In England, Year 6 is your child’s final year of primary school, so you may already be thinking about what that means for their maths journey ahead. Which skills do they need to take with them into secondary school?
Thankfully, we don’t need to squeeze the entire Year 6 curriculum into one mental checklist. Secondary maths relies on a handful of skills your child has been building throughout primary school and continues to develop in Year 6.
Let’s look at what those skills are, why they can create difficulties during the transition from primary to secondary school and how you can get a sense of your child’s readiness at home.
By Year 6, your child has covered plenty of maths topics, including a few areas that are closely connected, in fact foundational, to what they will meet again at secondary school.
The DfE’s mathematics programme of study for Years 1 to 6 includes work with fractions, ratio and proportion, algebra and multi-step problems at this stage. Secondary maths at Key Stage 3 (KS3) then develops these ideas further rather than starting them from scratch.
So, which parts of that Year 6 maths will your child keep coming back to in secondary school?
Fractions, decimals and percentages form an important foundation for several areas of secondary maths, including ratio, proportion and algebra.
In Year 6, students compare, add and subtract fractions, including fractions with different denominators, and recognise connections between fractions, decimals and percentages.
At KS3, students extend this knowledge as they calculate with fractions and decimals in more complex problems and use the relationships between these forms in other areas of maths.
📕 You May Also Like: Why Fractions, Decimals & Percentages Confuse Your Child
Ratio and proportional reasoning in Year 6 prepare students for more advanced work with relationships between quantities at secondary school. Students compare quantities, use scale factors and solve problems where quantities change in proportion.
Secondary maths develops these ideas further by connecting ratio with fractions, measures, geometry and algebra. Students learn to recognise how quantities relate to one another and use those relationships to solve more complex problems.
📕 You May Also Like: How Proportional Reasoning Impacts GCSE Maths Success
Multi-step problem solving prepares students to make more of their own mathematical decisions at secondary school. By the end of primary school, students work through problems that require several steps and decide which operations and methods to use.
Secondary maths continues this progression with increasingly complex problems. Students need to identify the relevant information, choose suitable strategies and work out which operations will move them towards a solution.
Early algebraic thinking in Year 6 introduces ideas that develop into more formal algebra at KS3. Students use simple formulae, express missing-number problems algebraically and work with unknown values.
At secondary school, they build on this foundation through expressions, equations, formulae and relationships between variables. Familiarity with unknown values and simple mathematical relationships gives them a starting point for this more formal algebraic work.
Calculation fluency supports students as they work with fractions, ratio, algebra and multi-step problems in secondary maths.
Multiplication facts, mental calculation and written methods allow your child to carry out the necessary arithmetic more readily, leaving more attention for choosing a method, recognising relationships and reasoning through the problem.
The DfE includes mental calculation and formal written methods in Year 6, while KS3 builds on that numerical fluency as students tackle more complex maths.
📕 You May Also Like: Preparing for Year 7 Maths: A Summer Plan After Year 6 SATs
We may first see the effect of a Year 6 maths gap when your child meets a new topic that relies on what they haven’t fully understood.
The DfE’s KS3 mathematics guidance identifies upper-KS2 knowledge as prior learning for mathematical ideas students develop further at KS3.
We can follow that progression in three areas.
Multiplicative reasoning. In Year 6, students use multiplication and division to compare quantities, work with scale factors and solve ratio problems. As they move into KS3, they need to understand multiplication as scaling quantities, rather than relying only on repeated addition. This distinction becomes important when they work with fractions, percentages, ratio and proportion. DfE guidance specifically discusses this distinction between additive and multiplicative relationships.
Proportional reasoning. KS3 takes the multiplicative understanding further as students work with quantities that change in proportion. They also begin using letters and equations to describe how two quantities are related. If scaling, fractions or ratios are still uncertain, your child has less secure knowledge to draw on for this later work.
Independent problem solving. Students begin making more of the mathematical decisions for themselves at KS3, from choosing a suitable method to deciding which information they need. If an earlier skill still needs work, part of their attention goes back to that maths when they also need to decide how to approach the new problem.
How secure those earlier skills are can make a difference as your child moves forward. The DfE suggests progression should reflect students’ security of understanding and readiness to progress, with further consolidation where earlier material is not yet fluent.
