Live sessions with real tutors. Small groups (max 5) or 1-on-1. Aligned to the Australian Curriculum — with games built into every class so your child actually wants to show up.
Online maths tutoring is the most searched tutoring service in Australia — and it's not hard to see why. Maths is cumulative. A shaky understanding of fractions in Year 4 will cause real problems in Year 7 when algebra starts. A child who doesn't fully grasp place value in Year 2 will struggle with every calculation that comes after it.
The other thing about maths is that confidence matters enormously. A child who believes they're "just not a maths person" will mentally check out before they even try. At Merit, we've watched hundreds of students flip that story — not through pressure, but through games that make trying feel safe and winning feel achievable.
Merit tutors work through the Australian Curriculum strands — number, algebra, measurement, geometry, statistics and probability — across all year levels. Here's a breakdown of what students actually work on in each year band.
In Years 1 and 2, the focus is on building rock-solid number foundations: reading and writing numbers to 1000, skip counting by twos, fives and tens, understanding place value (hundreds, tens, ones), and early multiplication thinking through equal groups and arrays. Students also begin working with simple fractions — halves, quarters and eighths — and develop measurement skills with informal and then formal metric units.
By Year 3, students move into multiplication and division facts (3s, 4s, 5s and 10s), three-digit addition and subtraction with and without regrouping, and begin reading analog and digital clocks to the nearest minute. Data and chance also come in — creating and interpreting bar graphs, dot plots, and describing events as certain, likely or impossible.
In our live sessions, Year 1 and 2 students often play Balloon Pop to practise number recognition and addition facts — each correct answer pops a balloon, and the competitive element pushes them to think faster. Year 3 students use Math Race to drill multiplication facts before tackling harder problems.
This is where maths starts to feel more complex, and where many students begin to fall behind. Year 4 introduces decimals (tenths and hundredths), equivalent fractions, perimeter and area, and recalling multiplication facts to 10 × 10. Year 5 extends this into comparing and ordering decimals with more decimal places, percentages, lowest common multiples, highest common factors, and multi-step word problems.
Year 6 adds negative integers, prime and composite numbers, square numbers, order of operations with brackets, and working in all four quadrants of the Cartesian plane. Students also begin calculating discounts and solving practical financial problems using percentages.
A Year 4 student who's shaky on their times tables will often work through Aim & Shoot in their Merit sessions — answering multiplication questions to fire shots at targets. It sounds simple, but the speed and accuracy improvement after a few weeks is real. For Year 5 and 6 students, Math Maze builds problem-solving stamina by requiring students to solve multi-step problems to navigate through maze levels.
By high school, maths branches into strands that many students find genuinely difficult without good foundations: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistics and probability.
Year 7 students at Merit typically work on algebraic expressions, linear equations, index notation, and the properties of geometric figures. Year 8 extends into linear equations with unknowns on both sides, solving problems involving percentages and financial maths, and introducing Pythagoras' theorem. Year 9 students tackle simultaneous equations, surds, quadratic expressions, and trigonometric ratios. Year 10 covers quadratic equations, coordinate geometry, probability with two-step experiments, and expanding into higher-order algebraic reasoning.
For high school students, Merit sessions work differently — the tutor explains a concept, the student attempts problems, and the homework platform builds on that with levelled challenges. Getting a question right unlocks the next level. It's not flashy, but it works: students come back to homework because the structure feels like progress, not punishment.
Unsure what year level your child is working at? The free trial session will sort that out — we assess where they are and start there.
Merit uses a three-phase approach called Play. Build. Grow.
Play is what happens inside the live 60-minute session. Students join a class of up to five (or 1-on-1), work through problems with their tutor, and compete in game-based activities that reinforce the concepts. The tutor guides the session, explains what's confusing, and adjusts difficulty in real time.
Build is the homework side. After each session, students unlock a set of practice challenges on the Merit platform. These aren't worksheets — they're levelled tasks where completing one unlocks the next. Students can see their progress visually, which turns homework from a chore into something closer to a game.
Grow is what parents see. You get visibility into what topics your child worked on, how they're progressing, and where they still need support. You're not just paying and hoping — you can actually see what's happening.
Sessions are 60 minutes, run on Merit's custom-built platform (not Zoom), and are live with a real tutor every time. Tutors are uni students or qualified teachers, all WWCC-verified before they set foot in a virtual classroom.
A lot of parents assume in-person tutoring is automatically better. In practice, the quality of teaching matters far more than whether it happens face-to-face. Online tutoring removes travel time, keeps kids in a familiar environment, and often results in better consistency (no cancelled sessions because of traffic or weather).
The one thing online tutoring has historically lacked is the engagement factor — sitting in front of a screen doing worksheets is worse than sitting at a kitchen table doing them. Merit's approach solves that. The games are built into the platform, the tutor is live and responsive, and the structure keeps students active rather than passive.
Years 1–6: $29/week
Years 7–10: $35/week
Max 5 students. Live with a real tutor every session. Australian Curriculum-aligned.
Years 1–6: $59/week
Years 7–10: $69/week
Entirely focused on your child. Ideal for students who need more targeted attention or prefer working individually.
No lock-in contracts. Cancel anytime. The free trial is a full 60-minute session — not a demo, not a pitch.
Merit tutors are either university students studying Education or STEM fields, or qualified classroom teachers. Every tutor goes through a Working With Children Check (WWCC) before they're approved to teach. Tutors are matched to year levels they have genuine subject knowledge in — a Year 9 algebra student won't be paired with someone who only knows primary school content.
"My daughter has been with Merit Tutoring for a while and genuinely enjoys every session. She's more motivated, has won an improvement award at school, and her reading has improved a lot. Highly recommend!"— Amritpal K, parent of Year 3 student
Yes — multiple studies show online tutoring produces learning gains comparable to in-person tutoring, provided the sessions are live and the tutor is responsive (not pre-recorded video). The key variable is engagement: a child who is active and participating will learn; a child who is passively watching will not. Merit's gamified sessions are specifically designed to keep students active throughout the lesson.
The best fit depends on your child's year level, learning style, and budget. Merit Tutoring offers live sessions aligned to the Australian Curriculum from $29/week, with a maximum of 5 students per group class. The free trial session lets you see how your child responds before committing to anything.
Prices vary widely. At Merit, group maths tutoring starts at $29/week for Years 1–6 and $35/week for Years 7–10. One-on-one sessions start at $59/week (Years 1–6) and $69/week (Years 7–10). There are no lock-in contracts, and the first session is free.
Look for: (1) a tutor or service that aligns to the Australian Curriculum for your child's year level; (2) live sessions with a real person, not pre-recorded content; (3) WWCC verification; (4) clear communication about what's being covered and how your child is progressing. A free trial is the easiest way to see whether the teaching style suits your child before spending any money.
Book a free 60-minute maths session. We'll assess where your child is, cover some real content, and let you decide from there. No pressure, no lock-in.
Or call us: 0468 229 358
No lock-in contracts · From $29/week · Cancel anytime