Get into teaching
maths

Maths teacher explaining a problem to a classroom of students using calculators.
Maths is…
  • going into space
  • getting a mortgage
  • predicting the future

The language of everything

Maths is the language we use to find patterns and understand the world around us. It has provided the solutions to some of history's most intriguing problems.

Maths is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering as well as being fundamental for most jobs.

Maths has a critical role to play in the future of the UK economy. There is significant evidence that adults with numeracy skills earn higher wages and are more likely to be in employment than those who do not master these skills.

Maths is for everyone

If maths is your passion, you know that it is not just learning formulas or equations. It is a way of thinking, and problem solving, that’s important in every walk of life.

An exciting career spent passing your passion on to the next generation could be the career for you.

A teacher sitting with a student helping them with a maths problem A maths teacher standing at the front of a full classroom delivering a lesson

You can literally change young people’s lives by being a maths teacher. Be the person who helps them see the beauty and importance of maths. It is the best job ever!

Kevin, maths teacher in Sheffield

What you'll be teaching

In England, there are important aspects of maths to teach each age group. As a secondary school teacher, maths education means teaching pupils:

  • Numbers
  • Algebra
  • Ratio, portion and rates of change
  • Geometry and measures
  • Probability
  • Statistics

Some examples of what you teach 11 to 14 year olds:

  • understand that the probabilities of all possible outcomes sum to 1
  • work with terminating decimals and their equivalent fractions (such as 0.25 and 1/4, or 3.5 and 7/2)
  • recognise, sketch and produce graphs of linear and quadratic functions. Use appropriate scaling with equations in x and y and the Cartesian plane
  • use Pythagoras' Theorem and trigonometric ratios in similar triangles. Solve problems involving right-angled triangles
  • describe simple mathematical relationships between 2 variables in observational and experimental contexts. Show this using scatter graphs

Read the full national curriculum for more information about teaching maths in secondary schools(opens in new window).

Getting into teacher training

A teacher standing at the front of her classroom teaching a class

Funding for teaching maths

Scholarships of £29,000 or bursaries of £27,000 are available if you start your maths teacher training course between September 2023 and July 2024.

Financial support for courses starting the following year will be announced in autumn 2023.

Find out about your eligibility for bursaries and scholarships.

Maths internships

If you’re currently doing an undergraduate degree and are interested in teaching maths, you could apply for a paid teaching internship.

It could help you to understand what it’s really like in the classroom and get a feel for school life.

Internships last for 3 weeks, start in June and you’ll be paid £300 per week while you experience the classroom.

Find out about teaching internships.

Improving your maths subject knowledge

If you need to brush up on how well you know your subject before you become a maths teacher, you can do a subject knowledge enhancement course.

Find out about subject knowledge enhancement courses.

Pass on your passion

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