Pupils compete in maths World Cup football game
The school is among the first to try a new game linking World Cup excitement with maths learning
While England’s stars adjust to the Kansas heat, pupils at Chorley St James Primary School have been given the chance to compete for their own World Cup in rather more familiar surroundings.
As early adopters of Trivela, a maths-based football game, they will compete with schools across England to be crowned the inaugural Trivela FC Maths World Cup Champions.
Rolled out over the World Cup campaign, the game aims to help address dwindling numeracy skills in the UK. According to its designers, by the age of 16 around one in four pupils have not secured the maths skills needed for further education and employment.
Trivela rewards effort, persistence and improvement, using a world many children are already passionate about — football.
Players create their own avatar and answer maths questions to improve their in-game “player card”, with parents of FC26 fans likely to recognise the card-collection style. As part of the World Cup mode, players can join the England team on a quest for glory, with prizes awarded to top-performing classes and pupils.
Chorley St James teacher Andrew Clark said the game has proved so popular with his Year 6 pupils that they have recommended it to their Year 5 peers.
In messages to classmates, pupils praised the game, with one saying it gave her “more enjoyable lessons”, while another said it had helped his maths ability and confidence in lessons. Others encouraged pupils to “get on Trivela whenever they have spare time”.
Founder Guy Rogers, who set up the company in summer 2025, said he hopes to make Trivela available to every school, with the World Cup game helping to raise awareness.
He said: “We’re from an entertainment background so making a fun game is actually the easy part. Where we’ve been lucky is to access Helen Sheridan’s 36-year teaching expertise to build a maths programme that really helps children develop maths confidence.”