Comparison

SeliQt vs IXL vs Khan Academy: Which AI Maths Tutor Is Right for Your Child?

Private tutoring costs $80–$120 per hour. For a family spending that weekly over a year, that's $4,000–$6,000 — before you factor in coaching college fees. AI tutoring has changed what's possible. Here's an honest look at your options.

Side-by-Side Breakdown

We've compared SeliQt against the most common tutoring and learning options Australian families use for selective entry preparation. This covers cost, capability, and exam relevance.

Feature SeliQt Traditional Tutor BrainTree Coaching Mathspace Cluey Learning IXL Khan Academy
Monthly cost (approx.) ~$25/mo $320–$480/mo
($80–120/hr weekly)
$200–$350/mo
(group classes)
~$15/mo $350–$450/mo ~$13/mo
(family plan)
Free
Selective entry focus ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ⚠ Partial ✓ Yes ✕ No ✕ No
AI-powered adaptive difficulty ✓ Yes ✕ No ✕ No ✓ Yes ✕ No ⚠ Partial
(SmartScore, question bank)
⚠ Partial
(mastery sequencing)
Handwriting / working-out analysis ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✕ No ✓ Yes ✕ No ✕ No
Available 24/7 ✓ Yes ✕ No (scheduled) ✕ No (scheduled) ✓ Yes ✕ No (scheduled) ✓ Yes ✓ Yes
Deviation point feedback ✓ Yes ✓ Yes (good tutors) ⚠ Varies ⚠ Partial ⚠ Varies ⚠ Partial
(static worked solutions)
⚠ Partial
(hints & static solutions)
ACER / Edutest aligned questions ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✕ No ✓ Yes ✕ No ✕ No
Parent progress dashboard ✓ Yes ✕ No ✕ No ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes ✓ Yes
Year levels covered 4–12 Varies Varies K–12 K–12 Foundation–12 Pre-K–University

Disclaimer: Prices for competitor services are approximate and may vary by region, tutor experience, and package. Check each provider's website for current pricing. SeliQt pricing subject to change — see our pricing page for current plans.

Every Family's Situation Is Different

There's no universally right answer. Here's a plain-English guide to what each option does best.

👨‍🏫

Choose Traditional Tutoring if…

  • Your child needs in-person motivation and accountability to stay engaged
  • You have a very short timeline (8 weeks or less) and need intensive, strategic prep
  • Your child's struggles are in subjects beyond maths that also need attention
  • Your child has specific learning needs that benefit from a human relationship
🏠

Choose BrainTree if…

  • You're in Melbourne and want a community coaching environment
  • Your child thrives in a group learning setting alongside peers
  • You want structured class schedules with clear weekly progression
  • The social aspect of preparation is important to your child's motivation
🅾

Choose IXL if…

  • Your child needs broad curriculum consolidation across multiple subjects at a low price point
  • You want detailed skill-by-skill tracking against the Australian Curriculum v9.0
  • Your child is comfortable with typed input and multiple-choice — no handwriting required
  • Selective entry prep is not the goal; general maths fluency is the priority
🎓

Choose Khan Academy if…

  • Budget is the primary constraint — Khan Academy's full library is free
  • Your child needs foundational concept explanations via video before practising problems
  • You're supplementing school, not specifically preparing for ACER or EduTest exams
  • Your child is self-directed and works through content at their own pace
🤝

Consider Combining

  • Many families use SeliQt for daily practice and a human tutor once a month for strategy coaching
  • This hybrid approach costs far less than weekly tutoring and provides the benefits of both
  • SeliQt's parent dashboard makes it easy to brief a tutor on exactly where your child needs help

Common Questions About AI vs Human Tutoring

Is AI tutoring as effective as human tutoring?

It depends on what you're measuring. AI excels at instant feedback, consistency, availability, and adapting difficulty in real time — things human tutors can't do at scale or at 10pm on a Tuesday. Human tutors excel at building a relationship with a student, reading emotional states, explaining concepts in novel ways when a student is truly stuck, and providing the kind of motivational accountability that some students need to stay on task.

The research on adaptive learning systems suggests that high-quality AI-assisted learning can match or exceed traditional tutoring for motivated students working on well-defined skills — which is exactly the profile of most selective entry preparation. For students who struggle with motivation or who have complex conceptual blocks, human tutors remain valuable. The best outcomes often come from combining both.

Can SeliQt replace tutoring entirely?

For many students, yes. Students who are self-motivated, who respond to written feedback, and who are consistent with their practice sessions typically see strong results from SeliQt alone. The adaptive system ensures they're always working at the right level, and the deviation point analysis provides the specific, actionable feedback that makes practice actually educational rather than just repetitive.

For students who need the motivational structure of a human relationship — who need someone to be disappointed in them when they don't do the work, or who need a face to explain something three different ways — SeliQt works best as a high-frequency daily practice tool alongside occasional human coaching sessions.

Are the practice questions actually relevant to ACER and Edutest?

Yes. SeliQt's question generation is explicitly aligned to the content areas and formats of ACER and Edutest assessments: mathematical reasoning, number and algebra, measurement and geometry, statistics and data, and pattern recognition. Questions are generated at the appropriate difficulty for each tier and year level, and the style of questions — multi-step reasoning, unfamiliar contexts, working under time pressure — mirrors the format students will encounter in real exams.

Unlike generic curriculum apps that cover the same content as school maths, SeliQt is built specifically for students who are preparing for assessments designed to test beyond the standard curriculum.

Ready to Start Smarter Preparation?

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