Maths books have long been valued as essential learning resources for children, and for good reason. Firstly, they are written by credible authors who possess extensive knowledge of the national maths curriculum of different age groups and present the content in a structured, easy-to-follow manner. Secondly, these books provide pupils with regular opportunities to practise what they’ve learnt, making it easier to reinforce understanding and track progress over time.
Below are 10 recommended maths books for children of various age groups in the United Kingdom.
| Maths Book Title | Age Group | Brief Overview |
|---|---|---|
| First Math Slide and See: Adding at the Circus | 2 to 5 years old (Early Years Foundation Stage) | A fun and colourful book that teaches about addition |
| Ten Black Dots | 4 to 5 years old (Early Years Foundation Stage) | A book which introduces basic math concepts through counting practices |
| Power Maths Year 1 Textbook | 5 years old and above (Key Stage 1) | A book that teaches children study patterns and concept revolving maths in a simple way |
| Abacus Year 1 Workbook 1 | 7 years old (Year 1 students, Key Stage 1) | A workbook with practical math activities and self-assessment exercises |
| Bond: Maths No Nonsense 7-8 years | 7 to 8 years old (Key Stage 2) | A comprehensive book that covers various math topics of different difficulty level under Key Stage 2 |
| Letts Wild About Learning - Problem-Solving & Reasoning Age 9-11 | 9 to 11 years old (Key Stage 2) | A book that helps develop students' problem-solving skills through facts about wild life |
| KS3 Year 8 Maths 10-Minute Weekly Workout | 12 to 13 years old (Key Stage 3) | A specialised exercise math book to help students build strong time mangement when solving math questions |
| Maths Progress Second Edition Core Textbook 1: Second Edition | Key Stage 3 students preparing for GCSE | An exam focused book to help students ace the covered topcis in GCSE Maths |
| GCSE Maths Edexcel Revision Guide: Foundation inc Online Edition, Videos & Quizzes | 14 to 16 years old GCSE students taking foundation tier maths | A versatile maths revision book that covers exam style questions and video learning resources (online access) |
| Collins GCSE Revision and Practice - New 2015 Curriculum Edition ― Edexcel GCSE Maths Higher Tier: All-In-One Revision and Practice | 14 to 16 years old GCSE students taking higher tier maths | This revision book offers the latest exam format and topic reviews of the covered maths topics |
📌 Picking The Right Math Books For Kids in the UK
Before diving into the maths book recommendations, let’s look at some important criteria for selecting the right book. Whether you're a parent, maths teacher, or student, you'll know that there's a wide range of maths learning resources available — both physical or online, like maths learning apps.
Here are three essential factors to consider before choosing the right math book:
- Children's age suitability
- Range of topics covered (Comprehensive or topical)
- Exam-focused approach
👦 Age Group Of Children
It's important to select a maths book (textbook, workbook, revision guide) that aligns with the child's learning age and learning pace. For example, an eight-year-old homeschooled child may progress at a different pace compared to a child attending regular maths lessons in a public or private school of the same age.
Refer to the table below to know how the progression of education works for every student according to different age groups according to the National Curriculum for England.
Important note: In this article, we will focus on maths book recommendations for children from the Early Years to Key Stage 4, as students in Key Stage 5 are considered pre-university students in the UK.
🔢 Scope of Maths Topics Covered
Next, it's important to review the maths curriculum for different age groups. Some math books will cover all the topics, while some are more specialised. For instance, some math activity books may only target the concept of fractions or geometry, as it may appeal to the different learning needs of different students.
Here are the core maths topics that every student needs to master at different educational stages:
Number, Numerical patterns
Number and place value, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, Geometry, Statistics
Number and place value, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Measurement, Geometry, Statistics, Ratio and proportion, Algebra
Number, Algebra, Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Geometry and measures, Probability, Statistics
Number, Algebra, Ratio, proportion and rates of change, Geometry and measures, Probability, Statistics
Important note: While the topics may seem similar across different age groups, the breadth and depth of the subject continue to expand as students progress to Key Stage 4. The difficulty level will increase progressively.
