Research study

Three organisations

The Mastering Maths research study has three key partners.

• The Education Endowment Foundation is overseeing and funding the research study.

• The University of Nottingham's Centre for Research in Mathematics Education is running the Mastering Maths programme.

• NatCen is evaluating the programme.

The Mastering Maths programme

The Mastering Maths programme involves 

• taking part in two days of full-cohort professional development (October 2024)

• taking part in five cycles of lesson study professional development in cluster groups of about six teachers and one Lead Teacher (approximately one a month in November, December, January, February and March)

• teaching five Mastering Maths research lessons (approximately one a month in November, December, January, February and March).

Evaluating the Mastering Maths programme

The evaluation of the programme is a randomised controlled trial in which research participants are divided randomly into two groups – the intervention group and the control group. There is a 50% chance of being in the intervention group which takes part in the programme, or the control group which does not. 

By comparing outcomes for both groups at the end, the research team can robustly assess if the programme has an impact or not.

The evaluation needs the following data from both the control group and the intervention group

• lists of GCSE maths students in the classes of the participating teacher (in November 2024, updated in January 2025)

• paper-based surveys completed by students in the classes of the participating teacher and teachers (in March/April 2025)

• GCSE maths scores of students in the classes of the participating teacher (in August/September 2025)

NatCen’s implementation and process evaluation will also include four case studies in each of the intervention and control groups. The case studies will provide in-depth qualitative data which will help the evaluation team understand how teachers in the intervention group are using the Mastering Maths approach and how this contrasts with practice in the control teachers’ lessons.

All data collected will be anonymised. Natcen will store, use and protect your data in line with the GDPR (UK) guidance. Here is their privacy notice. 

The Theory of Change for Mastering Maths (also called a Logic Model) is shown here below.