Are you in early KS3 (Key Stage 3) years and already looking for a GCSE tutor? Do you have exams in two weeks and still haven't started preparing properly? (Yes, there are students with nerves of steel!) Do you have an important test on Monday (I'm writing this on a Saturday, by the way! =) and you're thinking, "Maybe I need a little help"?

So, when (if ever) do you need a maths tutor?

I may disappoint you, but I can't answer this question directly. The only one who truly knows if and when to get a little help is you. (Yes, most of the work is still up to you! I always consider myself to be just a little extra help, a bonus, as you work on your maths skills.)

And how's that?

Everyone is different, as far as I can tell from thinking about all the students I've ever taught. And over the decades – yes, nearly plural! – in the education world, we'd be talking about many hundreds of students... (So many students, so many years,... I feel old, especially when they ask me, "Were you around in 2000?" Yeah, I was just heading to secondary school!)

Generally, the idea is to learn gradually, especially when it comes to maths, as you need to build on the knowledge you already have. You also need to fill any gaps so you won't have wobbly foundations; it's hard to build on anything that wobbles!

If you don't have the basics, there's trouble ahead. In maths, everything is connected and makes sense together, which is great and why I love maths. On the other hand, that may (and very often does) cause trouble when you're trying to learn while missing some basic knowledge. And that's something you usually can't learn in just a week.

But you know yourself best. If you need everything stuffed into your head all at once, quickly, and intensively (because you feel you would forget things before your exams), then yes, call me (or any maths tutor) a week before your maths exam performance is needed. But you must be sure you can handle the enormous amount of information you need to digest. And there's also the question of whether you can even manage to get a tutor in time. I'm always trying to be available for any urgent calls, but in the busiest times (April-May, for example), it's not always possible to squeeze someone else into my timetable at certain times. And the same goes for most tutors. So, it's better not to plan for the very last minute if you want to get a high-quality tutor (we are busy bees almost all year round).

On the other hand, if you want to take things slowly (and from my point of view, responsibly), start looking for a maths tutor (at least!) a couple of months before your exams. This is fine if you're quite okay with your maths skills and you just feel this "little help on top of my regular maths classes" would be beneficial. This mid-term tuition can still be very varied, from a couple of hours weekly to a consultation session once a fortnight/month – anything that suits you and your needs. This type of tuition will help you build confidence when working on your maths, which is also very important, besides what maths-related knowledge is actually in your head already.

And why do I have some students for a couple of years, continuously preparing them for both smoothly passing earlier key stages and preparing them for final exams? Because some students really want to achieve their best. Some of them don't want to face the fear and stress of fighting maths all those years alone just learning in a school where the way they're being taught maths may not suit them for many different reasons (so many may also decide to home educate, and then you're completely on your own – which can be both totally cool and scary). There may be other reasons to have a tutor for many years. Such long-term tuition could be, again, very varied. I have tutored students for years whom I tutor on a weekly basis, and I have some for years who come for help just before exams for a little refresher on their knowledge, and basically anything in between.

In summary, first, you need to assess your abilities, your goals, and your expectations. Then you can find the best time to call a maths tutor. It's better to do it earlier and maybe find out, "Oh, I'm actually okay now, I don't need a tutor anymore, I'll come back perhaps later, thank you," than later and struggle to achieve your best in maths because, "Oh no, my maths exams are next week, and there are no tutors available!"

Well, that second option is a very unpleasant thought – hopefully, it won't be your case!

I'm always happy when students leave me earlier — because they don't need maths tuition anymore; that's always a great reason to celebrate. But if I have a student asking me for last-minute help and we just don't have the time and space to make the maths move properly into the right places in the student's brain, trust me, that's stressful for the student just as it is for me.

So, here's to the right decisions at the right time, always. Whatever that means for you!