KS3 Maths SEND Intervention
A term-long maths programme for a named cohort of pupils with SEND, attention-related needs, or who've fallen behind in the standard classroom. Runs alongside your existing SEND provision and ends with a report ready for SEND reviews and EHCP Section F.
Programme at a glance
Why this exists
Every pupil with SEND has a different relationship with maths. They need support that meets them where they are.
Pupils with SEND, attention-related needs or lower confidence in maths rarely close the KS3 gap without targeted support. The approaches that tend to work best (small-group tutoring, dedicated TA time, one-to-one specialist input) cost more than most schools can sustain at the scale they're needed.
Wavelength is built around how these pupils actually learn: their own pace, a clearer structure at each step, and the ability to ask for help without flagging themselves in front of the class. A cohort that would cost a school significantly more to support in any other way can run the programme for a full term.
What's covered
Foundation number topics in KS3 maths
The programme covers five foundation number topics in KS3 maths: the areas where gaps are most common, and where building a firm foundation has the most impact on what comes next. Each topic breaks into short video lessons and challenges that pupils work through at their own pace.
-
Addition and subtraction
Written methods, mental strategies and working with negative numbers, plus the word problems where the language is doing more of the work than the maths. Everything else builds on it.
-
Multiplication
Times tables, written methods for larger numbers, and multiplying by 10s, 100s and 1,000s. Pupils who struggled with multiplication at primary often arrive in Year 7 still avoiding it. The programme works back to where it starts to click.
-
Division
Short and long division, dividing by 10s, 100s and 1,000s, and sharing into equal groups. One of the topics where being able to rewind a step-by-step video makes the biggest difference.
-
Fractions, decimals and percentages
How they relate to each other, how to convert between them, and the standard operations on each. In the 10-school trial, pupils improved most on percentages, going from 41% to 68% over four weeks.
-
Ratios
Reading and writing them, scaling them up and down, and using them to share quantities. The early steps often look unfamiliar, which is exactly where lower-confidence learners tend to disengage in a classroom. The platform handles that more gently.
How it runs
Built around your school term
Each programme paces itself across a school term, with the option to compress into a half-term for a more intensive cohort. Either way, the same content is covered and the free phase always lasts four weeks of pupil time.
- Setup
1–2 weeks before the start
Provisioning and walkthrough
We provision the school, run a 30-minute dashboard walkthrough for the teachers, upload the pupil list, and share a template parental notification letter. If you use Wonde, we set up automated pupil rostering. If you use Google or Microsoft SSO, we connect that too.
- Start
Beginning of the term or half-term
Baseline and first lessons
Pupils complete a short baseline so the school and we know where each one is starting. They then begin working through their first topic at their own pace.
- Mid-way
Around the halfway point
Mid-programme check
You'll get an interim summary covering engagement, early confidence shifts and attainment movement so far, followed by a 15-minute call to talk through it together.
- Decision
After four weeks of pupil time
End of the free phase
The free phase closes. If you'd like to continue (most schools do), we confirm the commercial side and the programme runs to its end. If not, you walk away owing nothing.
- Report
Final week
End-of-programme report
The report goes to you and whoever else you'd like to include: SEND-formatted for named intervention cohorts, a cohort overview for wider rollouts.
Pupils typically use Wavelength in dedicated intervention slots, often two or three 30–45 minute sessions a week. It also works in form time, after-school clubs, or as part of a wider numeracy programme. The platform doesn't dictate when or where, so long as the pupils get the time.
The deliverable
The SEND Intervention report
At the end of the programme, you get a report built from real pupil data: attainment movement, confidence shifts and engagement patterns for every named pupil, reflecting how they finished, not just where they started. Formatted for your SEND processes, not just filed away.
SEND Intervention report
Individual pupil profiles covering attainment movement, confidence and engagement shifts, and topic-level progress for each named pupil. Alongside the scores, the report notes the specific kinds of errors that kept recurring for each pupil throughout the programme. That's the qualitative detail that's hard to produce manually and genuinely useful when writing up evidence for SEND reviews.
Ready to use as supporting evidence for named pupils with EHCPs.
Inside the platform
How the programme works for pupils and for staff
For pupils
Every pupil works at their own pace, with the support they need at each step, and never has to flag anything in front of the class.
-
Their own pace, their own path
Each topic breaks into short video steps and interactive challenges. Pupils can pause, rewind, replay, and only move on when they're ready. Not when the rest of the class does.
-
Accessibility built in
Auto-generated subtitles on every video, plus an optional dyslexic-friendly font any pupil can switch on. Preferences follow them across devices.
-
Help without putting their hand up
An 'I don't get it' button brings up help targeted at the exact step they're on. A quick mood check (Bored / Okay / Confused) lets them share how they're finding it, privately.
-
Something to work towards
Every pupil has a Wavebot they customise. New accessories are earned by showing up and putting the work in. Effort counts, not just correct answers.
For SENCOs and teachers
A clear picture of who's progressing, who's stuck, and on what, without the manual data collection that usually goes with it.
-
A live dashboard
A real-time view of where every pupil is across the topics: who's progressing, who's stuck, and on what. No compiling, no chasing. It's just there.
-
Patterns surface on their own
When a pupil keeps rewatching the same step, when engagement drops, or when the same question is keeping several pupils stuck, you see it without having to look for it.
-
SEND-formatted report, ready to use
Individual pupil profiles, attainment movement and confidence shifts, formatted for SEND reviews and ready to evidence intervention in EHCP Section F where it applies.
-
Topic control when you want it
Wavelength can sequence topics based on each pupil's needs, or you can assign specific topics to the cohort yourself. Two modes, switchable at any point.
Evidence
What we saw across 10 schools
In 10 UK secondary schools, ~100 pupils spent four weeks on the programme. The pupils who engaged most were often the ones who'd found the standard classroom hardest.
See the full evidence46% → 61%
Average attainment 10 schools · ~100 pupils · 4 weeks
Participating schools
What teachers said
Felt it enabled more personalised support without extra workload
Found it easier to support multiple pupils at once
Said it improved their understanding of how pupils learn
Would recommend Wavelength to other teachers or schools
The students who struggled in the classroom environment were the ones who engaged in Wavelength the best.
C. Roskams
Our Lady of Sion School
The students have enjoyed these sessions as they find it more adaptable to their needs and they don't have to be competing or trying to fit into lessons. They are eager to know when they will start again for this year.
N. Smalling
La Retraite RC Girls' School
Fully set up, all pupils on the platform, the live dashboard, the lot. You only start paying once you've seen the programme running with your own pupils.
If it isn't right for you by the end of week 4, you walk away owing nothing: no notice period, no claw-back, no awkward conversation.
We'll talk through the commercial side on the first call, before anything is committed, and work around whatever your school's finance team needs.
Also available
Looking at a wider cohort?
Same five topics and same shape, but built for a class, a year group, or the whole of KS3. Every pupil works at their own level, and the end-of-programme report gives heads of maths a topic-level picture of where the cohort actually stands. Useful for grouping decisions and identifying pupils who need more support before they fall further behind.
See the Foundation ProgrammeWe're taking on new schools for Autumn 2026.
We keep each intake small so that setup, mid-programme calls and reports all get the attention they deserve. The next step is a 15-minute conversation. It helps to have a rough sense of which pupils you have in mind and when you'd want to start. No commitment at that stage, and the first four weeks are free either way.