‘Golden hello’ for maths graduates!

With the concern that many teenagers leaving school do so without the necessary maths skills needed by employers a major ‘maths drive’ is about to kick off!

Since last September those who fail to achieve a grade C at GCSE must carry on studying maths until the age of 18. Now the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have announced that they are putting £20 million pounds into improving the nation’s maths skills.

The pressure is now on for colleges to recruit maths teachers able to inspire those struggling with maths. The search has started with vigour and the remunerations are pretty attractive for both colleges and would be teachers.

Colleges will receive bonus payments of £20,000 for every maths graduate they recruit and maths graduates will receive £7,500 once they reach their second year of employment. Those who opt to train to teach those with special educational needs will receive a whopping £10,000.

The Government hopes that the £20 million drive will help colleges to recruit 500 new maths teachers by September 2015.

So, is teaching right for you?

Before you dive in at the deep end and apply you need to ask whether teaching is right for you. If you have a passion for maths and think you can help to motivate those who’ve struggled with it then maybe it is time to dig a little deeper.

A great way to check what it’s like to be a teacher would be to get in touch with a local college to see if you could sit in on a class. You never know if you’re lucky you may even be able to prepare a class and present a lesson, under supervision of course.

Even if you can’t manage to get into a lesson, talking to some current FE maths teachers will help you to get an insight into what it’s really like to teach in a college!

What next?

If you do decide that FE Maths teaching is for you, the next step is to get in touch with course providers for information on the PGCE course in post-compulsory education. If you’re not sure where to go try giving the National Careers Service a ring and they should be able to help you find a course.