StudyNote Tuition · AdelaideTalk to a teacher

Maths tutoring
that shows the working.

every step on the page, even the one that looks impossible

From the Years 7 to 10 groundwork to SACE Stage 2 Mathematical Methods, Specialist, General and Essential Mathematics. Small groups, and sessions built on what your kid’s school is assessing this term.

Talk to a teacher Find your starting point

01 / WHAT WE COVER

Maths tutoring at StudyNote.

Maths is the subject where a gap from two years ago quietly decides what happens in Year 11. Most of the work we do is not on this week’s topic. It is on the assumption underneath it that never quite landed.

That is what a small group makes possible: time to find the actual gap rather than re-teaching the lesson they already sat through once.

02 / YEARS 7 TO 10

New curriculum, same six strands.

South Australia is building its own curriculum for public schools, adapted from the Australian Curriculum, Version 9. Mathematics was in the first group of learning areas through, and the department’s stated aim is to complete the phased rollout in 2027.

Two things hold steady through the change: maths still runs on the same six strands of knowledge, and schools sit at different points in the move. So we ask what your kid covered in class this week and work from that, not from a plan that may sit a year either side of where they actually are.

Bring the topic name off their timetable and we will map it to whichever version their school is on.

SA Curriculum: Mathematics

Essential Learning

Dispositions Resilient · Resourceful · Reflective
Capabilities Strategic problem solving · Developing understanding · Fluency and flexibility · Reasoning
Knowledge Number · Algebra · Measurement · Space · Statistics · Probability

Learning Standards What the three elements look like, together, at each stage.

03 / YEAR BY YEAR

Find your maths
starting point.

Pick their year. This is what maths covers there, strand by strand. Sessions begin at whichever line of it never quite landed.

Six strands Algebra begins. Everything after Year 7 leans on it.

Number
Fractions, decimals and percentages as one family, plus squares and square roots, primes and powers, negative numbers and ratios.
Algebra
From number patterns to pronumerals: building expressions, solving first linear equations, plotting real data on the Cartesian plane.
Measurement
Area of triangles and parallelograms, volume of prisms, the circle and π, angles on parallel lines.
Space
Classifying shapes by their properties, and translations, reflections and rotations on the grid.
Statistics
Mean, median, mode and range, data displays, and running a small statistical investigation start to finish.
Probability
Sample spaces, assigning probabilities, testing predictions with repeated experiments.

Financial literacy Value for money: unit prices, best buys and the first budget decisions.

04 / SACE: YEARS 11 AND 12

Five subjects, one map.

Stage 1 naming trips up almost everyone. There is no Stage 1 “Mathematical Methods”, whatever other sites tell you. Here is the actual map, from the SACE Board’s own subject outlines. The long version, and when changing your mind stops being easy

Aiming at STEM Stage 1 Mathematics Stage 2 Mathematical Methods, with Specialist alongside
Applied and practical Stage 1 General Mathematics Stage 2 General Mathematics
Everyday and work-ready Stage 1 Essential Mathematics Stage 2 Essential Mathematics

Switching lanes is easiest early in Year 11. If in doubt, ask before subject selection night, not after.

SACE Stage 1 · usually Year 11

The Stage 1 Maths Subjects One semester or the full year each

Year 11 has three separate maths subjects, and which one a student sits decides what Year 12 can look like. Their grade adds up as they go, not on one exam day. The first maths exam a student sits is in Year 12.

  • Mathematics Functions and graphs · Polynomials · Trigonometry · Growth and decay · Calculus
  • General Mathematics Investing and borrowing · Measurement · Statistics · Trigonometry · Networks
  • Essential Mathematics Calculations and ratio · Earning and spending · Geometry · Data · Measurement

Assessment

Skills tasks and an investigation, all school assessed
100%
External exam
none

Mathematics is the one that keeps the Stage 2 doors open, and schools timetable its units as Methods A, B and C. Each school decides how much each task counts, so we work to your school’s plan.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Mathematical Methods

Calculus and statistics. The subject STEM degrees actually name. Engineering at Adelaide and Flinders lists it as the prerequisite.

