Mathematics in England’s further education colleges: who is teaching what, and why it matters

ABSTRACT

Improving mathematical skills is a priority in England, and a series of policy levers and government change projects have focused on improving mathematical outcomes in further education (FE) in recent years. Yet little is known about the mathematics teacher workforce that supports these students on vocational and technical programmes. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by examining important features of the mathematics teacher workforce in colleges and the implications for recruitment, initial training and ongoing professional development. We report findings from a national survey targeted at all mathematics teachers in around one-sixth (N = 31) of England’s general FE colleges. Teachers have transitioned into FE from three main areas: another career, curriculum area, or educational context. We discuss the varied assets and training needs of these three subgroups and argue that the mathematics teacher cohort in FE should be seen as distinct from that in either primary or secondary education. We highlight the bimodal distribution of mathematics qualifications amongst this workforce; those having level 2 mathematics qualifications being more likely to be teaching functional skills mathematics courses than GCSEs. The rapid expansion of the mathematics teacher workforce that followed the changes to the condition of funding in 2014 has come disproportionately from teachers who were previously working in schools. This, together with a trend of funnelling increasing numbers of FE students into academic mathematics rather than functional skills courses, raises important questions about the nature of mathematical education for learners on vocational and technical programmes, and the teachers thereof.

KEYWORDS:

• Mathematics
• further education
• teachers
• recruitment
• training
• CPD

Acknowledgments

The Mathematics in Further Education project was generously supported by the Nuffield Foundation, Grant reference number EDO/42854. The Nuffield Foundation is an independent charitable trust with a mission to advance social well-being. It funds research that informs social policy, primarily in Education, Welfare, and Justice. It also funds student programmes that provide opportunities for young people to develop skills in quantitative and scientific methods. The Nuffield Foundation is the founder and co-funder of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and the Ada Lovelace Institute. Whilst the Foundation has funded this project, the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily the Foundation. Visit www.nuffieldfoundation.org

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Mathematics in Further Education Colleges project – www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/crme/projects/mifec/index.aspx

2. The Mathematics Progress Measure is the means by which the DfE analyses the cohort progress in mathematics. All qualifications have a score and the progress measure is the aggregation of all students in the college.

3. The DfE report that of 34,681 mathematics teachers in state-funded secondary education, 78.3% hold ‘any relevant post A level qualification’ and 21.7% do not.

4. Less than a quarter of secondary classroom teachers (24.7%) are in the age range 45–59, considerably younger that this sample of FE teachers of mathematics.

5. https://royalsociety.org/~/media/policy/topics/education-skills/Maths/Mathematics%20for%20the%20 T%20Level%20Qualifications%20-%20a%20rationale%20for%20GMCs.pdf.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Nuffield Foundation [EDO/42854].

Notes on contributors

Andrew Noyes

Andrew Noyes is Professor of Education at the University of Nottingham where he has been Head of the School of Education and APVC for Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Andy is Chair of the Joint Mathematical Council of the UK, a member of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education and sits on the board of the RS Mathematical Futures Programme. His research interests centre on post-16 mathematical education, on change in complex systems and on educational policy. He has advised DfE on post-16 mathematics and worked with regulators in England and Scotland on qualifications reform.