Maths is cumulative in a way that most subjects are not. A gap left in Year 7 does not stay a Year 7 problem; it becomes a Year 10 problem wearing a different name. That is why early signals matter.
The nine signs
- Homework takes far longer than the time the school suggests.
- They can follow a worked example but cannot start a similar question alone.
- They reach for a calculator for arithmetic they should hold mentally.
- They avoid showing working and jump to an answer.
- Confidence drops even when effort stays high.
- They describe maths as something they 'can't do' rather than something they 'haven't done yet'.
- Test scores are inconsistent — strong one term, weak the next, with no clear cause.
- They cannot explain what a question is asking, only what method they were told to use.
- Older topics reappear and are met as though brand new.
How to check without turning it into a test
Ask them to talk you through a question from last week's homework. Do not correct. Just listen for whether they can say what the question wants before they say what to do. If they cannot, the difficulty is in comprehension and setup rather than method.
What usually turns out to be missing
- Times tables and number fluency, which slow everything downstream.
- Fractions, decimals and percentages as one connected idea rather than three tricks.
- Place value and negative numbers.
- Early algebra: what a letter means and why you may do the same thing to both sides.
What to do about it
Resist the urge to add more of the current topic. Find the earliest thing that is shaky and rebuild from there — it is faster than it sounds, because a student who once nearly understood something relearns it quickly. That diagnosis is the hardest part to do at home, and it is the first thing a good tutor should do before teaching anything at all.