It has long been recognised that maths teaching is enhanced when the teachers are confident about the subject matter. Shulman (1986) and Ball (2008) identified specialist knowledge that teachers of maths uniquely need. We view specialist knowledge as a blend of subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.

Core Maths is a relatively new qualification and uptake is growing, so more Core Maths teaching capacity is needed. This programme seeks to address this need by helping teachers to develop the specialist knowledge to teach Core Maths effectively. The programme forms part of the overall AMSP and Maths Hubs Core Maths professional development offer.

By increasing Core Maths teaching capacity, the programme supports the national aim that it will become the norm for all students to study maths post-16.

Participants will be guided through six separate sessions with the following themes (which are common to all Core Maths specifications): Applying Fermi estimation and modelling; Exploring statistics; Making sense of finance; Using the pre-release materials; Developing critical analysis, and Creating contextualised activities.

Participants will take part in activities for each of these themes and review the pedagogical thinking behind the resources used. They will then identify an activity to use in their own classroom, and share and reflect on their experience with the group.



The programme gives inexperienced Core Maths teachers the opportunity to work collaboratively with their peers, guided by an expert Cohort Lead, to develop the specialist knowledge they need to teach Core Maths effectively.

This programme is for teachers who are in the first two years of teaching Core Maths and are teaching a Core Maths class during the academic year 2024/25.

(Core Maths teachers who are more experienced and have been teaching Core Maths for three or more years would be ideal participants for Developing Core Maths Pedagogy Work Groups.)

Teachers need to be given time and support to try out ideas in their own classroom during the programme, and encouraged to reflect on developing and deepening their classroom practice.



Teachers are expected to attend all programme sessions (the equivalent of three days), explore and engage with the bespoke resources of the programme, and to implement practice-based activities in between sessions to enable reflection on the pedagogical approaches they are trialling.