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16 April 2026

Tag: maths

Change in maths A-level specification requires students to buy costly calculators

A change in the A-level maths specification that forces students to fork out an extra £10 for an advanced calculator is a “positive step” for the subject, says Charlie Stripp, director of the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. He said that using these calculators “massively outweighs the increase in cost” and […]

Texting parents about their child’s homework deadlines boosts maths results, new report finds

Texting parents about upcoming tests and homework deadlines can boost secondary school pupils’ maths results by an extra month of learning, a new trial has found. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) today published the results of the Parent Engagement Project (PEP), which involved almost 16,000 pupils in 36 schools, alongside six more independently-evaluated projects. Researchers […]

South Asian – or ‘Shanghai’ – mastery maths, explained

This week the government announced £41 million of funding over the next four years to support the introduction of South Asian mastery mathematics into 8000 primary schools. Dr Mark Boylan explains the differences between the Shanghai method and schools in England South Asian mastery has attracted attention from government because of the relative success of Singapore […]

Schools minister admits Shanghai maths teachers only do ‘two lessons a day’

Teachers will not share the “luxury” of greater time for lesson planning enjoyed by their counterparts in south Asia, despite the government’s major £41 million scheme to adopt their “mastery” maths model, Nick Gibb has admitted. Speaking at the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education conference today, the schools minister announced that half of England’s primary […]

Primary schools to receive £41m for Shanghai ‘mastery’ maths

Over the next four years, half of all primary schools in England will receive a share of £41 million to support the introduction of whole-class maths teaching based on the south Asian ‘mastery’ model. The government expects an initial 700 teachers will be trained in the model, also known as ‘Shanghai maths’, and will then […]

How useful are the KS2 maths SATs test results?

The key stage 2 SATs results are out, but how useful are the results? asks Anne Watson, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics Education at the University of Oxford The aim of the new key stage 2 curriculum was to raise the standard of mathematics and make sure pupils were ready for secondary mathematics, and the test had to adhere to […]

A lack of fluent thinking

There are not enough teachers to teach the mandatory Ebacc modern foreign language. In the spirit of détente, Leora Cruddas puts forward three steps that could bridge the gap Bonjour. Guten Tag. Buenos dias. Welcome to the future of foreign language teaching. It is a future that will be shaped by the government’s aim that […]

What is teaching for mastery in maths?

I was very interested to read the item in last week’s Schools Week that suggested pupils in one primary school were being prevented from reading books ‘above their level’ because of a ‘mastery’ approach to English teaching. Teaching maths for mastery involves employing approaches that help pupils to develop a deep and secure knowledge and understanding of […]