Selecting the Right EMP Level

The Explicit Mathematics Program is split into year-levels which roughly correspond to years of schooling as follows:

• Prep/Foundation/Transition → Level A
• Year 1 → Level B
• Year 2 → Level C
• Year 3 → Level D
• Year 4 → Level E
• Year 5 → Level F (for release in 2028)
• Year 6 → Level G (for release in 2029)

As such, a school commencing the program in Prep/Foundation/Transition can simply commence with Level A and progress these students chronologically through the program.

However, if you would like to commence the program with an older group of students who have not worked through prior levels of the EMP, it is important to follow the advice within this page to select an appropriate program level.

To do so, identify your student's year level from the below, read the summary, then click through to the further guidance.

Level B includes specific bridging resources for students entering the program at this level. This will help to smooth the transition for any students who are commencing Level B without having completed Level A.

*These students may benefit from completing Level A prior to or alongside Level B as an additional targeted intervention.

Level C includes specific bridging resources for students entering the program at this level. This will help to smooth the transition for any students who are commencing Level C without having completed Level A or B.

*Exceptions:

The exception to the above recommendation could be if students do not have a diagnosed learning difficulty but they are clearly operating at around 2 years below level and if you would classify these children as 'at risk'. In such cases, consider the following:

For success in Level C, students must begin with the following competencies:

• Write all numerals
• Count a collection (of up to 9) and record as a numeral
• Count on one from any single-digit number
• Count on by 1, 2, or 3 from any single-digit number
• Count back by 1, 2, or 3 from any single-digit number
• Count by 1s to 30
• Count by 10s to 100

These are core competencies because, when possessed, they will enable a student to successfully commence the bridging resources for Level C and prepare them for success in lessons on topics such as the addition and subtraction algorithms (with and without re-grouping), making and saying 3- and 4-digit numbers, and learning about multiplication and place value.

For students within this 'at risk' category:

Approximate time to administer: 15 minutes (whole-class written component) + 3 minutes per child (oral component)

For success in Level D, students must begin with the following competencies:

• Write 4-digit numbers (dictation activity)
• Add 2-digit numbers with regrouping
• Subtract 2-digit numbers with regrouping

These are core competencies because, when possessed, they will enable a student to successfully commence Level D and prepare them for success in lessons on topics such as reading and writing 6-digit numbers, addition and subtraction of large numbers, and solving a variety of worded problems.

To determine the appropriate level for Year 3 students:

Approximate time to administer: 30 minutes (whole-class written task)

There are some cases in which an exception is appropriate and a Year 4 student who has not undertaken any prior EMP levels could commence at Level E. We suggest that it is likely that this would only be relevant for a very small subset of students, who you can identify through the Year 4 placement test (we suggest running it only with students whom you are confident are pushing towards the top of or above grade level).

The placement test for students entering Year 4 assesses these core competencies:

• Write 4-digit numbers (dictation activity)
• Fluency in 2-digit addition and subtraction algorithms with regrouping
• Fact fluency in all four operations
• Accuracy in all four algorithms with larger numbers and multiple regrouping
• Worded problems
• Fraction knowledge

The Level E program is notably challenging, commencing the year with long division, expecting high levels of conceptual and procedural understanding of fractions (including expression as mixed numbers and improper fractions) and building on significant work previously done on single-step word problems to build into multi-step word problems. Fluency in facts and algorithms for all four operations is also required for students to access the program at this level.

To determine the appropriate level for high-achieving Year 4 students:

Approximate time to administer: 1 session (whole class)

A number of EMP schools have used Levels A through D (and Level E from 2027) with students in Years 5 or 6, including with entire classes, where student starting points matched the level.

Though EMP Level F (for release in 2028), and G (for release in 2029) are designed for Years 5 and 6 respectively, earlier EMP levels may be appropriate for students operating below level. To determine whether Level C, D, or E suits your Year 5 or 6 students, review the Year 4 guidance.