School leaders

What is teaching for mastery?

Mastering maths means students of all ages acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject. The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give students the best chances of mastering maths. Achieving mastery means acquiring a solid enough understanding of the maths that’s been taught to enable students to move on to more advanced material.

Every year hundreds of secondary teachers and schools are taking part in professional development to enable them to use teaching for mastery approaches with their students. Secondary schools are also increasingly finding that Year 6s are coming up from primary school having experienced teaching for mastery in maths.

The Five Big Ideas underpin teaching for mastery in both primary and secondary schools.

What is the Teaching for Mastery Programme?

The NCETM and Maths Hubs have been running the national Primary Teaching for Mastery Programme since 2015, and more recently secondary schools have also become involved with teaching for mastery as the Secondary Teaching for Mastery Programme expands. The programme is open to all state-funded schools in England.

This video explaining the programme was made in 2018, but all the principles still apply now.

Mastery Specialists spearhead the Teaching for Mastery Programme across the country. Teachers who train as Mastery Specialists are 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 develop teaching for mastery in their own schools. And they share the approach with neighbouring schools by leading Teaching for Mastery Work Groups.

Hundreds of secondary schools are starting to develop teaching for mastery approaches, especially at KS3, supported by these Mastery Specialists. ‘Mastery Advocates’, secondary maths teachers learning about and developing mastery in their own maths departments, are continuing to ensure that mastery is being embedded in schools across the country.

All of the 40 Maths Hubs across England offer professional development to help teachers develop a mastery approach in their own classroom, department and school. Any teacher or school wishing to take part in a Teaching for Mastery Work Group should get in touch with their local Maths Hub. The hub will then be able to give more details about which Work Group is most suitable for the school, and when recruitment for the next Work Group is open.

Our diagram shows a school's journey towards mastery. Use it to determine where your school's journey starts (click/tap diagram to show a larger version with more detail of the journey).

What else do I need to know about teaching for mastery?

If you are interested in the research behind teaching for mastery, there are a number of research papers available in the NCETM’s website page of Supporting Research, Evidence and Argument.

For secondary school maths teachers and leaders, our webpage on the essence of mastery outlines some of the key principles of teaching for mastery. This flyer also addresses some of the myths surrounding mastery – and dispels them.

The NCETM provides a wide range of mastery resources including assessment materials, professional development materials, calculation guidance and marking guidance for both primary and secondary teachers.

Can I find out more about schools that have been involved in teaching for mastery at secondary?

Read these case studies to learn about how secondary schools tackle setting vs. mixed-attainment classes, and how collaborative planning leads to high quality lessons.

Headteachers, senior leaders and heads of maths talk about their experiences of introducing and developing teaching for mastery in these videos.