Parents' evening gives you a short window to understand how your child is progressing in maths. With limited time to speak to their teacher, it can be difficult to get beyond a general update and identify where your child is doing well or may need more support.
Some preparation beforehand can help you make better use of that conversation and leave with a clearer picture of your child's progress.
We'll show you what to check before parents' evening, which maths-specific questions to ask, how to interpret your child's teacher's feedback and how to turn what you learn into practical next steps.
Parents' evening works best as a two-way conversation between you and your child's teacher.
Department for Education (DfE) guidance describes this as an opportunity for teachers to share specific information about a child's progress and areas for improvement, while parents can ask questions and provide context about their child.
Our experience working with children and their families at Mathnasium shows that it is much easier to ask useful questions about maths when you review your child's recent work and find out where they feel confident or need more support.
Before the appointment, you can:
Look through recent maths work. Check your child's exercise book, school reports or any online learning platform the school uses. Pay attention to topics that appear to cause difficulty more than once rather than trying to judge progress from an individual mark or score.
Talk to your child about maths. Ask which topics they find easier and which ones they find difficult or confusing. Their answer may give you something specific to raise with the teacher and can also show whether their experience matches what you have noticed at home.
Your child's answers and recent work give you useful points to bring into the conversation. Their teacher can then fill in some of what you cannot see at home, so knowing what to ask next can help you get a clearer picture of your child's maths progress.
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Before parents’ evening, use your child’s recent maths work and what they tell you about maths to prepare specific points to discuss with their teacher.
What you ask about your child's maths at parents’ evening will partly depend on their stage of maths education.
Conversations in primary school tend to focus more on the maths children are learning in their current year and how well they understand it. As children move through secondary school, questions can also cover how they are managing more advanced topics, their performance in assessments and, later, GCSE preparation.
Here are some questions you can use at each stage and what their answers may tell you.
Primary maths develops children's fluency, reasoning and problem-solving across areas such as number, calculations, fractions, measurement and geometry.
What children learn develops considerably from Year 1 to Year 6, so questions about their current understanding can take the conversation beyond a general update on how they are doing.
Here are some questions you can take into the conversation:
“How is my child progressing in maths for their year group?” gives the teacher room to explain your child's overall progress in relation to what they are currently learning.
“Which areas of maths do they understand well and which need more attention?” may reveal whether their progress varies across different parts of maths.
“Is there a particular concept or skill they are finding difficult at the moment?” helps narrow a broader concern down to something more specific.
“Is my child ready for more challenge in any areas of maths?” allows the teacher to explain where your child may be ready to extend their understanding.
“Which method are you using to teach that topic?” shows you how your child is learning the concept at school, which you can refer back to when discussing the same topic at home.
According to the DfE maths curriculum, children should progress when their understanding is secure and they are ready for the next stage, so the teacher's answers can show you whether your child may need more time with a particular concept before moving forward.
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Secondary maths builds on the concepts children learned earlier and extends them across areas such as number, algebra, ratio and proportion, geometry, probability and statistics.
As students progress, they make connections between mathematical ideas and apply their knowledge to problems that get more demanding.
Here, your questions can focus more closely on how your child is managing current topics and whether earlier gaps are affecting their work:
“Which areas of maths is my child doing well in, and where do you see gaps?” identifies particular areas that may deserve more attention.
“Are any earlier concepts making their current work more difficult?” points to knowledge they may need to revisit before moving further with the current topic.
“How does their work in lessons compare with what you see in assessments?” gives you a sense of whether their classroom work and assessment performance show a similar pattern.
“Which topic or skill would you recommend they focus on next?” shows you a specific priority to take away from the conversation.
As your child moves towards GCSE maths, parents' evening may also include a conversation about which exam tier they are preparing for. Foundation tier offers grades 1-5, while Higher tier offers grades 4-9. Students who narrowly miss grade 4 on Higher tier may receive grade 3.
Here are a few questions you can use if GCSE tiering is relevant:
“Which tier is my child currently preparing for, Foundation or Higher?” clarifies which route the school is currently considering.
“What is informing that decision at this stage?” asks the teacher to explain the evidence behind the current recommendation.
“Could their tier change as they progress, and what would you consider when reviewing it?” helps you understand whether the decision may be revisited and what the teacher would take into account.
