The levels we cover
Maths goes wrong in different ways at different stages, and the fix is rarely “more exercises”. What follows is where families in Luxembourg most often ask for help.
Lower secondary — 7e to 5e
Fractions, negative numbers, proportionality, the first algebra and geometry. This is where small gaps become permanent. In the general track (enseignement secondaire général), maths is taught at two levels, basic or advanced, from 6G — so a weak first year can decide which course a student follows next.
Upper secondary — the classical sections
In the classical track, 4C prepares the choice of section. Entry to section B (maths and computer science) requires an annual maths mark of at least 38 out of 60 in 4C, and sections C and D also set high expectations in maths. Lessons follow the chapters actually being taught, up to the end-of-secondary examination.
European schools, IB and Cambridge
For students in an English-language section, the IB in English or the Cambridge curriculum, Luckas teaches maths in English. Tell us the school, the year and the course — Analysis and Approaches or Applications and Interpretation at the IB, IGCSE or A-Level — so that we can confirm coverage.
University and preparatory classes
First-year analysis, linear algebra and probability, a BTS module or preparatory classes. Tell us the module and we will confirm coverage before committing.
The language of maths
In most 7C and 7G classes, subjects are taught in German, but maths is taught in French; the 7C-FR and 7G-FR classes teach everything in French except German. A student who first learned mathematical vocabulary in another language can understand the method perfectly and still freeze on a French word problem. Before choosing what to work on, we check which of the two is getting in the way — by rephrasing the question and seeing whether the maths then goes through.
Marks are out of 60, and a mark is sufficient from 30. A mark gives a useful signal; it does not tell you whether the problem is the maths or the reading of it.
A worked example: the step that usually breaks
A price rises by 10%, then falls by 10%. What is the overall change?
× 1.1 then × 0.9
1.1 × 0.9 = 0.99
So the price has fallen by 1%. Most students answer “no change” — because they add the percentages instead of multiplying the coefficients. A student who can explain why the 10% fall removes more than the 10% rise added will handle any variation of the question, in any language.
So in a lesson we ask for the reason before we accept the answer, then set a second question that looks different but tests the same idea.
Taught in the language of the syllabus
Notation is not universal. Decimal separators, the naming of intervals, how a derivative is written — these differ between the French and Anglophone traditions, and a student assessed in English who has only been taught in French will lose marks for reasons that have nothing to do with mathematics. Luckas, who completed his MSc at Imperial College London after French preparatory classes, teaches on either side of that line.
