How to Choose a Maths Grind School

Maths grinds are one of the larger discretionary costs a family with a secondary school student takes on, and they are bought under time pressure, usually after a disappointing result, usually in a hurry.

This is a guide to what to actually ask before you commit, written by someone who runs one of these. We have said where we think we do well and where we do not suit; you should be sceptical of anyone in this market who cannot do the second part.

1. How many students are in the class?

The first question, and the one most likely to get a vague answer.

There is a large practical difference between a group of ten and a group of eighty, and it is not really about attention in the abstract. It is about whether a student can say "I don't follow that" in the moment. In a large online class, nobody does. The lesson proceeds, the misunderstanding sets, and it surfaces in an exam months later.

Ask for a number, not an adjective. "Small group" means nothing on its own. We set out what actually changes at different group sizes in our guide to small groups versus large classes.

2. Is it live, recorded, or both?

Three models exist and they suit different students.

Live only creates commitment and lets students ask in the moment, but a missed session is gone and a topic covered too fast stays covered too fast.

Recorded only is flexible and cheap, and it relies entirely on a teenager's self-discipline. For a motivated sixth year it can be excellent. For a student who is avoiding maths because it makes them anxious, an unwatched video library is money spent on nothing.

Both is the model we use, and we would argue it is the right default: a fixed weekly commitment that happens whether or not it has been a good week, with every session recorded and indexed by topic so nothing is lost and any method can be revisited the night before an exam.

3. What happens when a student has a question at nine on a Tuesday?

This is where services differ most, and it is rarely on the pricing page.

Maths questions arrive during homework, not during lesson time. If the only route to a tutor is the next live class, a stuck student stays stuck for four days and, in practice, gives up on that question.

Ask what the answer route is, how quickly it is answered, and by whom. A discussion board answered by tutors, a messaging system, an email: any of these can work. No route at all is a real gap.

4. Is the tutor teaching the Irish syllabus or a generic curriculum?

There are large international tutoring platforms with excellent tutors who do not know what a marking scheme looks like, cannot tell you how attempt marks are awarded, and have never read a chief examiner's report.

Irish maths has specific features that matter: the Project Maths style of contextual questioning, the two-section paper structure, Formulae and Tables being provided, the way partial credit is allocated. A tutor who does not work from these is teaching mathematics rather than teaching the exam, and students need both.

Ask directly whether past papers and marking schemes are used, and how.

5. Do you get feedback on written work?

Watching someone else solve a problem is not the same as solving one and having it corrected.

This is the single biggest quality difference between grind providers, and the one most often absent. A lesson can be excellent and still leave a student unaware that they consistently drop the sign on the second term inside a bracket. Only somebody reading their actual script finds that.

Ask whether written work is corrected, how often, and whether the feedback is a mark or an explanation. Our Platinum tier includes three full mock papers a year marked against the State Examinations Commission scheme, with each lost mark categorised and a written study plan afterwards. Our Academy tier does not include it, which is part of why it costs less.

6. What does it actually cost, over a year?

Compare like with like, which usually means working out the annual figure.

A weekly private grind at typical Irish rates runs to a substantial sum across an academic year. A group service is generally a fraction of that. Neither number means much until you know what is included.

For reference, ours: Academy is €89 a month or €690 for the academic year; Platinum is €129 a month or €990. There is a recordings-only Library option at €39 a month or €290 a year for students whose timetable does not suit live lessons. Junior Cycle and Leaving Cert are the same price. Pre-Junior Cycle is lower.

Ask what the total is for the year, whether there is a joining fee, and how cancellation works.

7. Can you try it before paying?

Any provider confident in their teaching will let you see a lesson before you commit.

Be alert to the shape of the offer. A trial that requires card details up front and converts silently is a different product from one that does not. Ours is seven days, no card required.

8. Does the timetable actually work for your household?

Unglamorous and it decides more outcomes than the quality of the teaching.

A brilliant lesson at a time your child cannot reliably attend is worth less than an adequate one they make every week. Check the actual days and times against training, part-time work and the other children in the house before you sign up.

Ours run twice weekly: Junior Cycle on Mondays and Wednesdays at 5:30pm, Leaving Cert Higher on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30pm, Leaving Cert Ordinary on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, and Pre-Junior Cycle on Mondays at 7pm.

9. Is the level right, and is there a route between levels?

A student in an Ordinary Level group who is capable of Higher Level is being under-served, and the reverse is worse.

Ask how groups are organised and what happens if the level turns out to be wrong. Our Junior Cycle guide covers how the level decision is best made, and it is worth making on evidence rather than in a bad term.

10. What is the actual problem you are buying a solution to?

The one worth asking yourself, before any of the above.

Grinds fix some problems well and others not at all:

• A specific topic gap. Grinds are excellent for this.
• Weak exam technique. Likewise. Often the fastest available improvement.
• Foundations missing from two years ago. Fixable, but it needs a service that will go back rather than keep pace with the school.
• Not doing any work. Grinds will not fix this. Another hour a week that goes unattended changes nothing, and it is worth being honest about it before spending the money.
• Anxiety and avoidance. A small group where questions can be asked without an audience genuinely helps. A large class may make it worse. We wrote about this in our guide to maths anxiety.

Where we do not suit

For balance, and because it saves everyone time.

If a student needs one-to-one attention on a specific personal difficulty, a private tutor will serve them better than any group, including ours. If they are unusually far behind the rest of a level, a group moving at level pace is the wrong shape of help. And if the household need is supervision and structure rather than teaching, supervised study is a better buy.

What we would say for ourselves

Two live lessons a week at fixed times, in groups small enough to ask a question in. Everything recorded and indexed by topic, so a missed week is caught up and any method is available at 11pm the night before a test. A discussion board where questions get answered by tutors rather than sitting until the next class. Mock papers marked to the SEC scheme for Platinum members, with the specific errors named.

Seven days free, no card, and you can watch a live lesson before deciding anything.

Start a free trial, or read the past paper walkthroughs first to see how we actually teach.