Substitution Mastery
An interactive lesson on screen. Your child works through worked examples, practises on their own, then tests themselves with questions that get harder as they go.
About this lesson
By the end of this lesson your child can look at any substitution question, one-step, two-step, squaring, or two variables at once, and know instantly which order to work through it. Substitution sits underneath almost every algebra topic on the 11+ and GCSE paper, so a shaky method here costs marks well beyond the substitution questions themselves.
Topics covered:
- One-step substitution, swapping a letter for its number in a simple expression
- Squaring and order of operations, for example substituting a negative number into an expression with a power
- Two-step expressions, where two operations have to happen in the right order
- Three- and four-step expressions, building up to longer multi-operation expressions
- Substituting into expressions with more than one variable
Your child explores three interactive bar-model tools to build intuition, clicks to reveal each step of a worked example, tries the practice questions on paper, then clicks to check their own answer.
How it's structured:
- Each unit opens with a worked example your child clicks through line by line, then 10 practice questions colour-coded easy, medium and hard
- 60 questions in total, each with a click-to-reveal answer and a reveal-all option
- A final 20-question mixed challenge pulling from all 4 units, the way substitution actually shows up on an exam paper
Substituting a negative number into a squared term is one of the most common marks lost at 11+ and GCSE Foundation. Students see c² and square first, then forget the negative sign has to go in before the operation. The bar model in this lesson shows exactly what gets substituted and when, so the habit forms early.
Use this if:
- Your child is in Year 4 to Year 11 and needs to build algebra confidence
- You're preparing for the 11+, where substitution underpins most of the algebra section
- Your child is doing GCSE Foundation and loses marks to sign errors or order-of-operations slips
- You want a resource your child can check their own work with, not one more thing on your to-do list
Built by an experienced maths teacher with over 3,000 hours of one-to-one tutoring experience and a Master's in Education.
Format: Interactive digital lesson, link sent by email straight after purchase.
Suitable for: Year 4 to Year 11, 11+, KS2, KS3, KS4, GCSE Foundation.
Who this is for
Built for students who want to practise independently, at their own pace, with clear examples and instant feedback rather than a static worksheet.
What's included
Worked examples
See the method explained step by step before trying it yourself.
Guided practice
Work through questions with answers hidden until you're ready to check.
Exam-style questions
Split easy to hard, so your child is always working at the right level.
How it works
Buy the lesson
Complete checkout securely through Shopify.
Get your link by email
Your lesson link lands in your inbox straight after payment.
Work through it on screen
Open the link on any device and start straight away.
FAQs
How do I access the lesson?
You'll get an email with your lesson link as soon as payment goes through. Click it to open the lesson in any browser, no login and no app to install.
How does the marking work?
There's no typing answers into a box. Your child works it out on paper, then clicks to reveal the correct answer and checks their own work. Full working is shown too, not just the final answer, so mistakes are easy to spot.
Does it work on a phone or tablet?
It works best on a tablet or laptop, where there's more room to read the examples and questions. It'll open on a phone too, but the text and diagrams can feel quite small on a smaller screen.
Can I use the lesson more than once?
Yes. There's no limit on how many times you open the link, so it's there for revision right up to the exam.
What if I lose the link or don't get the email?
Email info@shlc-tutor.co.uk and we'll resend it straight away.
Ready to start?
Link sent to your email, ready in seconds
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