Our mission at Plytime is simple - we want to make the most effective learning as affordable as possible
So that it is accessible for everyone

The Plytime Learning Story - where it all began
Hi we’re Lisa and Ian – the founders of Plytime Learning – and we are passionate about trying to help people to “be their best”. Our journey started when we created a maths game, originally just for our own children, which then developed into PLYT Games – family number games proven to improve maths & designed for all ages and abilities to play together.
We knew that students loved learning through play but we thought we could do more to help so we began to use our games as a way of tutoring maths at home & in schools.
We tutored over 200 children and found that they love playing competitive games against others (if they have a real chance of winning) but concentration was often a struggle – as most parents can testify, after about 15 minutes their minds started to drift and we’d be fielding more questions about our goldfish than about maths.
Over time it was heart-warming to see children increase their confidence with numbers and change in front of us – many went from saying they “hated maths” to it being their favourite subject. It was then we realised we had to take this online and make tutoring more effective and affordable so that we could help more children to be their best.
During the trial we realised that tutoring could be made more efficient, effective and affordable which in turn could help more children…
so we set about creating Plytime Learning
If you’re wondering where the name “Plytime” comes from…
It stemmed from our game PLYT. We liked the names “play it” and “multiply it” so we decided to combine them and came up with the name PLYT (pronounced Plight)
Our tutoring was an extension of our games – making learning fun and effective – whilst focusing on the optimal concentration span or TIME… so Plytime was born


Where we are now
We launched Plytime Learning in September 2021, initially focusing on primary Maths.
In 2022 we wanted to understand the impact of shorter tutoring sessions (based on optimal attention spans) on maths improvement, so we undertook a research project with Manchester Metropolitan University. This proved that shorter FOCUS Tutoring sessions are 25% more effective than traditional tutoring. You can read more here.
Where we are going
In line with our mission we will endeavour to bring the cost of online learning combined with 1-to-1 tutoring down as much as possible whilst continuing to improve effectiveness.
We aim to help you to be your best for the long term and we have big plans to expand into other subjects, secondary education and beyond.


Why choose us
As a family-owned business, we take customer satisfaction very seriously and we want to ensure that we offer you a great service. So in addition to providing our unique 1-to-1 FOCUS Tutoring, 24/7 personalised practice, help videos and detailed performance tracking we are always happy to help and answer any questions you may have.
Together we want to help your child to be their best!
Meet the Team

Ian McCartney
Wanted to be Prime Minister / Professional Footballer

Lisa McCartney
Wanted to be an Accountant

Debbie Ferguson
Wanted to be a Scuba Diver

Lewis Silcock
Wanted to be an Archaeologist
