Is This Year 12 Group Right For Your Child?

A shared interactive whiteboard with a student's maths workings

Lessons run on Pencil Spaces, a shared digital classroom rather than just a video call.

This group is for students who enjoyed maths at GCSE, considered themselves good at it, and chose it for A Level. It is for you if:

Your child is in Year 12 (Lower Sixth) studying Edexcel A Level Maths
They came out of GCSE with a grade 7 and they are aiming for an A or a B
Or they got a grade 8 and are capable but underconfident, which is more common than most parents realise
You know that A Level Maths is challenging and you want them supported from the start
You want the foundation built properly now, rather than a rescue job in the spring

Grade 6 students, honestly. A 6 makes A Level maths really quite difficult. Your child can still join, but only after a conversation with me first, and only if they are prepared to work really hard to close the gap. I would rather say this now than have an awkward conversation later down the line. If you want some advice on whether your Grade 6 child should even be doing A Level Maths, then please get in touch and I'm happy to advise you.

And who it is not for. Students who are already flying and want stretch beyond the course, who got a Grade 9 at GCSE, or who are aiming for an A*, and it's not for students who have already fallen a long way behind. This group is about getting the foundation right from the start to set them up for success in Year 13.

Everything Your Child Gets Every Week

Weekly Live Lesson

An hour taught live on a shared interactive whiteboard, so I see your child's working as they do it rather than just the final answer. Very interactive, not sitting and listening.

Tuesdays 6 to 7pm

The Hardest Questions, Done with Proper Attention

At the end of every textbook exercise sit the hardest questions that rarely get done properly. We do them, at the time, in full. Most exam questions are pitched at exactly that level, not the easy questions at the start of the exercise.

Exam Questions I Mark Myself

Two to three exam questions a week, marked by me personally with video, audio or written feedback, whichever suits the work. Not just a mark scheme to tell them what they have got wrong and why.

Marking included

An Independent Task They Mark Themselves

Honest self-checking is a skill in itself, and it is the one most Year 12s never learn. They send me a short written reflection on how it went, and I read every one.

A Group of Five, Maximum

Five students is enough that they can bounce ideas off each other, and few enough that they still get individual attention from me every week.

In Step with Their School

I keep a running record of what each student has covered, so sessions work on topics everyone has already met at school rather than running on a separate track.

What This Group Does Not Do

Stretch Beyond the A Level Course

If your child is already flying and wants olympiad-style problems or work beyond the specification, or they are only interested in getting an A*, this is not the right group. The work here is the A Level course, taught to the top of its difficulty, which is a different thing.

Rescue a Student Who Is Far Behind

This is a foundation, not a rescue service. If your child has already fallen a long way behind, the Year 12 Recovery Course or one to one lessons will do more for them. We can discuss this once you get in touch.

Amy

Qualified Teacher • 12 Years in the Classroom

Why Trust Me With Your Child's A Level?

12 years teaching secondary maths, Year 7 through to Year 13
Edexcel specialist, so I know how the questions are built and what the examiners are looking for
Qualified teacher with QTS, and an enhanced DBS
Five star rated on Google by the families I work with
An honest answer, always - if the group is not right for your child, I will tell you. I only want students who will really benefit from it.

I have spent years picking up Year 13 students in a panic, and the story is nearly always the same. Year 12 went fine, or seemed to at the start, and suddenly their Year 12 mocks were very disappointing, and they were starting Year 13 with a mountain of Year 12 catch up to do.

By then you are rebuilding a whole year of maths in the middle of the hardest year of the course. It is much better to do it properly the first time.

What Actually Goes Wrong in Year 12

Almost every student starts Year 12 (Lower Sixth) maths feeling confident. The opening chapters are manageable, often easier than they expected, and that is exactly the trap. They get comfortable quickly: do the homework, nothing more, no going back over anything.

The easy start is the downfall.

The complacency shows up in a specific place. At the end of every textbook exercise sit the hardest questions, and they rarely get done properly. Half attempted, answers alongside, no honest self-checking. Students later complain that the textbook did not prepare them for the exam, but most exam questions are pitched at exactly the level of those final questions. A student who genuinely masters them is a long way towards understanding how difficult questions are built.

Then there is the cliff. Year 13 is significantly harder than Year 12, which makes Year 12 more important, not less. Students need to walk into Year 13 with the Year 12 content secure, so that all of their headspace goes on the new material. The ones who drifted through Year 12 spend Year 13 keeping their head above water, relearning things they never learned in depth, right when the course demands the most of them.

