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KS2 maths (SATs / 11+) – what do you actually struggle with?

8 replies

PB1210 · 12/02/2026 22:26

Hello 😊
Quick question for parents of Years 3–6.
With so many maths books and websites available, do you still find helping your child stressful?
• What’s hardest — explaining concepts, fractions, word problems, exam-style questions?
• Do current books focus too much on practice and not enough on understanding?
• Would you prefer structured books/worksheets or a complete online platform (teaching + practice + tracking) or mix of both ?
• Would it help if understanding and practice were separate but followed the same modules and levels?
Trying to understand real parent struggles before creating something genuinely useful — thank you 🙏

OP posts:
QuickBlueKoala · 13/02/2026 06:29

Not for SATs prep (my kids school doesn’t do SATS), but in general:

  • mathsfactor is amazing (sadly stopping end of the year), but cery much enjoyed by both of mine, with great results
  • corbett maths is good
  • cgp books are good
TheGoodEnoughWife · 13/02/2026 06:35

I suspect helping your child with maths is tricky more because you are attempting any learning when they aren’t in school and so in their minds they are ‘off’. Also they see you as parent and not teacher.

I think it is more about that than the resources available.

As a parent and a maths teacher I suggest more board games, more cooking and more talking to embed maths into every day life.

IceIceSlippyIce · 13/02/2026 07:01

Primary school msths, for the top achieving sims is a low grade GCSE. My maths is strong. No issues there.
Whstc wuold be nice is sonething to stretch and challenge the better mathematicians - NRICH like material mainlh for school lesson use.

DeafLeppard · 13/02/2026 07:24

There’s loads of really high quality stuff out there - we’ve used both the Maths Factor online and Cpg books. Main problem is trying to figure out what the hell they are being taught in school.

Loads of great YouTube channels as well.

11PlusKnuckles · 13/02/2026 09:01

We found Peter Robson Maths books best at explaining difficult areas.
Schofield & Sims Mental Artihmetic was perfect for speed & accuracy.
Atom Learning was also good to gain a solid foundation in the basics.

11PlusKnuckles · 13/02/2026 09:03

TTRockstar was brilliant at securing multiplications/division fast - most primary schools offer this free.

PB1210 · 13/02/2026 11:53

do you think if we have 2 books covering all areas 1 theory book and another workbook with levels and mirror image of each other, with a single platform to practice, that will make parents' lives easier? Parents can track the progress of their child and monitor areas of weakness.

OP posts:
LetItGoToRuin · 13/02/2026 15:13

I'm afraid that, the more I think about this, the less I think it is possible to fill the perceived gap how you are describing. My response has turned out to be a bit negative, but I think it's worth sharing if only to prompt some further thoughts from you and from others.

There are already online offerings that include learning resources and practice materials for both SATs and 11 plus. Obviously they come at a cost, but I would expect these to have fulfilled your brief already. Are you hoping to challenge the likes of Atom and CGP+?

From your second comment - I don't think a single theory book and workbook (with online tracking and tests) could meet the needs of all parents helping their children to prepare for maths test for both the 11 plus and SATs.

Children of all abilities take SATs. Even if one ignores the fact that SATs home prep ought to be unnecessary as SATs are as much about the school as the individual students, the range of abilities is too wide for one theory book to cover adequately.

For the 11 plus, the maths requirements vary between schools/areas and the standard is generally higher than for SATs, and for some specific schools it is considerably higher.

These books would have to be enormous, and parents would need to sift through all that content to find the relevant sections - which is effectively what they do anyway when looking for suitable material for their children.

Within the more affordable paper materials you can simply choose books for a lower or higher year group or go for the stretch materials.

If a maths concept is alien to a parent, it's easy to use an internet search for online explanations/videos.

The other people that have responded so far have mentioned a range of resources they have used, depending on the needs of their children. I don't think it's very difficult to find material at a suitable level for your child if you are an engaged parent.

I dare say there's space in the market for another set of resources though.

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