KS3 Tutor.

Key Stage 3 is Years 7, 8 and 9, ages 11 to 14. The national curriculum for England covers English, maths and science plus history, geography, a modern foreign language, design and technology, art, music, PE, computing and citizenship. Academies don't have to follow it, but must teach a broad curriculum including English, maths and science.

What KS3 doesn't have is a national exam. Tests at 14 were scrapped in 2008 (a statutory Year 8 reading test has been announced, with no confirmed start date), so "on track" on a report is the school's own scale. That is why gaps compound quietly. Negative numbers that never landed in Year 7 become equations that don't work in Year 8, then the algebra that decides whether a Year 10 sits higher-tier GCSE maths. Our guide to whether your child needs a KS3 tutor maps the Year 7 and 8 gaps that cost GCSE grades.

Most KS3 tutoring is maths, then English, then science. The curriculum says what is taught across the three years but not when, so the tutor follows your school's own topic order and lessons run alongside the class rather than against it.

For maths, our guide to KS3 maths in Years 7 to 9 sets out what each year covers and why Year 8 is the one to watch. Subject pages: English tutors, science tutors and language tutors.

The first lesson is a diagnosis. The tutor sets a short gap check — number, fractions, negatives and basic algebra in maths; a short read and a paragraph of writing in English — and watches your child work on a shared whiteboard. The gap is often older than the year group suggests: a Year 8 stuck on equations may really be stuck on negative numbers from primary school.

Afterwards you get a plain summary: what your child can already do, the gaps holding them back, and a rough plan. Lessons usually run 45 minutes to an hour, once a week, after school. Each one is recorded, so your child can rewatch a method and you can see how the tutor works with them.

Most parents start by searching for KS3 tutors near them. Online, distance stops mattering, so we match on what does: tell us the year group, the subject, what the last report said and what you have noticed at home. Within 24 hours we come back with Key Stage 3 tutors who teach that subject at this level and are used to 11 to 14-year-olds — a skill in itself.

Then you meet them, free, as many as you like until one clicks. At this age the relationship does much of the work, so give your child a say. Ask how the tutor will find out what the school is teaching this term, and how they will show you it is working. Tutors are safeguarding-trained with qualifications verified, and DBS-checked tutors are marked on their profiles.

Most children wobble in the first half term of Year 7 and settle without help; our guide to helping your child settle in Year 7 covers that normal dip. The signs worth acting on are more specific:

• A KS2 scaled score under 100 in maths or reading. 100 is the expected standard in the Year 6 SATs; a short autumn block closes the gap before new content is built on top.
• CATs and setting. Many schools run CAT4 reasoning tests early in Year 7 (100 is average) and use them with KS2 results to set for maths (typical — check your school). A lower set is not a verdict; solid work is what moves sets.
• Reports that slide: a drop of a set, or "below target" twice running.
• Homework that regularly ends in tears or takes far longer than set — usually a gap, not laziness.
• "I'm just bad at maths", repeated for weeks.

If the issue is tiredness, friendships or organisation, talk to the form tutor first. Our list of signs your child needs a tutor helps tell the difference.

Most schools ask children to choose GCSE options in Year 9, typically between January and March (check your school), and end-of-year results often decide Year 10 classes and the maths tier. That tier has a ceiling: foundation GCSE maths is capped at grade 5, while higher covers grades 4 to 9. A child entered for foundation because Year 8 algebra never landed cannot get above a 5, however well they do on the day.

Many schools also decide around Year 9 between combined science, worth two GCSEs, and the three separate sciences — our combined vs triple science guide explains the difference. For this year's Year 9, GCSE exams fall in summer 2029, so Year 9 is better spent making the core secure than racing ahead: a spring block on algebra or analytical writing does more for options and tier entry than early past papers. From Year 10, a GCSE maths tutor picks up from there.

Lessons run from £18 an hour, pay as you go, with no contracts, no registration fee and no minimum block. Tutors set their own rates, from £18 to £40 an hour, according to experience and specialism. You are paying for an hour planned around your child's specific gaps, plus the recording.

A typical KS3 plan is one lesson a week for around ten weeks, then a review: stop, pause or move on to the next gap. A gap closed in Year 8 doesn't have to be fixed in Year 11, alongside GCSE content and exam technique. Cancel free up to 24 hours before a lesson. Our tutor cost guide compares the options.