If your child’s university offer requires an A in Maths but their recent assessed work is below that, it can be hard to know what to focus on next. An A Level Maths tutor can go through the marked work with your child and help turn what it shows into practice from the course your child’s school follows.
What to focus on next
- Bring recent assessed work and any teacher feedback into the conversation about the A your child needs.
- A tutor can discuss how your child approached the questions before suggesting what to practise first.
- Practice can focus on those priorities using questions from your child’s own course.
- Later attempts can help your child and the tutor decide whether to continue, adjust the practice or revisit an explanation.
The offer asks for an A and the recent work is below it
An A in the offer gives your child a clear target, but it does not tell them what to practise next. Recent assessed work gives a tutor something specific to discuss with them: the questions they attempted, the working they wrote and any feedback from the teacher.
Keep the offer requirement, the assessment result and the school’s predicted grade distinct when discussing support. If the school’s prediction and the recent results seem difficult to reconcile, ask the teacher to explain the difference. The tutoring question is what your child needs to work on next.
What can recent assessed work and teacher feedback tell you?
A marked assessment gives you more to discuss than the total alone. You and your child can look at the questions they attempted, the working they wrote and any comments beside it. If a comment is unclear, your child can ask the teacher what it refers to.
A tutor can ask your child to explain how they approached a question and what happened when they stopped or changed direction. That conversation can help identify something to revisit. A blank answer or a crossed-out line is a starting point for a question, not an explanation on its own.
Not sure what the last assessment is telling you?
Tell us what your child was assessed on and what the teacher said. A tutor can look at the working with your child and talk through what to focus on first.
Ask about a tutorWhat an A Level Maths tutor in Doha can do with the marked work
In an online lesson on the shared whiteboard, a tutor can put the marked paper up and go through the working with your child. They can ask your child to explain a step, try part of the question again or show where they became unsure. This gives the tutor more to work from than the mark alone.
The tutor and your child can then discuss what to practise first. That might involve revisiting an explanation or trying another question with support. Any priorities can be reconsidered as your child attempts more work, rather than treating the first paper as a complete account of what they need.
This clip shows a maths lesson recorded in Pencil Spaces, the online classroom used by Greenhill Academics.
Would you like a tutor to look at the working with your child?
Tell us which topics the recent work covered. A tutor can go through the marked answers with your child on the shared whiteboard and discuss the priorities together.
Send an enquiryTurning priorities into practice from your child’s own course
A tutor can turn a priority into a practice task using questions from your child’s course. They can work through an example together, then ask your child to try another question and explain their approach. Your child can bring the school’s revision materials so the tutor can see what they have been asked to practise.
There is more than one course behind the name A Level Maths. If you know which one your child’s school follows, mention it when you enquire. Our Abu Dhabi article, How an A Level Maths tutor in Abu Dhabi helps your child revise for their exam board, is about choosing revision material for the course your child follows.
How do you know whether the practice is working?
In a later lesson, your child and the tutor can compare attempts at similar questions. They can discuss which steps your child completed independently, where help was needed and whether an explanation needs another look. That gives them a basis for deciding whether to continue with similar practice or change the task.
A stronger attempt is useful evidence to discuss, but it does not settle the final grade. An unsuccessful attempt can also give the tutor something to work with. Keep the A as the goal while reviewing the actual working and your child’s explanation, rather than treating each new score as a verdict on the university offer.
Hugh and Ejaz, two of our maths tutors
Hugh completed a DPhil in Surgical Sciences at the University of Oxford and holds a First-Class MSci in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College London. He has over a decade of tutoring experience and teaches Maths, Further Maths, IB Maths and Physics at all levels, from GCSE through to university entrance.
Ejaz has over three years of tutoring experience. He specialises in GCSE and A Level Mathematics and Physics, and took the International Baccalaureate himself, with a 7 in Higher Level Mathematics.
Would you like your child to work with Hugh or Ejaz?
Both teach A Level Maths online. Their profiles are linked above, and you can name either of them in your enquiry.
Ask about Hugh or EjazWhat parents ask when the offer says an A
The offer needs an A and the recent assessment was below it. Is that still realistic?
The mark alone cannot answer that. A tutor can review the assessed work with your child, discuss what needs attention and help them choose what to practise. That supports work towards the A without predicting the result.
Does one low assessment mean my child cannot get an A?
One assessment is not enough to draw that conclusion. Ask the teacher how it fits with your child’s other work, and use the marked answers to discuss what needs attention.
Should my child practise the whole course or only the parts they lost marks on?
A tutor can help your child choose priorities while considering what the assessment did and did not cover. Practice can include those areas without assuming that the rest of the course needs no attention.
Does it matter which A Level Maths course my child’s school follows?
It can. More than one course is taught under the name A Level Maths, so ask the school which one your child follows and mention it when you enquire.
What if the next practice paper is no better?
Your child and the tutor can review the working and discuss where help was still needed. They can then decide whether to revisit an explanation, change the practice or spend longer on it.
Does your child need help working towards the A in their offer?
Tell us what your child is finding difficult in Maths. A tutor can review their assessed work with them and help turn the next priority into practice from their course.
Make an enquiry