Teaching for Mastery with Middle-Attaining A Level Students

Explore pedagogies, principles and practices

Participant Feedback

“It is really nice opportunity to hear some professional advice and just be given some great resources. Also it is also great to meet different other A level teachers and how they deliver their lessons effectively. “
“Having a complete plan and rationale enables me to take the resources and trial them in my own setting with minimal preparation time. The well prepared resources mean I am more likely to use them.
“I was giving lots of helpful ideas to deliver sketch graph and transformation. I will try to use more technologies in lessons to build more practical images to students. “

Who can take part?

Participants should be experienced teachers, teaching A level Maths.

What is involved?

Are you teaching A level Maths and looking for ways to help middle-attaining students deepen their understanding and confidence? This Research and Innovation Work Group (RIWG) offers the chance to collaborate, create, and test new lesson materials that bring teaching for mastery principles to life at post-16.

Building on the successful 2024/25 RIWG activity, participants will use an established bank of ideas as a springboard to develop coherent lesson sequences and teacher guidance tailored for A level classrooms. The group’s work will directly inform the future A level Pedagogy National Collaborative Project (NCP), influencing how mastery approaches are applied in advanced maths teaching across the country.

While the emphasis is on Key Stage 5, participants will also draw on NCETM’s wider Teaching for Mastery resources for KS3 and KS4, ensuring continuity and progression for students moving through secondary mathematics.

Work group lead:

The work group lead is Martin Loughbrough has been teaching secondary mathematics since the late 1980s, with extensive experience across GCSE, A level Maths, and Further Maths. Over the years, he has developed a strong reputation for helping students — including those in the middle-attaining range — grow in confidence and achieve success in post-16 maths.

A long-time advocate for innovation in education, Martin previously led ICT development in schools and has supported countless colleagues in using technology to enhance their teaching. He now applies this expertise to his A level practice — using digital tools and visual technology to deepen conceptual understanding, promote mathematical reasoning, and bring mastery principles to life.

His recent focus on A level pedagogy builds on years of experience leading collaborative professional development, including Core Maths workgroups. Martin enjoys working with teachers who are keen to reflect, refine, and share practice. Through this RIWG, he’s excited to collaborate with A level colleagues to design and test lessons that combine effective mastery approaches with purposeful use of technology — helping students develop lasting confidence, engagement, and enjoyment in mathematics.