If Foundation tier comes up in the conversation, you may find it useful to know that grades 4 and 5 have the same value at Foundation and Higher tier. The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) also advises schools to enter students expected to achieve grade 4 or 5 for Foundation.
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Maths feedback at parents' evening may include formal assessment terms as well as language your child's school uses to describe their progress. Some terms have a defined meaning, while others only make sense in relation to the topic, skill or assessment the teacher is discussing.
Let's look at what some of this feedback can tell you about your child's maths:
| Feedback or term | What it tells you about your child's maths |
| Expected standard | At the end of KS2, a maths scaled score of 100 or above means your child has met the expected standard for that stage. The term also appears in the optional KS1 teacher assessment framework, so its context depends on your child's year group. |
| Greater depth | In the optional KS1 teacher assessment framework, working at greater depth describes attainment beyond the expected standard in maths. End-of-KS1 teacher assessment is no longer statutory in England, so schools can choose whether to use this framework. It is not the formal term used for the higher level of attainment in KS2 maths tests. |
| Higher standard | Children reach the higher standard in KS2 maths with a scaled score of 110 or above. This is the relevant formal KS2 term if the teacher is discussing national test attainment. |
Broader comments such as “needs to revisit fractions” or “needs more practice with multiplication facts” are more specific to your child's work. In those cases, the useful information is the particular concept or skill the teacher has identified and how it is affecting the maths your child is currently learning.
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Your next steps after parents' evening can come directly from the feedback you received about your child's maths.
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) recommends giving parents practical strategies to support learning at home. With that in mind, we suggest starting with the following three steps:
Focus on one area at a time. Start with the concept or skill your child's teacher identified as the next priority. Your child may need more practice with a current topic or be ready to move further with something they already understand well. For example, if the teacher mentions difficulty with equivalent fractions, practise that specific skill rather than covering fractions more broadly.
Follow the teacher's recommendations at home. Try any activities or resources they suggest and use the method your child is learning at school where appropriate. EEF guidance on maths at home also recommends realistic routines and, for older children, links home practice closely to the maths they have recently studied in class.
Check in on progress. Ask when the teacher plans to review the area you discussed, then follow up afterwards to find out how your child is progressing and whether they need further support.
Parents' evening may also show that your child needs more targeted maths support than you can realistically provide through practice at home. In that case, understanding what they already know and where gaps remain can give you a clearer starting point for deciding what support they need.
At Mathnasium, we start by building that fuller picture through a diagnostic assessment, which identifies your child's individual strengths and gaps in maths and guides the creation of their bespoke learning plan.
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At Mathnasium, we combine our proprietary teaching approach with a diagnostic assessment and bespoke learning plan, all delivered by specially trained instructors.
Mathnasium is a maths-only learning centre dedicated to helping students of all skill levels excel in maths.
Whether parents' evening showed that your child is ready for more challenge or identified an area where they need additional support, we can tailor their maths learning to their individual needs.
We deliver this support through the Mathnasium Method™, our proprietary teaching approach designed to help children build maths mastery through deep understanding. Our approach includes:
Assessment and customised learning plans. Every child begins their Mathnasium journey with a diagnostic assessment that identifies their current skills, strengths and knowledge gaps. We use those insights to create a bespoke learning plan based on what they already know and what they need to learn next.
Teaching for understanding. Our specially trained instructors use mental, verbal, visual, tactile and written techniques to teach concepts in different ways and develop a deeper understanding of how and why maths works.
Face-to-face instruction. Children work face-to-face with specially trained instructors at a pace that's right for them, either in-centre or through live online tutoring.
Confidence and engagement. Sessions include games and earned rewards that encourage children to participate actively and engage with maths. As their skills and understanding develop, children can also grow in confidence and develop a more positive attitude towards maths.
The impact extends beyond the classroom:
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 and over 40 across the UK, there is likely a Mathnasium centre near you.
Families across Wimbledon Town and Village, Southfields, Wimbledon Park, Wimbledon Chase, Merton Park and Raynes Park trust Mathnasium of Wimbledon to help their children build lasting maths confidence.
Whether your child needs support with a particular topic or is ready for more challenge, our team is ready to work with them.
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Mathnasium of Wimbledon is a math-only learning centre for K-12 students in London, . 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.
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