Understanding what makes a polygon regular (equal sides and angles) vs irregular, and naming polygons by number of sides.
Where your child meets this in real life: Identifying regular shapes in nature (honeycombs), design, and architecture
Each SEAG paper has 28 maths questions. Questions 29 to 50 are multiple choice with five possible answers, and questions 51 to 56 need a short written answer. With 56 questions in 60 minutes across English and maths, that is about a minute per question.
SEAGReady breaks understand polygons into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Identify which shapes are polygons and name polygons by their number of sides
Identify regular polygons by checking that ALL sides are equal AND ALL angles are equal
Classify polygons as irregular when sides are not all equal OR angles are not all equal, including edge cases
Try three free questions from our understand polygons course. They start easy and get harder, so you can see where your child's confidence runs out. If they manage the last one without a hint, this topic is probably secure. If not, the steps above show where to start.
Alfie is sorting shapes for his maths homework. Which of these shapes are polygons: circle, triangle, hexagon, oval?
Lily draws an octagon with all 8 angles equal in size but with sides of different lengths. Is it regular?
Nathan draws a hexagon with all 6 sides equal to 4 cm. However, its angles are not all equal in size. What type of polygon is this?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
A closed shape has 6 straight sides.
Is the shape a polygon, and what is its name?
A polygon must be closed and have only straight sides
Step 1 of 3
A closed shape has 6 straight sides.
Is the shape a polygon, and what is its name?
The shape is a hexagon and it is a polygon because it is closed and has only straight sides.
The key insight: A shape can be closed and still fail the polygon test: every boundary piece must be straight.
Common mix-up: A circle is a polygon because it is a closed shape. Being closed is not enough. Polygons must have straight sides - circles have no straight sides at all.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in understand polygons, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with understand polygons? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
Sitting the SEAG test this November? Read our last-month revision plan, Paper 1 vs Paper 2 and test day guide.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
Free to start · no card needed