For parents, the next question is how to assess their child’s readiness before secondary school begins.
📕 You May Also Like: Multiplication Tables Check 2026: A Guide to Year 4 Times Tables
Maths covers far too much for parents to work through every topic and decide for themselves whether their child is ready for secondary school. We can still look for useful clues without trying to assess everything ourselves.
So, what can we realistically pay attention to?
School feedback, conversations about maths and the amount of help your child needs can each tell us something about their readiness.
Here are a few simple places to start.
Look at their school feedback. Your child’s end-of-KS2 maths results and teacher feedback can show where they are doing well and where they may need further support. The DfE explains that this information can help identify areas where children may need extra help as they move to secondary school.
Listen to what your child tells you about maths. Do particular topics keep coming up as difficult? Do they seem comfortable explaining how they reached an answer, or do they mainly remember the steps they were shown? Their explanation doesn’t have to be mathematically perfect to give you useful clues about areas that may deserve another look.
Notice how much help they need. Pay particular attention to the Year 6 maths they will continue using in secondary school, such as fractions, ratio and multi-step problems. Can your child work through familiar questions independently, and what happens when the wording changes or they have to choose the method themselves? What you notice can be useful information to share with their teacher or a maths specialist.
Together, school feedback and what you notice at home can help you identify an area that may need attention. What they may not reveal is where the difficulty begins.
Your child might be struggling with ratio, for example, because an earlier skill in fractions, multiplication or division still needs attention.
This is where skill assessments can be a game-changer. When well-designed and properly conducted, skill assessments can pinpoint students' foundational knowledge gaps that stand in the way of truly understanding new topics.
Most Mathnasium centres provide the diagnostic assessment for free as part of our enrollment process. Our assessment identifies each student's exact skill level, knowledge gaps and learning needs, as well as learning style, allowing us to build a learning plan tailored to them.
📕 You May Also Like: Why Maths Confidence Matters More Than Maths Grades
At Mathnasium, we combine personal attention with a proven, maths-only curriculum, taught at the right pace for each child.
Mathnasium is a maths-only learning centre helping students of all skill levels excel in maths.
Whether your child needs to strengthen foundational skills for secondary school, keep pace with their current maths or take their learning further, we can help.
Our maths programmes reflect these different needs, supporting students as they catch up, keep up or get ahead. Each path starts from where your child is in maths and focuses on the skills they need to continue progressing.
To provide that individualised support, we use the Mathnasium Method™, our proprietary teaching approach designed to build maths mastery through deep understanding.
Every student starts with a diagnostic assessment that gives us a clear picture of their current maths skills, strengths and knowledge gaps. We use what we learn to create a personalised learning plan around their individual needs and goals.
Our specially trained instructors then teach each student face-to-face at the pace that is right for them, both in-centre and online. They use a combination of mental, verbal, visual, tactile and written techniques, so students can approach maths concepts in ways that make sense to them.
We also want students to feel involved in their maths learning. Games, earned rewards and recognition of progress make sessions engaging while students practise, solve problems and develop their skills. Over time, many students build greater confidence and a more positive relationship with maths.
The results show what this approach can achieve:
94% of parents report an improvement in their child's maths skills and understanding
93% of parents report their child's improved attitude towards maths after attending Mathnasium
90% of students saw an improvement in their school grades
With over 1,250 centres worldwide, including over 40 across the UK, there is likely a Mathnasium centre near you.
Families across High Barnet, Hadley Wood, Monken Hadley and Cockfosters, including those connected to Lochinver House School, Queen Elizabeth's Girls' School and Dame Alice Owen's School, trust Mathnasium of Barnet to help their children build a solid maths foundation.
If your child needs help strengthening their maths foundations for secondary school, or support with any other maths topic, our team is ready to help.
✉️ Click Contact Us to get in touch with Mathnasium of Barnet
Not near Barnet?
Mathnasium of Barnet is a math-only learning centre for K-12 students in Barnet, . Trusted by over a million parents, Mathnasium uses personalized learning plans and the proprietary Mathnasium Method™ to help students catch up, keep up, and get ahead on their math journey.
Our specially trained tutors deliver face-to-face instruction in a supportive and fun small-group environment, working with students both in centre and online to develop a deep understanding of math, build confidence, and improve academic performance.
Contact Us
020 3965 9876