📝 Maths Books With Exam-Focused Approach
The final factor is whether the maths book chosen supports exam preparation, especially when maths is a compulsory subject for both primary and secondary education in the UK.
The two major exams that students in the UK will sit during their primary and secondary education include the Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Tests (SAT) and General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), respectively.
🧒 SATs (Primary School)
- Taken by students during Year 6 before secondary school enrolment
- Syllabus is nationally standardised across England
- Consists of 3 papers: Paper 1 will revolve around arithmetic while Paper 2 and 3 will test children on math reasoning
👩🎓 GCSE (Secondary School)
- Usually taken by students in Year 11 before they undergo the A-level pathway
- The syllabus depends on the schools' selection of multiple exam boards, such as AQA, Edexcel, or OCR.
- Consists of 3 papers and available at 2 tiers (Foundation and Higher)
In the following paragraphs, we will review ten different maths books — two for each age group. Let’s begin with the first two maths books for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage:
📚1. First Math Slide and See: Adding at the Circus
This engaging maths board book is part of the First Math Slide and See series, which helps children become avid readers while learning maths through fun slide mechanisms and vibrant illustrations. The other board book in the series covers basic subtraction operations using the same approach.
Author: Hannah Watson, Alex Willmore (illustrator)
Age Range: 2 to 5 years old (Early Years Foundation Stage)
Price: Paperback from £3.68
Rating: 4.3 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About The Book: Children at this age can enjoy learning about basic addition concepts with colourful illustrations as they count the animals and move the sliders in the book to reveal the answers. It has only 10 pages, making it easy for parents or teachers to navigate and use for reinforcement at home or in school.
📚2. Ten Black Dots
Children at this age love a good board book when it comes to learning something new, and our next maths book recommendation fits the bill perfectly. Although its primary format is paperback, you can save more by opting for the Kindle edition.
Author: Donald Crews
Age Range: 4 to 5 years old
Price: Paperback from £14.86, Kindle Edition at £3.99
Rating: 4.7 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About The Book: Published by Greenwillow Books, this 26-page book offers a wide range of engaging counting number practices incorporating various dot patterns while teaching basic math concepts.
📚 3. Power Maths Year 1A Textbook
If you are looking for a solid math textbook to set a strong foundation for Key Stage 1, this is your go-to textbook. This textbook is visually bound together with the Year 1 Level B textbook and practice book series for a comprehensive mastery of the subject.
Author: Tony Staneff, Josh Lury
Age Range: 5 years old and above (Key Stage 1)
Price: Paperback from £7.59
Rating: 4.8 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About The Book: This 184-page book consists of clear real-life contexts for basic problem-solving for maths questions using the Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract approach. Additionally, it follows the White Rose Maths curriculum, which is aligned with the UK maths syllabus and followed by many schools in the country.
📚4. Abacus Year 1 Workbook 1
After looking at textbooks, it's time to look at a workbook recommendation. Published by a household name in the UK, Pearson Education, this workbook helps students to enjoy maths through easy and engaging exercises.
Author: Ruth Mertsens, Jennie Kerwin, Hilda Merttens
Age Range: Key Stage 1
Price: Paperback from £2.70
Rating: 4.6 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About the Book: This workbook is practical and straightforward, offering students the flexibility to explore various assessment exercises at their own pace. They can also opt to solve math questions of different areas with different difficulty levels.
📚 5. Maths No Nonsense 7-8 years
This is a book you should buy if you're looking to boost children's confidence and proficiency in maths as they build a strong foundation for SATs or common entrance test preparation in the years to come.
Author: Sarah Lindsay
Age Range: 7 to 8 years old
Price: Paperback from $10.50
Rating: 4.7 stars
What's Special About the Book: It has structured step-by-step lessons, which are divided accordingly to different math skills. Ample practice questions are also provided with clear, straightforward answers and workings.
📚 6. Maths - Problem Solving & Reasoning Age 9-11
This book is part of the Letts Wild About series, which incorporates math topics from the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum alongside practical activities to help children learn maths and fun wildlife facts at the same time.