Calculus · Logarithms · Random variables · Sampling

Assessment

Skills tasks
50%
Investigation
20%
Exam
30%

Finish it at C− or better and it earns 2 SATAC adjustment points, or 4 together with Specialist.

SACE Stage 2 · Year 12

Specialist Mathematics

Designed to be taken alongside Methods, never instead of it. The deepest mathematics SACE offers.

Induction · Complex numbers · Vectors · Differential equations

Assessment

Skills tasks
50%
Investigation
20%
Exam
30%

For students who like the why as much as the how.

SACE Stage 1 & 2

General Mathematics

Modelling real situations without calculus: money, statistics, networks, decisions.

Linear, statistical and financial models · Networks · Matrices

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
40%
Investigation
30%
Exam
30%

Suits tertiary courses that want mathematics without specialising in it.

SACE Stage 1 & 2

Essential Mathematics

Maths for work, trades and running a life: measured, budgeted, checked.

Measurement · Business · Statistics · Investments and loans

Assessment at Stage 2

Skills tasks
30%
Folio
40%
Exam
30%

Counts fully toward the SACE and meets the numeracy requirement.

Where it leads

Engineering Engineering at Adelaide requires Stage 2 Mathematical Methods, and Flinders accepts Specialist or Methods
Medical Studies Adelaide’s Bachelor of Medical Studies accepts Biology, Chemistry or Mathematical Methods, any one of the three
Adjustment points Finish Methods or Specialist with a C− or better and SATAC adds 2 points when universities rank them, or 4 for both

Course pages move, so check the one in mind before subject selection night. We will read its actual entry rules with you.

Not sure which one they are sitting?

Those five are every mathematics subject SACE offers, so whichever one is on their timetable is on this page. Bring the name across and we will tell you which it is. It is not your job to know SACE nomenclature.

Ask about a subject

05 / HOW SESSIONS WORK

Find it, fix it, show it moved.

  1. Find the actual gap

    Early sessions map what they can already do against their year’s strand list above. The topic that hurts is rarely the topic that broke.

  2. Rebuild underneath

    We re-teach the idea the gap sits on, working shown in full, before touching this week’s homework. Faster than it sounds, and permanent, unlike patching.

  3. Practise like the test

    Fluency comes from doing: timed, written, unprompted, in the format their class assessment will actually use.

  4. Show what moved

    Practice notes from each session, and a short progress note before each assessment, so nobody is guessing.

06 / QUESTIONS

About this
subject.

General questions are answered on the main questions page.

My child is in Year 11 Maths. Which one is that?

At Stage 1 the subject is simply Mathematics, which schools timetable as Methods A, B and C. There is no Stage 1 “Mathematical Methods” and no Stage 1 Specialist, whatever other sites tell you. Methods and Specialist exist only at Stage 2. Tell us which units they are taking and we will match it.

Can they do Specialist without Methods?

Not on its own. Specialist Mathematics is taken alongside Mathematical Methods at Stage 2, never instead of it. If Specialist is on the table, tell us. We will look at the Methods work with them first and give you a straight view of what it would take.

Do they need maths at all to finish the SACE?

Yes. It is called the numeracy requirement. Ten credits of a mathematics subject, which is one semester’s worth, at a C grade or better at Stage 1 (C− at Stage 2). Stage 1 Mathematics, General or Essential all meet it. Essential counts, whatever anyone tells you.

They are fine at maths but freeze in tests.

Then the work is not more content. It is timed practice under conditions that resemble the real thing, and going through what actually happened in the last one. We would rather spend a session on that than push ahead.

How far back will you go?

As far as we need to. If Year 11 calculus is not landing because of Year 9 algebra, the fastest route through is the Year 9 algebra. We will tell you if that is what we find.