What primary maths actually covers, year by year
Year 1 and 2 (KS1) build the foundations: counting and place value to 100, addition and subtraction within 20 with fluency, beginnings of multiplication (2s, 5s, 10s), simple fractions (halves, quarters), measurement and shape recognition. Tutoring at this level is rare and usually targeted at children with specific gaps — a child who hasn’t grasped that 17 is “ten and seven” rather than “one-seven” by Year 2 will struggle with everything that builds on place value.
Years 3 and 4 (lower KS2): the workhorse years. Times tables 1-12 by end of Year 4 with the multiplication tables check (MTC) — a 25-question online test in June with six seconds per question. Written methods for addition, subtraction, multiplication and short division. Equivalent fractions, decimals to two places. This is where most primary maths gaps form — a child who passes through Year 4 without secure times tables enters Year 5 at a permanent disadvantage.
Years 5 and 6 (upper KS2): the curriculum gets serious. Long multiplication (3-digit by 2-digit), long division, fractions of amounts, percentages, decimals to three places, ratio and proportion, basic algebra (missing-number equations, simple sequences), area and perimeter of compound shapes, angles, coordinates in four quadrants. Year 6 ends with KS2 SATs — three papers covering all of this. The Arithmetic paper in particular punishes any weakness in basic written methods because it’s pure speed.
How to know if a tutor is right for primary
Three signals separate good primary maths tutors from average ones. First: they spend the first session diagnosing, not teaching. They give the child a mixed-topic test — usually a recent SATs paper or a topic-mapped diagnostic — and watch them work for 20-30 minutes. They identify the actual gaps, not the child’s stated worries. A child saying “I find fractions hard” usually has a place-value gap underneath, which is a 90-minute fix that opens up everything.
Second: they design sessions where the child wins early. Cheap dopamine works for under-10s. The first 10 minutes of every session should contain questions the child can definitely answer. This builds momentum and quiets the “I’m bad at maths” inner voice that catastrophically suppresses learning. A tutor who launches into the hardest topic and watches the child fold isn’t reading the room.
Third: they communicate with parents weekly without being asked. A two-line message after each session — what we covered, what went well, what’s homework — is the difference between parents who renew at term-end and parents who quietly disappear. Tutors who don’t communicate produce children who improve but parents who can’t see the improvement.
Pitfalls — three real cases
A parent in Croydon paid £45/hour for a Cambridge maths graduate to tutor her Year 4 daughter. The tutor was strong on content but couldn’t pace down — every session moved too fast, the daughter went silent, the mother concluded “she’s just bad at maths”. Switched to a £30/hour third-year primary education student. Slower, warmer, structured games. Within a term the daughter was top of her maths group. Lesson: match tutor experience to child age, not to ambition.
A Manchester family booked weekly tutoring for their Year 5 son targeting Manchester Grammar. The tutor was an 11+ specialist. The mother also asked for help with school homework. Sessions split between exam prep and homework. By the entrance exam, neither was solid. He didn’t get in. Lesson: pick one goal per tutor. If you’re 11+-prepping, that’s the session — homework is the parent’s problem.
A Reading family booked a tutor in March of Year 6 to “fix everything” before May SATs. Twelve weeks. The tutor was honest: SATs scaled scores might move from 95 to 102, not 95 to 115. The mother understood. The boy went 96 to 103. Both were satisfied. Lesson: realistic timelines win. A tutor who promises “we’ll get him to greater depth” in 8 weeks is overselling.
Cost, scheduling, and what a typical term looks like
A typical KS2 SATs prep booking runs 12-15 weekly sessions from January to mid-May of Year 6. At £35/hour and 60-minute sessions, that’s £420-£525. Add a 4-session Easter intensive (£140) and you’re at £560-£665 total. For a child moving from working-towards (under 100) to expected (100+) on the scaled score, this is around the cheapest grade-band upgrade money buys.
For 11+ work, the standard pattern is weekly tutoring from spring of Year 4 through to the September of Year 6. That’s around 60 sessions over 18 months. At £45/hour, total spend is £2,700. Many families add a second tutor in the final six months specifically for verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Total budget for serious 11+ prep: £3,000-£4,500. Significant, but cheaper than a single year of independent fees if it secures a free grammar place.
For confidence-building in Years 3-5 — the largest single category — weekly 45-minute sessions for one term (12 weeks) at £30/hour totals £270. Often that’s enough. Once the child is comfortable with subtraction by exchanging or knows 7×8 instantly, they catch up at school and don’t need more.
TheTutorLink charges 5% commission and offers a free first session, which matters more for primary work than for older students. A 9-year-old who hates the trial tutor will spend 45 minutes silent and the parent will struggle to know if it’s worth booking again. The free first session lets the parent and child sample multiple tutors without paying for a mismatch. Tutorful and Superprof at 20-25% commission are paying the same parent rate, but the tutor sees £5-£10 less per hour — which over 30 sessions is £150-£300 of value lost to the platform. For primary work, where rates are already lower, those margins matter.