Author: HarperCollins UK
Age Range: 9-11 years
Price: Paperback from £3.04
Rating: 4.1 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About the Book: Quick topical tests and an explorer logbook to track one's progress for different math topics. A guaranteed enjoyable and engaging math learning experience.
📚 7. KS3 Year 8 Maths 10-Minute Weekly Workout
This book is designed for students who want consistent and concise weekly math exercises which is in alignment with the Key Stage 3 curriculum. Each math exercise has warm-up questions, with progressively challenging problem-solving activities.
Author: CGP Books
Age Range: 12 to 13 years old (Key Stage 3)
Price: Paperback from £5.51
Rating: 4.6 stars (Amazon)
What's Special About the Book: It offers 32 weekly math workouts, including 12 exercises for the summer, spring, and autumn school terms, along with a score sheet. Based on general reviews, many people have mentioned that it covers a wide range of questions.
📚 8. Maths Progress Second Edition Core Textbook 1
Published by Pearson Education Limited, this textbook will equip students to ace GCSE with confidence through comprehensive practice and updated, structured questions for all the KS3 maths topics.
Author: Katherine Pate, Naomi Norman
Age Range: Key Stage 3 students preparing for GCSE
Price: Paperback from £15.64
Rating: 4.6 stars
What's Special About the Book: This book emphasises the original concept of differentiated math learning through the features of the 'Support' and 'Depth' sections to cater to the different learning needs of each student. It also comes with a practice book series with easy steps to solve GCSE-formatted questions.
📚 9. GCSE Maths Edexcel Revision Guide
Now, we’re moving on to the GCSE Maths level book recommendations — one for the Foundation tier and another for the Higher tier.
The following revision guide for GCSE Maths Foundation tier is a valuable learning tool as it also offers access to an online edition for students to view the materials on mobile devices, making the revision process more dynamic.
Author: CGP Books
Age Range: Key Stage 4 students taking Foundation Tier GCSE maths
Price: Paperback from £6.21
Rating: 4.6 stars
What's Special About the Book: Not only can readers try out a series of physical math exercises, but they can also scan the QR codes listed in the book to engage with online maths games, quizzes, and video solutions. Grade stamps are also marked for different topics to indicate the difficulty level.
📚 10. Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Maths Higher All-in-One Complete Revision and Practice
This comprehensive revision and practice book by Collins UK is suitable for students who are taking the GCSE Maths Higher tier, as it integrates concise revision notes with end-of-topic questions for different practice sections.
Author: Collins UK
Age Range: GCSE students taking Higher tier maths
Price: Paperback from £9.99
Rating: 4.6 stars
What's Special About The Book: It includes a full-style exam to help readers familiarise themselves with the format of the GCSE paper. Free Q&A flashcards are also available for download.
Master Maths At All Levels With Superprof
After reviewing these math book recommendations, you might be motivated to start browsing them at your nearest bookstore or online websites. Just as there are many books for different mathematics learning levels, there is certainly more than one way to score well in this subject.
All students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day in the same way.
George Evans
Granted that every child has a different approach when it comes to studying new math concepts, it would be great to try out a different studying methodology. For example, some students would enjoy a good maths game or tutorial via a maths app.
On the other hand, some learners would integrate what they have learnt through a series of math educational books under the guidance of an experienced math tutor through one-to-one lessons.
That way, learners can immediately receive feedback to improve, which will enhance their confidence and competence in the subject for years to come as they progress to a higher learning level.
One of the best ways to find an experienced and qualified maths tutor near you in the UK is through a reliable tutoring platform like Superprof.
At Superprof, you get to choose the perfect maths tutor according to your preferences as you view their teaching experience, teaching qualifications, teaching methodology, teaching mode, and hourly rates.
Private tutoring allows students to decide the scope and emphasis of their lessons. For instance, parents can discuss with the tutor if they want their child to have more counting practice activities or numbers recognition activities. Not only that, Superprof offers affordable lessons according to your preferred maximum budget. The first lesson is usually free as well, so you can save a bit!
We hope this article has offered you some insights on how to make maths learning engaging and enjoyable with the right resources — both books and tutoring guidance. Have fun learning maths, and all the best for all your tests!
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