Responsibility for education in the United Kingdom (UK) is devolved to the four nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (representing about 84%, 8%, 5% and 3% of the UK population, respectively). Formal school mathematics education usually starts at an earlier age than in many jurisdictions (in the September after they turn four, in England and Wales, with a 2-4 month older deadline in Scotland and Northern Ireland). Schooling structures, mathematics curricula, assessments, and initial and continuing teacher education also vary by nation, but over 90% of young people aged 11-16 are in state-funded education; from 16-18 young people should be in education, training or employment. Schools may choose their own curriculum resources, and in England, the high-stakes subject-based assessments at age 16 and many formal assessments at age 18 are also marketised.
Despite education devolution, there is a single UK association focused on mathematics education research, namely the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM). BSRLM holds day conferences three times a year for researchers at all stages of their careers and others. Mathematics education also has good representation within e.g. the British Educational Research Association (BERA) the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Sociological Association (BSA).
There is a single professional association for mathematics education, the Association for Mathematics in Education (AMiE), and there are other voluntary specialist groups such as the Early Childhood Maths Group. Normally, there are four-yearly British Congress of Mathematics Education (BCME) conferences that support mathematics education practitioners and researchers learning from one another.
Most UK research in mathematics education is carried out in, or in association with, universities, although the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is active in mathematics education research and the centrally-funded National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics in England (NCETM) facilitates teacher research, sometimes in collaboration with academics, via its Maths Hubs. Some universities have specific mathematics education research groups.
University research is partly financed through centrally-funded (devolved) block grants, but often through competitive tendering from centrally-funded bodies or industry. The UK Education Endowment Fund supports a great deal of mathematics research around what works, often via large-scale Randomised Controlled Trials; other significant sources of funding for mathematics education research include the Nuffield Foundation, and the Economic and Social Research Council ESRC as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI); the Scottish Funding Council, Medr in Wales, the Department for the Economy (DfE) in Northern Ireland.
BSRLM publishes the well-respected Research in Mathematics Education, as well as Proceedings of its termly day conferences; BCME Research Proceedings, also published by BSRLM, are peer-reviewed. AMiE publishes a range of research-informed journals aimed primarily at practitioners.
Initial teacher education in England has several pathways, including the traditional route through universities (usually four years including teaching qualification, either integrated or first degree plus PGCE, with at least 24 weeks’ in-school experience), but also pathways that are school based and often school-led, with or without some input from universities. In the other nations, all initial teacher education is university based and led, and all teachers in state schools need registration with the national teaching council. Mathematics teachers in secondary schools (from ages 11 or 12) usually require a degree that is primarily mathematics, although in England related degrees are eligible and there is also some provision of ‘mathematics subject knowledge enhancement courses’ that enable eligibility.
Teacher ongoing professional development also varies: In England the first two years include a requirement for specific ‘early career development’. Mathematics teacher professional development is offered by NCETM and by a wide range of other providers. Scotland has established Career-long Professional Learning, with high entry requirements, initial probationary period and five-yearly updates; the General Teaching Council for Scotland accredits a broad range of professional learning programmes. In Wales the National approach to professional learning supports teacher development. Northern Ireland supports teacher development in two phases following qualification and induction: Early, and Continuing, Professional Development; the first of these includes specific guidance. Across the four nations, there is very limited requirement that ongoing professional development for teachers of mathematics is mathematics-, or mathematics didactics- focused.
In England, the mathematics curriculum for learners aged 5-16 aims for students to be fluent in mathematics, able to reason and to solve problems. It sits as part of the wider National Curriculum, mandatory only in some state-funded schools, but in practice widely followed. There is a mandatory Early years foundation stage statutory framework for school and childcare providers for younger children. Post-16 curricula offer a range of academic and vocational qualifications; learners must continue to study mathematics if they have not reached a ‘standard pass’ by age 16.
The Scottish Curriculum for ages 3-15 promotes maths-positivity and inter-disciplinary learning, with benchmarked statements of experiences and outcomes in Numeracy and Mathematics at five levels. For Senior phase, 16-18, schools offer a range of subject qualifications. The post-16 curriculum is broad, leading to high rates of participation in mathematics.
The Curriculum for Wales for ages 3-16 demands cross-disciplinary planning across six Areas of Learning and Experience including Mathematics and Numeracy; schools are responsible for developing their own curriculum within that. Post-16 provision is similar to that in England.
The Northern Ireland Curriculum focuses on learning processes as well as outcomes of education, equally emphasising knowledge, skills and understanding. Using mathematics appears as one of three cross curricular skills for learners to age 16; Mathematics and Numeracy is a compulsory learning area to age 14. Post-16 provision is similar to that in England.