the 20-week programme
Your tailored journey to a 4
One goal: get you to FOUR in GCSE Maths and English, with room to spare.
This isn't a textbook that everyone gets. Every booklet is made for you, from what you've already shown us. It skips what you know and works on exactly what stands between you and a 4.
How it works
for you, the student- Week 0
Step 1: You do the starting check
Online in 10 questions a subject, with your result straight away, or on paper by post. Do what you can and skip what you can't. It's a map of what you know, not a test of you.
- Straight after
Step 2: We build your plan
We mark it and find the skills between you and a 4. Your plan puts them in order, biggest gaps first, and leaves out what you already know.
- Every month
Step 3: Your booklets arrive
A pack comes through your letterbox: one booklet a week for each subject, with your name on it, made only for you.
- Monday to Saturday
Step 4: One page a day
About 15 minutes with a pen. Learn the week's skill, practise with hints, then without, then a short mini exam. Tick the page when it's done.
- Sunday
Step 5: Photos, then feedback
Pages 4 to 7 are photographed with a phone. They're marked by AI, and you get one thing you did well and one thing to work on next.
- Every week after
Step 6: Your next booklets change
What you've got moves to quick warm-ups so it sticks. What slipped comes back to practise. Week by week, the gaps close.
You never get a booklet full of things you already know. Every week is built around you, to get you to a 4.
the main objective
Aim for a 5, so your 4 has room to spare.
Grade boundaries move from year to year, and exam days vary. A student working at a low 5 is far more likely to land a 4 than one working right on the line. So every track works one step above its target. The stretch is always a bonus, never a new bar to clear.
Why it matters: in summer 2026, 16.4% of 17-year-olds resitting Maths and 21.0% resitting English reached a 4 (Ofqual). Most resit students need more than more of the same.
What we promise
A clear plan, printed booklets made for one student, honest marking and a programme that adapts every week.
What we don't
A grade. Nobody can honestly promise one, and we never will.
Six clear objectives
what every week is forObjective 1: Find the gaps
In week 0, a starting check per subject shows which grade 4 skills your student already has and which are missing. We teach only what's missing.
Objective 2: Close every must-have gap by week 16
Each track has a list of must-have skills: the ones worth the most marks for a grade 4. Every one is taught, practised and checked before week 16.
Objective 3: Make it stick
A skill counts as secure only after three right answers without a hint, on different days. Secure skills keep coming back as quick warm-ups so they don't fade.
Objective 4: Be ready for the exam itself
From week 13, practice is timed and exam-style, building to real question timings, with extra time included if your student has it.
Objective 5: Build a habit that lasts
Fifteen minutes a day, same time, same place. A tick for every page and a streak on every cover, so progress is something you can see.
Objective 6: Finish with time to spare
The programme ends about two weeks before the first exam paper, with a final mini-mock and a short plan for those last two weeks.
The journey
five packs, three check pointsBefore you start
The starting check, online or on paper
Do it online before you enrol, free, and the result comes with you. Or we post a printed one with your student's name on the cover. Either way, a Getting started guide comes for whoever is helping.
Week 0
The starting check
Questions from grade 2 up to grade 7, so it finds the ceiling as well as the floor. Online, it adapts as you answer; on paper, it's three 15-minute sections, photographed and marked three times. Either way, it sets the track.
Pack 1 · weeks 1 to 4
Building the routine
The biggest gaps first. Every new skill starts with a worked example, then a part-done one, then practice with hints on the back page.
Pack 2 · weeks 5 to 8
Gaining ground
Fewer hints, more mixed practice. From week 5, a clearly labelled “Reach for 5” bonus question appears on the mini-exam page.
Pack 3 · weeks 9 to 12
The week 10 checkpoint
A checkpoint shows how far your student has come. The track can move up (to aim for a 5) or ease off. New content finishes by week 12.
Pack 4 · weeks 13 to 16
Exam conditions
Timed mini-papers and exam technique. Every must-have skill is checked by the end of week 16.
Pack 5 · weeks 17 to 20
Exam weeks
Mixed practice across everything, a final mini-mock, and an end report: skills secure, skills to keep an eye on, and a plan for the last two weeks.
Summer 2027
The exam
Your student sits their GCSE resit, having practised the way the exam works: with a pen, on paper, against the clock.
The December 2026 group
- Enrolment closes on Friday 27 November.
- Paper starting checks are done in the week of Monday 30 November.
- Week 1 starts on Monday 7 December.
