What is the Teaching for Mastery Programme?

The NCETM and Maths Hubs have been running the Primary Teaching for Mastery Programme since 2015, and more recently secondary schools have also become involved with teaching for mastery.

In the first year, 136 schools from all over England each nominated a teacher to begin training as a Primary Mastery Specialist. The teachers were given a year’s intensive training in the principles of teaching for mastery, underpinned by its ‘Five Big Ideas’, and in professional development leadership. In the following year, they further developed teaching for mastery in their own schools. And they shared the approach with neighbouring schools by leading Teaching for Mastery Work Groups.

In each subsequent year, a new cohort of Primary Mastery Specialists has been trained, increasing the pool of specialists leading Work Groups of local schools. There are now approaching 1,000 Primary Mastery Specialists established and operational. They will collectively have worked with more than 8,000 other primary schools, which represents around half of all primary schools in England. The programme is open to all state-funded schools in England.

At secondary,  there are now over 850 Mastery Specialists participating in the programme, many already working with other schools.

New for 23/24 is the Further Education Mastery Specialist Programme, aimed at those who teach GCSE Mathematics resit and/or Functional Skills Qualifications (FSQs).

Hear more about the programme from our Primary Mastery Specialists!