Australian Maths by Year Level: What Students Learn from Foundation to Year 12

School reports in Australia talk about year levels, achievement standards and NAPLAN proficiency levels, and it is not always clear what that means for maths at home. This page sets out, year by year, what the Australian Curriculum (version 9) expects in maths from Foundation to Year 10, and how senior maths works in Years 11 and 12.

The wording in the table follows the curriculum's own achievement standards and content descriptions. States put the curriculum into practice slightly differently, so treat it as the national picture rather than your school's exact program.

Maths at each year level at a glance

Version 9 organises maths into six strands: number, algebra, measurement, space, statistics and probability. Version 8.4 used three combined strands, which is why older reports and resources may look different.

Foundation to Year 2: counting, place value and early facts

The first three years build number sense. Children move from numbers to 20 in Foundation to ordering numbers to at least 120 in Year 1 and at least 1000 in Year 2. Year 2 now includes multiplication facts for twos, which moved down from Year 3 in version 9, along with halves, quarters and eighths.

States and territories use their own names for Foundation, listed in the FAQ below. Whatever the name, it is the year before Year 1.

Years 3 to 6: times tables, fractions and decimals

These are the years where gaps tend to open. Multiplication facts for 3, 4, 5 and 10 arrive in Year 3, and by Year 4 students are expected to recall facts up to 10 x 10 with the related division facts. Fractions and decimals then carry much of Years 5 and 6, together with percentages, integers and prime numbers.

Students sit NAPLAN in Years 3 and 5. Our NAPLAN numeracy guide for parents explains what the test covers and what the proficiency levels mean.

Years 7 to 10: algebra, Pythagoras and trigonometry

Secondary maths moves quickly into algebra. Year 7 solves simple linear equations, Year 8 adds exponent laws and Pythagoras' theorem, Year 9 brings quadratics and trigonometric ratios, and Year 10 covers simultaneous equations, exponential growth and decay and conditional probability. NAPLAN numeracy comes again in Years 7 and 9.

Students heading for harder senior maths may also meet extra Year 10 material. In version 9, ACARA publishes this as optional content for post-Year 10 mathematics pathways, aimed at preparing students for subjects such as Mathematical Methods, and two former 10A topics moved into core Year 10. If your child struggles with Year 7 or 8 algebra, see how NAPLAN numeracy tutoring works on the earlier skills behind it.

Years 11 and 12: senior maths by state

Senior maths is set by each state, and the course your child chooses can affect university options. The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) is a rank between 0.00 and 99.95, not a mark, and universities use it to select students.

Our HSC maths tutoring and VCE maths tutoring pages show how one-to-one lessons work for each course.

Australian year levels and US grades

Australian year levels line up roughly with US grades of the same number: Foundation is about Kindergarten, Year 4 is about Grade 4 and Year 12 is about Grade 12. The Australian school year follows the calendar year, so a child can be half a year ahead of or behind a US child of the same age.

How to tell if your child is behind

• Look one or two year levels back. A Year 6 student who struggles with fractions of a quantity often never secured the Year 4 multiplication facts.
• Read the report against the achievement standard. Ask the teacher which parts of the year level's achievement standard your child has not yet met.
• Use NAPLAN as one signal, not the answer. A Developing or Needs additional support result is worth following up when school reports point the same way.

TaleemSquare teaches one-to-one maths online for Foundation to Year 12, following the Australian Curriculum, from A$130 a month for two 45-minute lessons a week. Every student starts with a free assessment that works back through earlier year levels to find where understanding stops. Our Australian maths tutor price guide sets out typical 2026 rates if you are comparing options.