What is Maths For Life and how is it different?
Maths For Life is an inclusive and equitable maths curriculum that meets the needs of both educators and students. In fundamentally rethinking our approach to teaching maths, Maths For Life has the potential to positively impact the lives and ambitions of many.
Our approach is based on securing understanding and the functional application of a skill on an incremental and independent basis before moving on. Progress is individual with no associated timescales.
Maths concepts are contextualised for today’s world. In response to social and technological change, and recognising that a student carries a pocket-sized super computer, the priority is on understanding over methodology.
The levels and objectives within the programme support incremental step change whilst not compromising the depth and breadth of maths needed for adulthood. It is an alternative for the 40% of students not currently achieving on the GCSE maths pathway (Ofqual 2024) that can support the skills needed for further study and employment.
How is Maths For Life different?
A Genuine Alternative to Mainstream
Maths For Life is specifically designed for students who can’t keep pace with the mainstream curriculum. Maths For Life empowers learners. With right scaffolding in place, students can (and do!) learn the maths they will need to engage successfully with the world around them. It is not a differentiated version of a mainstream scheme; it's not ‘shoehorned’ to fit. The programme starts with pre-number skills (‘Foundations’). Once solid foundations are achieved, understanding is built up logically across the entire breadth of the maths curriculum through Levels 1 to 5.
‘Real Life’ Maths
Maths For Life teaches practical maths skills – the skills our learners will need to thrive in their day-to-day lives. Text is minimal, colours are bright; our real-world contexts are many and varied. Bold visuals represent real-life scenarios that our students can relate to.
Use it or Lose it
Maths For Life isn’t based on topic chunks like some other programmes. We believe in the ‘little and often’ approach, and in the importance of repetition throughout the school year. The wealth of resources included in the programme allows students to progress at their own pace, with fresh contexts always available to help them deepen and retain understanding. Our resources give students the opportunity to apply their understanding in a range of scenarios over and over again.
Making Learning Fun
Given the importance of repetition for our learners, we design thousands of different questions to ensure that they can revisit an objective without getting bored. Contexts include: Cinema trips, purchasing tickets, queuing to enter a stadium, eating at a restaurant, doing stock takes, sharing a pizza amongst friends, budgeting to furnish a flat, packing for a holiday, measuring ingredients for a recipe, planning a journey, navigating using street maps, casting a vote, to name but a few! Resources are constantly being revised and updated to ensure they remain varied and relevant.
Unique Assessment Process
At Maths For Life we don’t make assumptions. Our assessments are designed to thoroughly test and re-test a student’s understanding across a range of different scenarios as they progress through the levels. But we don’t stop there. We measure their ability to tackle a question independently too, and track their progress in both. Our assessments enable educators to identify gaps in understanding which might otherwise have gone unnoticed and to set more meaningful targets.
Personalised Support
We offer a uniquely personal approach, with direct communication with the Maths For Life team via free Q&A sessions. In addition, you can talk to existing users and the MFL team via our Community Forum, watch Video Tutorials featuring author and founder Karen McGuigan teaching the programme and access a range of On Demand CPD-accredited Training Videos.
Age Neutral Content
Maths For Life resources are independent of academic year or age. We have students aged 6, 16 and 26 working on the same content.
Flexible subscriptions
There is no need to wait until the start of a new school year to begin using Maths For Life. Our annual subscriptions are for a full calendar year, so no matter when you subscribe, your subscription will be available for a full 365 days (or 366 in a leap year!).