University of East Anglia and the Inspiration Trust awarded £1.98million to support maths attainment and progression
By: Communications
Pupils in twelve schools and colleges will benefit from focused activity to improve attainment and maths thanks to a successful joint funding bid.
The University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Inspiration Trust have been successful in a bid for £1.98million from the Maths Excellence Fund to deliver a programme of activity supporting improved attainment and progression in maths across 12 schools and colleges.
The Maths Excellence Fund aims to support schools to improve attainment and progression in maths from ages 11 to 16 and 16 to 18, increasing the number of students on track in A-Level maths and beyond.
The programme approved by the Maths Excellence Fund will involve UEA and Inspiration Trust delivering a series of activities throughout Year 7-Year 13, with the aim of creating a maths community of students, teachers, parents and carers. It will target students who would benefit from support to reach GCSE grades 7-9, and are from disadvantaged groups.
Nicola Coe, Director of Maths at the Inspiration Trust said:
“This is a wonderful opportunity to develop a love of maths in our local community, we are excited to be given the opportunity to work beyond our trust.”
Contributions to the programme from UEA will be led by the Outreach team, which has a remit to raise knowledge, confidence and attainment to widen access to Higher Education for students from underrepresented groups. The Office for Students, who regulate University’s Widening Access and Participation commitments, have asked Universities to “pull their weight on pre-16 attainment, a challenge which affects us all”. This exciting partnership will contribute to the University’s commitment to addressing risks to equality of opportunity that local disadvantaged students could experience, with academic attainment being a strong predictor for progression to Higher Education.
Scott Knight, UEA Head of Outreach said:
“We’re thrilled to be working with the Inspiration Trust to deliver a maths enjoyment and attainment programme with the support of the Maths Excellence Fund. We see significant gaps in outcomes for disadvantaged students around maths, and given our focus on widening access to Higher Education, this work aligns closely to our Widening Participation commitment and Civic responsibility. We have an established partnership with the Inspiration trust, so are looking forward to building on this for the benefit of local young people.”
Delivery of the programme will start in September 2024, and continue for five years. Key elements of the programme include a KS3 maths club, Further Maths GCSE provision, tutoring and mentoring from years 10-13, campus activities to increase interest and enjoyment of maths, and creating local community hubs of young people, parents and carers to support discussions around maths at home.
George Witty, UEA Lecturer in Mathematics and Widening Participation Academic Lead at UEA said:
“This programme will provide a great opportunity to create a better link between Maths in schools & colleges and Maths at University. By having our students act as tutors and mentors to young people they will be able to not only improve the mathematical ability of those involved, but also be able to share with them their experiences of student life and ensure they can better inform the young people about higher education and what needs to be considered when applying. It will also be a fantastic opportunity for our students at UEA to develop their teaching and communication skills as well as improve their understanding of the topics they will be discussing during tutoring sessions.”
The programme is needed in Norfolk as the county has areas of low social mobility. For example, Norwich ranked 323/324 in the social mobility index, which compares the attainment and outcomes for students eligible for free school meals. Maths is also an area of need in the region, with marked differences in Key Stage 2 results compared to the national average, and 19% of students achieved grades 7+ compared to the national figure of 25%.
More information about the Maths Excellence Fund can be found on their website.
Find out more about recent partnership activities UEA has run with the Inspiration Trust maths team.
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