The Centres for Excellence in Maths (CfEM) programme is a national improvement project aimed at delivering a step change in maths teaching up to Level 2 in post-16 settings, with a focus on 16-19 year olds. It is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) which has chosen the Education and Training Foundation, the national workforce development body for the Further Education and Training sector, to manage and lead this programme on its behalf.
The Centres for Excellence in Maths (CfEM) programme is a national improvement programme aimed at delivering a step change in maths teaching up to Level 2 in post-16 settings, with a focus on 16-19 year olds. It is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) which has chosen the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), the national workforce development body for the Further Education (FE) and Training sector, to manage and lead this programme on its behalf.
Over the next three years, the ETF will work with a range of expert delivery partners and the 21 Centres to design new and improved teaching approaches, develop quality teaching resources, build teachers’ skills and spread best practice across the country through maths networks. This is to help increase the number of young people leaving compulsory education with the necessary maths skills up to GCSE and Functional Skills level, to improve their employability, and engagement with further learning.
The programme is focussed primarily on four themes of activity:
The ambition of the programme is simple – to improve outcomes for students up to level 2. This is being undertaken in a range of ways:
The programme is a collaborative sharing and learning project with teachers and students at its heart. It is a government funded collaboration with no commercial goals, and is targeting learners from any qualification, exam board or background equally.
The CfEM programme will ensure it supports learners with diverse needs, develops ways to stretch and challenge able learners who may have struggled in a school environment, and will be as responsive as possible to the context of the different providers in the sector.
A range of expert partners have come together to support this exciting programme, each with different expertise and work they will be developing.
The consortium delivering this work includes:
In addition, we will be drawing on a wide range of independent experts and organisations to help develop the programme further. We are committed to working with the Centres and their partners to find and champion the excellence that already exists in maths education in the sector, and will be testing this with our experts, sharing the most effective examples with the widest possible audience.
We intend to have all the Centres represented in our outputs through case studies, research reports, conference presentations or other work that demonstrates their continued work to be a space for excellence in maths teaching, and believe that an evidence informed, sector-based approach to this challenge should bring success for all those involved.
The monthly CfEM newsletter brings the latest updates and resources from the four themes of activity. You can access previous editions of the newsletter below.
Sign up to receive this newsletter (select the ‘Maths and English’ box)
2020 | 2019 |
Brand and style guidelines for use by delivery partners in the production of CfEM resources are now available. Contact Charley Francis for these.
Centres for Excellence in Maths leaflet
The ETF runs many other initiatives and programmes separate to the CfEM programme. These look to improve the maths workforce development in the FE sector, which some might find relevant for the CfEM work being done. These include:
The Centre for Research in Maths Education at the University of Nottingham will lead the research, development and implementation of high-quality approaches to teaching maths in the Centres (and their wider networks), and in particular with respect to post-16 maths up to level 2.
This will involve trials of carefully designed approaches organised under four broad themes, leading to the generation of high quality, robust evidence. The key foci for the work of Centres and associated trials are summarised for each theme (mastery, motivating and engaging learners, contextualisation and use of technology and data). These priorities are based on existing literature and current research.
In selecting appropriate and workable approaches to trial in the 19-20 academic year, consideration has been given to appropriateness and workability of approaches leading to the development of a clear framework for college-based trials. Their priority throughout will be maths learning and provision in specifically timetabled maths lessons. This will be reviewed in future years to take account of emerging evidence and other potential avenues for exploration.
The programme is focussed primarily on four themes of activity:
From September 2021, the Centres for Excellence in Maths (CfEM) programme will include an extensive randomised control trial of approaches to teaching for Mastery in Further Education (FE) colleges across the country. The approach will help learners develop understanding of concepts relevant to the GCSE mathematics curriculum and address the needs of those on GCSE resit programmes. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to support these approaches to teaching will be a primary focus of these trials, including opportunities provided in the form of collaborative cluster group meetings for participating teachers. We are currently seeking to appoint Lead Teachers to coordinate and lead these groups.
All teachers who took part in the CfEM national trials in 2019-20 (any theme) are eligible to apply but must have the approval of a senior manager in their college and the support of their Centre Lead. Any teachers who are interested in applying and require further information should first contact their Centre Lead. Applications should be submitted by Friday 15 January, 2021.
If you require any further information about the programme, please do not hesitate to contact CfEM@etfoundation.co.uk for further information.