Have You Seen These 8 High Quality, Free Maths Websites?

MATHS INSIDERS blog (14)

The best things in life are free!

I’m a big fan of online paid maths websites such as Ten Marks, Maths Whizz and The Maths Factor, they offer well structured maths materials with great parent feedback. However, there are some great free maths resources out there, that provide a respectable alternative to paid maths websites, for those of you who are willing to mix and match, or who don’t need all the features of a paid program.

Here is my list of 8 high quality, free maths websites, that you can use today to support your child’s maths learning, without having to get out your credit card!

1) Free maths and Free Rice

Freerice.com is a non profit website run by the United Nations Food Programme, which donates 10 grains of rice for each multiple choice question your child (or you) get right. Subjects covered are maths, English grammar and vocabulary, art history, goegraphy, science and 4 foreign languages. As Freerice says on their website “ WARNING – his game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades and  job performance” The math is quite basic, starting with simple addition questions, going up to multiplying fractions,decimals and percentages at Level 10, its highest maths level, but it’s a nice way to practise basic skills.

2) A free maths podcast presented by The Math Dude

Jason Marshall, a research scientist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) is the “Math Dude”. In his podcasts he gives explanations and tips and tricks for a wide range of maths topics. The Math Dude’s Top 5 podacsts include; How to Explain Patterns with Math, How to Use Math to Send Encrypted Messages and How to Convert Decimals to Fractions. Listen to this fun podcast on the Math Dude website or download it in iTunes.

3) A completely free complete maths curriculum delivered by Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a not for profit website containing over one thousand, 10-20 minute maths instructional videos, from Basic Addition to Calculus. Salman Khan, a Mathematician, Computer Scientist and former Investment Manager, teaches each lesson in a relaxed and friendly way with his Tablet blackboard. As well as the Khan Academy You Tube videos, there are online exercises which students can use to practise the skills they have learnt. The king of free maths resources!

4) Maths games and revision at BBC Schools Primary and BBC Schools Secondary

The go-to-place for UK parents looking for free curriculum games. The Primary sections has high quality educational maths games accompanied by lesson plans, and a guide to how the topic fits into the curriculum; as well as links to further material and worksheets. The Secondary site takes each topic for 11-16 year olds and provides “bite size revision” notes, an activity and a test. Essential material for  when exams are looming!

5) Maths puzzles and challenges from the mathematicians at NRich

NRICH is a website run by my old Faculty of Maths Education at the University of Cambridge. It provides engaging and challenging maths materials designed to develop mathematical thinking and problem-solving skills. The materials are divided into levels with each challenge presented in a meaningful context. Will your child rise to the challenge?

Bonus: In the “Ask NRich” forum, students can ask a mathematician any maths question and get guidance on how to solve it

6) A compilation of free maths games at Maths Zone

Maths Zone is a directory with links to hundreds of free online maths games, divided into topic areas. The variety of games offered for each topic means that your child should be able to find a game that they like, in order to practise their maths skills. Ignore the garish graphics and enjoy the huge range of maths games available.

7) High-tech maths video games at Manga High

Brought to you by Dr. Marcus du Sautoy OBE, Professor of Mathematics at University of Oxford, and his team, Manga High offers graphically rich maths games aimed at teenagers. Using exciting contexts within timed games, students answer questions in order to unlock higher levels and increase their position on the Leaderboard. 9 of the Manga High games are offered on their free package.

8) Free maths for Australians at Maths Online

Thanks to McDonald’s Australia, who are the sponsors of this site, Maths Online provides online animated lessons as well as online and printable worksheets for Australian students. My children are currently using the similar paid version for non Australians at Conquer Maths. Maybe it’s time to emigrate! Maths Online covers maths topics for students aged 11-16 years old. The parent dashboard enables you to keep track of your child’s results as they progress through the program.

Have you tried any of these free maths resources before? Which one is your favourite? What great free maths resource have I missed out? Tell me in the comments below!

Caroline Mukisa
About The Author: Caroline Mukisa is the founder of Maths Insider. A Cambridge University educated math teacher, she's been involved in math education for over 20 years as a teacher, tutor, Kumon instructor, Thinkster Math instructor and math ed blogger. She is the author of the insanely helpful ebook "The Ultimate Kumon Review" and insanely useful website "31 Days to Faster Times Tables" You can follow her math tips on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @mathsinsider

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

15 thoughts on “Have You Seen These 8 High Quality, Free Maths Websites?

  1. Love your ‘freebies’ list! I’ll be adding them all to my browser’s favourites’ pages so the children can spend 10/20minutes each day, on any or several of these pages. Thanks for sharing.

    • Hi Merry! That’s a nice way to use the list! Children (especially teens) like to have choices. Presenting them with these 8 different ways to consume maths is a great idea!

    • Yes Robin, Maths Zone, Khan Academy and Maths Online all have their material grouped into topics so you can link the work with what your child is currently studying at school.

  2. IMAGINARY offers a series of free math and art software (mathematical painting, create incredible math surfaces) etc. that are a lot of fun and very easy and intuitive to use. And… you can even make your own Math and Art exhibition at home, submit your pictures at competitions, etc.

    http://www.imaginary-exhibition.com

    (and without noticing you enter the world of algebraic geometry, differential geometry, etc. – stuff that goes even further than in any school curriculum).

  3. Here’s another:
    http://www.onemathematicalcat.org
    Dr. Burns was just a featured speaker at CAMT 2015, and she has her three talks available from the homepage—they give a thorough intro to her site. It has fully sequenced courses: Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Precalculus, more. Every lesson (more than 350) has *unlimited*, randomly-generated online and offline practice. It has beautiful, correct math display using MathJax (the gold standard for online math. All free, no annoying pop-ups or sign-ins, and such. Dr. Burns responds to user comments/questions via email quickly. Enjoy!

Comments are closed.