Resources · For parents · UK and UAE

Parent guides to
maths learning

These guides explain what your child is learning in maths at each stage, how it is assessed, and where a parent can genuinely help. They are written for families in the UK and the UAE, including those lining up a British, IB or CBSE year with the one before a move.

Start with a free class 55 minutes · no card required

ClassArc is live one-to-one online maths tutoring for school-age children. One teacher and one child, for 55 minutes. The same teacher every week. Classes run inside our own classroom software, not a video call: a shared worksheet you both write on, a shared whiteboard, and answers that sync live.

How a class works · About ClassArc · Pricing

Parent guides to maths explain each stage
in plain English

Each guide below covers one stage or curriculum: what is taught, how it is tested, and the handful of topics that everything later depends on. None of them assumes you are confident with maths yourself.

Families who have moved between the UK and the UAE should read the guide for the curriculum the new school follows, then compare it with what came before. Year labels do not line up neatly: Year 10 in a British school is roughly Grade 9 in an American-style school and Class 9 in CBSE, and topics can arrive in a different order.

Every guide finishes with practical steps you can take at home this week.

Primary maths guides: number sense comes first

Primary maths builds place value, the four operations, fractions and times tables. Most difficulties that surface at secondary school began here without anyone noticing.

Secondary maths guides: algebra, then the exam years

The early secondary years are when maths stops being about an answer and starts being about a method. The exam years then add tiers, calculator and non-calculator papers, and exam-board differences.

Sixth-form maths guides: the biggest step in school maths

The move from 16 to 18 is the steepest in the subject. Content gets much harder, and students are expected to work far more on their own.

Helping with maths at home needs routine, not expertise

You can help a great deal without being able to do the maths. The four habits below work at every stage.

A guide shows what is coming;
a lesson shows where your child is

A guide cannot tell you whether your child's particular gap is normal or growing. Watching them work usually can, and a teacher who does that for a living will normally know within one lesson.

ClassArc's first class is free: a full 55-minute one-to-one lesson with the teacher who would teach your child afterwards, no card required. We then tell you what we found, including when we think tutoring is not needed. UK families can read about lessons on our UK page; families in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah on our UAE page.

55

minutes in the free first class, the same length as every class after it

Guides for UK and UAE parents

We have moved between the UK and the UAE. Which guide should I read?
Start with the guide for the curriculum the new school follows, then compare its topic list with the old one. Year groups rarely match exactly between systems, and a topic taught in Year 7 in one school can appear in Year 8 in another.
Do I need to understand the maths to use these guides?
No. The guides explain what is being taught and how it is assessed, so you can ask the school sharper questions and set up a routine at home. The maths itself can stay with your child and their teachers.
How do families in the UAE get in touch?
Book a free class using the form on this page, or message us on WhatsApp on +91 78781 48026 and a person will reply within a day. UAE prices in dirhams are on the UAE pricing page.
free

On us, always

55 minutes. The real classroom. No card. We confirm details on email and WhatsApp within a day.

1
A full 55-minute class, exactly like a real lesson, not a sales pitch.
2
Schedule details sent via email and WhatsApp within 24 hours.
3
If it doesn't click, you owe nothing. No card, no commitment.
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