The last failure mode is past papers. When revision finally feels urgent there is no time to revisit every chapter properly, so students cram papers back to back instead. But past papers only sample the course, and doing paper after paper without going back to the concepts in between is not revision. Glancing at a mark scheme and thinking "that makes sense" is not the same as understanding.

Amy at her home desk, with a maths problem open on the laptop and her graphics tablet beside the keyboard

How the Year Runs

This group runs the whole year the other way round from the way it usually goes.

The hardest questions, at the time. Not saved for revision, not half attempted with the answers open. We work through them properly in the week the topic is taught, while it is still fresh.
Content revisited before it fades. We continuously revisit old topics all year so that they stay fresh and do not need cramming when the exams come around.
Exam questions marked every week. Two or three of them, marked by me with personalised feedback, so your child knows what to do to improve each week.
Honest self-checking, taught as a skill. The independent task each week is marked by your child, with a short, written reflection I read. Mastering this independent revision work is essential.
Year 13 in mind all year. Everything here exists so that your child walks into Year 13 with Year 12 secure and their full attention free for the new material.

Working Alongside School

Every student finds out from their teacher the order their school is teaching the course, and shares it with me. This is a requirement of joining. I keep a running record of what each student has covered, so the group stays relevant to their week at school instead of running on a separate track.

Important Details

Before I sign your child up for this it would be great if we could have a conversation, on the phone, on a video call or on WhatsApp, so we can talk about their GCSE result and what they want from A Level

£250 to £400 per half term

Works out to £50 per session. A half term is 5 to 8 sessions, which is where the range comes from. Billed per half term in advance.

Weekly live hour, Tuesdays 6 to 7pm, taught by me
Edexcel A Level Maths only
Maximum 5 students in the room
Homework and personally marked exam questions, included
A fixed group for the whole of Year 12 (Lower Sixth), September through to summer
Join mid-block and pay pro-rata for the sessions that are left

Ask About a Place

How a Place Works

1. A conversation first

You, your child and me, talking about their GCSE result and what they actually want out of A Level maths. It usually takes twenty minutes and it tells me most of what I need to know.

2. A trial lesson

If it looks like the right fit, your child sits a trial lesson with the group before you commit to a block. You will just pay £50 for the first lesson, and then decide if you want to commit to the whole block.

3. The honest conversation, where it is needed

One of my core values in my tutoring practice is honesty. If I think this group is not right for your child I will tell you. Schools often do not honestly answer questions, for many reasons, but I am happy to.

Frequently Asked Questions

My child got a 7 and is finding the start fine. Surely they will be OK? ▼

Finding the start manageable is normal, nearly everyone does, and it tells you almost nothing. The students who come unstuck in Year 12 are very often the ones who found the first term comfortable and assumed it would stay that way. A weekly hour of structured teaching, plus marked exam questions with real feedback, is a modest cost next to a year of catch-up one to one lessons once the gaps have compounded.

Would you continue with my child in Year 13? ▼

If you want to continue beyond Year 12, we will have a conversation about what is most appropriate. That might be another group if one is running, or one to one tutoring with me or with one of my associate tutors. I have a Year 13 exam maths specialist I would happily hand a student to.

My child got a grade 6. Can they join? ▼

Possibly, but we talk first. A 6 makes A Level maths genuinely difficult, and it only works if your child is prepared to work hard to close the gap alongside the group.

Is this instead of one to one tutoring? ▼

For a student in this position, usually yes. They do not need remedial attention, they need harder work, proper marking and other students working at the same level. If your child has real gaps to close, one to one is the better route. One to one lessons are charged at £85 per session, with a marked homework every week.

How much homework is there? ▼

An independent task your child marks themselves, with a short, written reflection, plus two to three exam questions I mark. It is designed to sit alongside school work, not compete with it, and the marking is included in the fee rather than charged on top.

What if my child misses a lesson? ▼

They will be sent a recording of the session, and the homework goes out as usual so they do not fall out of step with the group.

Can we join partway through a block? ▼

Yes, if there is a place free. You are billed pro-rata for the sessions that are left.

What do we need at home? ▼

A laptop or tablet with a working microphone, and a quiet spot to sit for the hour. Lessons run on Pencil Spaces, a shared digital classroom including a video call, so your child writes on the same board I do. A cheap graphics tablet or an iPad is essential for writing on the screen.