This project was recruiting but is now full.
Professional development for post-16 GCSE maths teachers which aims to improve GCSE maths outcomes for students in Further Education (FE) college settings. Approaches are underpinned by five key principles developed by the FE sector, which reflect the needs of students in the post-16 sector:
- Developing an understanding of mathematical structure.
- Building on students’ prior knowledge.
- Prioritising curriculum coherence and connections.
- Developing understanding and fluency in maths.
- Developing a collaborative culture, in which everyone can succeed.
Post-16 maths teachers receive two days of face-to-face professional development on the fundamental aspects of Mastering Maths, to be embedded within maths teaching. Teachers also meet five times across the year in lesson study groups, to observe and discuss the delivery of five exemplar Mastering Maths lessons, prepare delivery of exemplar lessons to their classes, and reflect on changing practice. Groups are clustered geographically and led by a Lead Trainer. Video clips of practice, a handbook, 12 exemplar lessons, and prompts are provided.
To find out more go to: Mastering Maths
Mastering Maths was previously evaluated by the University of Nottingham delivery team in the 2021 – 2022 academic year, through a three-armed randomised controlled trialAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes. involving 147 colleges and 7453 students. This trial found evidence of improvement in GCSE scores (the primary outcome measure), for students taught by teachers of the full Mastering Maths programme.
The identified improvement in GCSE scores was equivalent to one additional month’s progress. Students eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) made two additional months’ learning progress. The evaluators suggested that students from socially deprived backgrounds benefitted most from the more collaborative, safe, and social classroom environment fostered by the intervention, and that this may have contrasted with their previous experiences of more ‘didactical’ teaching.
This large scale randomised controlled trialAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes. aims to provide an independent and robust estimate of impact of the Mastering Maths programme, when delivered in every-day conditions, at scale by trained Lead Teachers (trainers).
This project will be evaluated by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) through a randomised controlled trialAn RCT is used evaluate an educational programme by assigning settings to one of two groups: the intervention group, who receive the programme or the control group, who continue with business as usual. This ensures that any differences in outcomes can be confidently attributed to the programme, providing a robust estimate of the impact and contributing to the evidence for what works in improving educational outcomes., randomised at teacher level. This means that teachers taking part in the research study will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the control group continue with their usual practices and help provide a comparison to measure the intervention’s impact. They are usually offered a monetary compensation as thanks for their contribution.. In cases where two teachers are signed up from one setting, one will be allocated to receive the Mastering Maths programme (intervention groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the intervention group will receive the programme being tested. ) and the other to continue teaching as usual (control groupAs part of a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), settings will be randomised into either the intervention or control group. Settings in the control group continue with their usual practices and help provide a comparison to measure the intervention’s impact. They are usually offered a monetary compensation as thanks for their contribution.).
The aim of the evaluation will be to assess the impact of Mastering Maths on students’ GCSE Maths outcomes (the primary outcome). The trial will also evaluate the impact of Mastering Maths on students’ attitudes towards maths, and explore teachers views on maths and teaching maths to see if the programme appears to affect these. An Implementation and Process evaluationAn IPE is used to understand how and why an intervention has (or has not) been successful. Data is analysed to explore programme quality, reach, adaptation and differentiation, as well as setting fidelity and responsiveness to the trial design. will be conducted alongside the impact evaluation to explore how settings implement the programme and stakeholder perceptions of Mastering Maths.
The evaluation report will be published in Autumn 2026.