Pencilwick

The question on this page is live. Try a wrong answer too, and see what the tutor says.

The tutor that teaches, not just tells.

Pencilwick helps Australian students from Foundation to Year 12 work things out for themselves. It gives a hint before an answer, checks the maths step by step, and follows the curriculum your school teaches.

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Unlimited maths practice is free, with no card needed.

Solving linear equations

Year 8 mathematics, algebra

AC9M8A02

1.Solve for x.

3(x−4)=2x+5

    The tutor writes here when you ask for a hint.

    Familiar Answers are checked in your browser by substitution.

    One login can hold more than one role, so a teacher who is also a parent switches views instead of juggling accounts.

    For the student, the parent and the teacher

    Get unstuck without being handed the answer

    When you’re stuck, Pencilwick asks what you’ve tried and gives the smallest hint that gets you moving. If you need the full working, it’s there, and every step has been checked.

    • Snap & Solve. Photograph a question from your textbook or worksheet. Free accounts get five a day.
    • Unlimited maths practice. Fresh questions for every year from Foundation to Year 10, marked the moment you answer.
    • Notes and flashcards from your own material. Upload class notes, a PDF or a photo of the board. Pencilwick writes a summary and flashcards that come back just before you’d forget them.
    • Help in your language. Ask for an explanation in the language you speak at home, then switch back to English for class.
    Start free

    Today

    5
    • Review 6 flashcardsCells, Year 8 scienceAC9S8U01
    • Practise solving linear equations10 questions, about 12 minutesAC9M8A02
    • Lesson: expanding bracketsPicked because of yesterday’s mistakesAC9M8A01

    Expand the brackets first: multiply each term inside by 3.

    We delete the photo once the question has been read. We keep the text of the question, not the picture.

    How Snap & Solve works

    Take a photo of the question you’re stuck on. Pencilwick reads it, checks it read it right, and then helps you solve it yourself.

    1. Snap

      Point your camera at one question, printed or handwritten, and crop to the one you want.

    2. Confirm what we read

      Pencilwick shows you what it read, so a smudged 7 doesn’t quietly become a 1. Fix it before anything else happens.

    3. Hints or full working, checked

      Start with a hint, or ask for the steps or the full solution. A maths engine checks each step before you see it.

    4. Practise the same skill

      The question is matched to its content description, and you get similar questions until it sticks.

    We align to content descriptions, the part of the curriculum every school must teach, and not to the optional elaborations.

    How alignment works

    Every content description from Foundation to Year 10

    Pencilwick is mapped to the Australian Curriculum v9.0, code by code. This is how many content descriptions sit in each learning area and year.

    Source: ACARA, Australian Curriculum v9.0, retrieved 9 October 2026. Blue cells are two-year bands.
    Learning area Foundation 12345678910
    English2930272828242324232325
    Mathematics1215182323242430272321
    Science910101212121218191919
    Humanities and social sciencesHistory, Geography, Civics, Economics from Year 7910101416151555606762
    TechnologiesDesign and Digital Technologies51721242928
    Health and physical education101119191919
    The ArtsDance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, Visual Arts202525253535
    Languages16 languages, plus frameworks for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and for classical languages: 1,283 content descriptions across every sequence.
    2,678 content descriptions in all.

    Years 11 and 12

    Senior courses are set by each state: WACE, the HSC, VCE, QCE, SACE, TCE, the ACT Senior Secondary Certificate and NTCET. Pencilwick supports Year 11 and 12 students with the tutor, Snap & Solve, and notes and flashcards made from their own course materials.

    Founding families: join during early access and keep your price for as long as your subscription runs.

    Plans and prices

    Australian dollars, GST included. No card surcharges, no lock-in, and you can cancel any time.

