Why we are building PLUS
By Joe Zhou of JZMaths and Jackie Tyler of Tyler Tutoring
Jackie and I are building PLUS to bring comprehensive TMUA preparation together in one place: carefully written papers, clear explanations and useful guidance on what to work on next. Our aim is to make this affordable and transparently priced. PLUS will be free for students eligible for free school meals.
Our approach draws on many years of teaching mathematics across a wide range of levels and abilities. Working closely with students has shaped how we write questions, explain difficult ideas and recognise the misconceptions that can hold learning back. We want that experience to benefit students using our resources independently, as well as those we teach personally.
A paid offering will allow us to devote more of our working time to this development. It will also help support the continued creation of high-quality free resources for everyone. Everything we have previously made publicly available for free will remain free forever.
How we got here
I have been a maths tutor for over 20 years, many of them full-time. I left a job in finance because I loved teaching maths, and helping students understand mathematics has remained central to my working life ever since.
For years, I relied on the excellent free resources from MadasMaths and, more recently, Tyler Tutoring. Dr Trifon Madas was a dear personal friend whose advice I had the privilege of learning from. He shared his material freely with the simple aim of helping students, and his generosity has been an important influence on this project.
I began writing my own TMUA papers and logic course when one of my students needed more suitable preparation material. It was something I had long wanted to do; having a particular student in mind finally got me started. Sharing the work felt like a natural way to follow the example of Dr Madas and Jackie, and contribute something of my own.
JZMaths has since grown far beyond what I imagined. Seeing students use the simulator seriously, work through the resources and send thoughtful suggestions has encouraged me to keep developing it. It is especially rewarding to know that the work is helping people I will never have the opportunity to teach personally.
I am also very grateful to R2Drew2 for producing walkthroughs of all ten of my original mock papers, and to Jackie for her generous advice, careful proofreading and permission to include her papers in the simulator. Their contributions have made the site much more useful to students.
What we want PLUS to offer
Good preparation involves choosing suitable questions, attempting them seriously, understanding mistakes and using that understanding to guide further practice. We want PLUS to support students throughout that process.
The simulator and mastery tools already provide a foundation. We plan to build on these with more carefully balanced papers, further learning resources and, eventually, teaching videos. We also want to improve the connections between them, so that identifying a weaker area leads naturally to material that helps address it.
Our teaching experience matters in the details: how a question exposes a misunderstanding, where an explanation needs an extra step, and how to help a student see why a method works. These are considerations we want to bring to every part of PLUS.
The aim is thorough TMUA preparation that develops mathematical understanding, confidence and sound judgment. As students progress, we hope they become more independent and curious mathematicians, willing to explore unfamiliar ideas and ask questions that take their understanding beyond the exam.
Making the work sustainable and accessible
Jackie and I are working tutors. Writing and checking questions, developing explanations, improving software and responding to feedback require time alongside our teaching commitments. Income from PLUS will allow us to devote more time to creating and improving these resources, while helping cover the costs of hosting and running the site.
We have not yet settled the full contents or pricing structure of PLUS. We will publish prices and what they include upfront, so students and families can make an informed decision.
We recognise that even a modest price can be a barrier for some families. We will therefore provide free PLUS access to students eligible for free school meals, using school-confirmed eligibility as the basis for this support. This commitment begins with PLUS beta, where eligible students can receive the full bundle free of charge.
We will also continue developing the free resources available to everyone, and I plan to publish teaching videos on YouTube. Both the free material and PLUS are part of our long-term commitment to helping students prepare well.
A few words from Jackie Tyler
When I first started creating TMUA resources for Tyler Tutoring, my aim was simply to give students access to high-quality preparation material, regardless of whether or not they were able to have private tuition. Over time I wrote a series of free worksheets, practice questions and mock papers, and it has been incredibly rewarding to know that they are being freely used by students and teachers across the country.
When I discovered the JZMaths website this summer, I was immediately impressed—not only by the quality and originality of the questions, but by the amount of thought that had gone into creating a genuinely useful resource for students. As Joe and I began to exchange comments and suggestions, it became clear that we share very similar ideas about what good TMUA preparation should look like. In particular, we both believe that students benefit most from resources that develop mathematical thinking and problem-solving, rather than simply teaching tricks for passing an exam.
It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Joe so far, combining our experience and ideas to create something much more comprehensive than either of us could produce alone. I look forward to continuing our collaboration, to develop carefully balanced exam papers that reflect the current TMUA, alongside resources that help students identify their weaker areas and understand what they should work on next.
It is also very important to me that the free resources which brought us together remain available. There will continue to be plenty on the Tyler Tutoring and JZMaths sites for students who cannot or do not want to pay, while PLUS will allow us to devote more time to creating, improving and hosting new material.
Most of all, I hope that what we build will help students approach the TMUA with greater confidence—not because they have learnt a collection of shortcuts, but because they have become stronger and more resourceful mathematicians.
— Jackie Tyler, Tyler Tutoring
PLUS is currently planned to launch after the January 2027 TMUA sittings. Our first release, PLUS beta, gives students early access to the new Exam Sets.