When/would you start maths tuition?

[GoingOnHol]

DD is year 7/first year of senior school and first report has her at expected level for everything except maths. She's always struggled with it and I don't want her getting further behind or just scraping by until closer to GCSEs and it feeling a bit late to start with extra help.
would it be worth doing something now, and if so what? There's a Kip McGrath place nearby but wasn't sure what it actually is....

There is no general time that's best for tuition, only what's right for the child.

Two years are given to cover maths at GCSE, which for the most part is a repeat of KS3 from years 7 to 9.

With this said, maths is a subject that becomes unnecessarily difficult for the child if they fall behind. This causes many problems in being able to make sense of lessons at school in a way that damages confidence. For this reason, you need to make sure that they are engaging regular practise so that they can keep up to speed with what's covered in school lessons.

Tuition is an option, but it's not a magic answer. A good tutor will provide direction needed to make sense of maths, but progress will only be made if the child can practise the tutor's guidance between lessons. If relying too much on a tutor without practise, children will forget what they learnt by the next lesson - meaning you pay multiple times for the same lesson.

An alternative or complement to hiring a tutor you should consider is the use of learning content. Using this means that the focus is on doing the regular practise needed. The child is also not under pressure to memorise everything explained in a lesson because a video can be rewatched at any time.