    • Free

      Any student, Foundation to Year 12

      $0
      All lessons, unlimited maths practice and flashcards. Five Snap & Solve questions and 20 tutor messages a day.
      Start free

    • Student Plus

      One student

      $14.99/monthor $99 a yearSave 45% yearly
      Unlimited Snap & Solve and tutor (fair use), notes from uploads, exam practice and essay feedback.
      Choose Student Plus

    • Family

      Up to four children

      $24.99/monthor $179 a yearSave 40% yearly
      Student Plus for every child, and a parent dashboard with a weekly report.
      Choose Family

    • Teachers

      Classroom teachers

      $0Teacher Pro $12.99/month or $99 a year
      Classes, assigning, heat maps and 30 generated resources a month. Pro adds unlimited resources, a marking assistant and report comments.
      Set up a class

    • Schools

      Whole school

      $8/student/yearF–6; $12 for Years 7–12
      Everything above, plus single sign-on, a data processing agreement and onboarding. Minimum $1,500 a year.
      Talk to us

    Compare every plan

    Our privacy policy and terms are drafts until a lawyer has reviewed them. You can read the drafts now.

    Promises we make to families and schools

    Written down, so you can hold us to them.

    • No ads, on any plan

      Pencilwick is paid for by subscriptions. There are no ads and no advertising trackers, and we never market to children.

    • We never sell data

      Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone.

    • Student work doesn’t train AI models

      We don’t use students’ questions, answers or chats to train AI models, and our contracts require the same of the AI providers we use.

    • Parents consent for under-15s

      Children under 15 need a parent’s approval before they can use the tutor or upload photos. For class accounts, the school gives consent.

    • Hosted in Australia from launch

      Accounts, learning records and backups will be stored in Australian data centres.

    • A tutor, not a friend

      The tutor sticks to learning. It won’t role-play as a friend, claim to have feelings or try to keep a child chatting.

    • Names stay out of AI prompts

      The AI model sees the year level, the state and the question. It doesn’t see a student’s name, email or school.

    • Download or delete, any time

      Parents and students can download their data or ask us to delete it. We act on deletion requests within 30 days.

    If a student is not okay

    If a student writes something that suggests they’re unsafe, the tutor stops tutoring, says so kindly, and shows these numbers. Their parent or teacher is told. How the tutor behaves with children

    Something we haven’t answered? Email hello@pencilwick.com. A person replies.

    Questions parents and teachers ask

    Does Pencilwick just give students the answers?

    No. The tutor starts with a hint and asks what the student has tried. Students can ask for the steps or the full solution when they need them, and teachers can switch full solutions off for a set task.

    Does it match what my child does at school?

    Pencilwick follows the Australian Curriculum v9.0 from Foundation to Year 10, and uses the name your state gives the first year of school: Pre-primary in WA, Kindergarten in NSW and the ACT, Prep in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, Reception in South Australia and Transition in the Northern Territory.

    NSW, Victoria and WA adapt the national curriculum for their own schools. Most content lines up, and we show where it doesn’t. How alignment works.

    How do you know the maths is right?

    AI language models can make arithmetic slips, so they don’t get the final word. In maths, every answer and worked step goes through a separate maths engine that checks it, for example by substituting the answer back into the question. If a step can’t be checked, Pencilwick tells the student so.

    What does it cost?

    The free plan includes every lesson, unlimited maths practice and flashcards. Student Plus is $14.99 a month or $99 a year. Family is $24.99 a month or $179 a year for up to four children. Teachers use Pencilwick free. All prices include GST. See every plan.

    How do I cancel?

    Email hello@pencilwick.com from the address on your account and we’ll cancel it the same day. There’s no phone call and no notice period.

    My child is under 15. What do I need to do?

    When a child under 15 signs up, they give us your email and we ask you to approve their account. Until you do, they can use lessons and practice but not the tutor or photo uploads. If they joined through their teacher’s class code, the school looks after consent.

    Can my child get help in another language?

    Yes. Students can ask the tutor to explain in the language they speak at home and switch back to English whenever they like. Lessons and curriculum wording stay in English, as they are at school.

    What devices does it work on?

    Any up-to-date browser on a phone, tablet, laptop or Chromebook. There’s nothing to install.

    Is Pencilwick endorsed by ACARA?

    No. Pencilwick uses ACARA’s curriculum under its Creative Commons licence. ACARA does not endorse any product that uses the Australian Curriculum. Read the full notice.

    Start with tonight’s homework

    Free accounts include every lesson and unlimited maths practice. Upgrade only if you need more.

    Start free Compare plans