Primary maths subscriptions: what schools should check before buying

Start with the job you need done

Decide what you want it to do before you look at products. Common jobs are fluency practice (times tables, number facts), homework you can set and check, catching up pupils who are behind, and giving the class a routine that does not rely on you writing new materials every week.

Choose two or three measures of success before a trial, for example how many pupils use it each week, and whether teachers use the results to plan lessons.

Questions to ask any provider

• Curriculum: which year groups and topics does it cover, and does it follow the national curriculum order your school teaches?
• Level: does each pupil work at their own level, or does the whole class get the same questions?
• Teacher tools: can you set work for a class, and see who has done it and how they got on, by pupil and by class?
• Logins: can a five-year-old sign in on their own? A short username and PIN is easier than an email address.
• Reports: can the head or maths lead see the whole school, not just one class?
• Safeguarding: is there any chat between children, or advertising? Many schools only want services with neither.
• Rosters: can you add a whole class at once, and move pupils up a year in September without losing their progress?
• Leaving: if you stop, can you have your pupils’ data deleted, and how do you ask?

Pupils’ data: what the Department for Education expects

Schools are usually the data controller for the personal data of their pupils, and a provider acts on the school’s behalf. The Department for Education’s guidance says schools must make sure that processing complies with data protection law when they start using an education technology service, and that processing by a supplier should be covered by a contract.

In practice, ask the provider for its privacy policy, what personal data of pupils it holds and why, who else handles it, where it is stored, and how long it is kept. If the service is likely to be used by children, the ICO’s Children’s code (15 standards for online services) is the benchmark it should meet.

How pricing works

Prices come in a few shapes. A flat price per school stays the same however many pupils or classes you have. A price per pupil rises with your roll, and may carry a minimum. Some services charge per class or per product.

Work out the cost for your own roll, not the headline price. For example, at £2 per pupil a school of 60 pays £120 a year and a school of 600 pays £1,200. A flat price does not change as the roll grows. Also ask what happens when you add pupils mid-year, whether prices exclude VAT, and whether a longer commitment or joining with other schools earns a discount.

Run a trial that tells you something

• Ask for a free trial with no card, and long enough to cover several weeks of real use. Four weeks is a good minimum.
• Use it with a couple of classes, in normal lessons and for homework, not just a demonstration.
• Check what you decided to measure at the end, and ask the teachers and pupils what they thought.
• Ask how the school pays if it continues: many schools need an invoice or a purchase order, not a card.

What Primary Scholars offers schools

We make Primary Scholars, so please use this checklist on us too. Primary Scholars has six subjects (maths, SPAG, reading, science, French and reasoning) in fifty stages each, class work you can set and track, a whole-school view for the head, and pupil logins by username and PIN.

Schools pay one flat price a year by size, from £99 plus VAT for up to 99 pupils, with a free four-week trial and no card. Schools buy by invoice or purchase order.

Is a flat price or a price per pupil better?

It depends on your roll. A per-pupil price can be cheaper for a very small school, while a flat price gets better value as the roll grows. Work out both for your own number of pupils before deciding.

What personal data does a maths service hold about pupils?

Usually a name, a username, a year group, and a record of the answers pupils give. Ask any provider to list exactly what it holds. Our privacy policy sets out what Primary Scholars holds.

Can we try it before paying?

With Primary Scholars, yes: there is a free four-week trial for the whole school with no card. At the end you choose whether to continue, and if you do not, your pupils’ data is deleted.

How should a school pay?

Most schools prefer an invoice or a purchase order to a card. Ask the provider whether it offers that and what payment terms it uses.