- Christmas break from 21 December; back on Monday 4 January.
If a paper starting check comes back late, pack 1 is built from the track you chose, and the tailoring starts with pack 2. The free online check avoids the wait.
Six tracks
set by the starting checkThe starting check suggests a track and you confirm it. For Maths, the tier is the one your student's college has entered them for: grade 4 and 5 targets use Foundation, a grade 6 target needs Higher. English Language has one tier.
Maths F4
Foundation tierSecure a 4, reach for a 5
Number, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio, simple equations, area and perimeter, charts, basic probability
Maths F5
Foundation tierSecure a 5 with marks to spare
F4 plus proportion, standard form, expanding and factorising, Pythagoras, basic trigonometry, compound interest
Maths H6
Higher tierSecure a 6
Quadratics, simultaneous equations, similar shapes, trigonometry, tree diagrams, cumulative frequency, proportion
English E4
English LanguageSecure a 4, reach for a 5
Finding information, summary, simple language analysis, accurate spelling and punctuation, a clearly structured piece of writing
English E5
English LanguageSecure a 5, reach for a 6
E4 plus analysing structure, comparing two texts, planned writing with varied sentences
English E6
English LanguageSecure a 6
E5 plus evaluating a text, comparing viewpoints, crafted vocabulary and paragraphs
Inside a weekly booklet
8 pages, one skill| Page | When | What happens | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cover | Cover: This week's one skill in plain words, tick boxes, and an if-then plan for when to start (2 min) | 2 min |
| 2 | Mon | Mon: Learn: three warm-ups, a worked example, then a part-done example to finish (10-12 min) | 10-12 min |
| 3 | Tue | Tue: Practise with hints: try first, then turn to page 8 if stuck (10-15 min) | 10-15 min |
| 4 | Wed | Wed: Practise without hints, in exam layout with the marks shown (10-15 min) | 10-15 min |
| 5 | Thu | Thu: Mix it up: this week's skill alongside earlier ones (10-15 min) | 10-15 min |
| 6 | Fri | Fri: Mini exam: exam-style and timed, about 10 marks (12 min, rising later) | 12 min, rising later |
| 7 | Sat | Sat: One longer answer, or catch up a missed day (15-20 min) | 15-20 min |
| 8 | Back | Back: Hints, a self-check, and a short thought check (3 min) | 3 min |
On Sunday, pages 4 to 7 are photographed for marking. About 22 to 25 questions and 40 marks per subject per week. Students doing both subjects do one page of each a day, with a movement break between them.
New skills start with a worked example, then a part-done one, then practice: worked examples have a medium-sized effect on maths results in a review of many studies (Barbieri et al., 2023). Warm-ups bring back skills from earlier weeks, because spacing practice out improves test scores (Rohrer and colleagues).
How the plan adapts
- After every Sunday upload, skills that are secure move to quick warm-ups spaced over the weeks.
- Skills that slipped come back to practise, and the mistakes made choose the next worked examples.
- A missed week never doubles the next booklet: nice-to-have questions are dropped and the load stays the same.
- If time gets tight, bonus questions are cut first. The grade 4 skills always come first.
- Two progress bars show where your student is: “Grade 4 secured” and “5 within reach”.
The mix in each booklet
Weeks 1 to 8: half the questions close grade 4 gaps, about a third review earlier skills, and the rest stretch towards the next grade.
From week 9, or sooner once most grade 4 skills are secure, the stretch grows a little. Never at the cost of the 4.
Study habits that stick
one each weekGetting started is often harder than the maths. Every booklet teaches one study habit, on the cover and the back page. They're study skills from well-tested research, not therapy.
If-then plans
“When I finish dinner, then I open my booklet at today's page.”
Same time, same place
A fixed cue makes starting automatic. One missed day doesn't undo it.
The two-minute start
Start with just the first question. Starting is the hardest part.
The later list
A distracting thought goes on a list for later, then back to the page.
The thought check
Notice “I'm useless at maths”, check the evidence, write a fairer thought.
Never miss twice
A missed day is fine. Get back to it the next day.
What arrives each month
through the letterbox- Four weekly booklets per subject, printed and made only for your student.
- A 4-page booklet for the parent helping, with that month's focus: building the routine, hard days, reading progress, exam conditions, exam weeks.
- No parent involved? It becomes a 4-page coach booklet written to the student: planning the week, starting, staying on task and getting back on track.
- Feedback in your account after every Sunday upload, marked by AI, not checked by a teacher.