortless. If it isn't, you have just found the real gap.
4 · The worded problem test
Plenty of children can solve 3x + 7 = 22 but cannot turn a sentence into it. That gap is translation, not maths — and GCSE papers punish it hardest.
Questions UK parents ask
Straight answers.
Free assessment
Find out what year group your child is actually working at.
Thirty minutes with a real tutor, on real questions. Afterwards we'll tell you plainly where they are and what it would take to move — including when the honest answer is that they don't need us.
No card · No obligation · No follow-up calls you didn't ask for