How To Get Better At Maths — 9 Tips To Improve Your Grades

1. Focus on building a number sense

One of the best ways to improve your maths skills is to focus on building a number sense. This means understanding what numbers represent, and being able to work with them confidently in your head. Start by practising basic addition and subtraction. Then learning multiplication and division, doing as much as you can without using a calculator.

Students should be able to look at their answer and say 'that seems too big'. Always unpack your thinking and ask 'why did I do that?' or 'does this make sense?'. Or simply recognise when you're guessing and not using logic to arrive at a solution. Here are 4 practical ways to build a solid number sense:

Understand place value

Place value is understanding the value of each digit in a number. It's a critical foundation for Maths success and a basic math skill that students often struggle with.

A good way to understand place value is by using physical objects to represent numbers. Using blocks, counters or even coins, students can physically move around the digits to help them understand what each number represents.

Learn your times tables

Probably the only thing you need to memorise when learning math is your times tables. The sooner you can recall your tables mentally, with speed - the better. Don't wait till grade 6 to begin practising them. By grade 4, you should be able to recite all of them without much thought.

If you want to improve your multiplication skills, be sure to check out our free online times tables speed test. It's perfect for anyone who wants to finesse their accuracy in a low-stakes environment.

Estimate and reflect

Students should understand how to estimate their answer before they calculate it. This is a good way to check if your answer makes sense. For example, if you're asked to subtract 50 from 2000 and your answer is near 1000, you know you've done something wrong.

You should always take a moment to think about whether the answer is reasonable. If it isn't, you can go back and check your work. This reflection habit will stay with you long after you leave school.

Mental Maths strategies

Mental maths is a great way to improve math skills. Learn to solve math problems in your head, without using a calculator or pen and paper. This might sound difficult, but there are loads of simple mental math strategies you can use to make things easier.

For example, when adding 9 to any number, you can just add 10 and then subtract 1. So if you're trying to add 9 + 7 in your head, you can do it like this: 10 + 7 = 17, 17 - 1 = 16.