Intro

Our Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher (MaST) PGCert is designed to support your career progression, increase your subject knowledge and help you to make a direct difference to your school and pupils. It offers modules that will benefit you if you work in professional or voluntary education and training, and want to enhance your skills and knowledge.

The MaST PGCert is a stand-alone qualification and counts as one-third of a masters degree. It was originally developed in association with local education authorities as part of a government drive to improve the skills in the teaching profession.

This course is suitable if you are an experienced and practising primary teacher who wants to further deepen your understanding of mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning.

The flexible work-based and part-time learning programme allows you to fit studying around your existing work or voluntary commitments.

Teaching and mentoring is delivered by a successful teaching team with an outstanding national reputation and comprehensive research profile that informs and advances course content.

Key facts

Location Brighton: Falmer

Part-time 1 year
Part-time Flexible and distributed learning

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Please review the entry requirements carefully and if you have any questions do get in touch with us.

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Course content

Course structure

Commencing from September, the MaST PGCert is a one-year part-time programme comprising of two modules. The first is a taught module, and the second combines taught input with practice-based learning which allows you to apply the knowledge you have gained during the course.

The flexible framework combines academic study with work-based action learning and action research, so that your day-to-day professional activity informs your development through reflection and peer discussion.

The course is designed to fit in with your working patterns and delivered outside of school hours, on Saturdays (no sessions during school holidays).

All the specialist PGCerts are offered at our Falmer campus subject to meeting the minimum numbers of participants. They can also be offered off site to an organisation, school or a cluster of schools. Please see contact details for more information in the Stay in touch section.

Two students writing on large pieces of paper from a flip chart

Areas of study

The Primary Mathematics Specialist Teacher Programme (MaST) is designed for experienced and practising primary teachers wishing to further deepen their understanding of mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning.

This programme involves lively workshop style sessions where you will engage in collaborative mathematical activity and discussion with others to analyse underpinning mathematical ideas. This taught component is supplemented by critical analysis of your own classroom practice, reflection on teaching approach and the impact of these approaches on children’s mathematical learning. Additionally you will conduct more detailed analysis of learning with particular groups of children.

The programme will support you to analyse and improve your own mathematics teaching. Enthusiasm and confidence in your teaching is an essential starting point. You must also be prepared to engage in academic study including the writing of academic assignments.

This programme consists of two main components:

deepening mathematics subject knowledge
strengthening and developing pedagogical knowledge through analysis of and reflection on your own classroom practice.

The programme will enable you as a practitioner to:

strengthen and deepen your own mathematics subject knowledge and understanding
enhance your ability to promote learning in mathematics that is challenging and engaging for pupils
analyse children’s learning in mathematics
develop reflective awareness of pedagogical approaches and their impact on engagement and learning
deepen your understanding of theory and research in mathematics education.

How this course is delivered

Our approach

We want you to spend as much time on campus as possible. From semester 1 of the academic year which starts in September, every student will have some face-to-face, on-campus learning in their timetable. Your timetable is being designed to make sure that you can make the most out of your time on campus, and all of the usual campus facilities – libraries, learning spaces, restaurants, gyms and more – will be open. Your timetable will be available in My Studies from late September.

Teaching on your course
In semester 1 you’ll be on campus regularly for seminars, tutorials and some of your lectures. Your on-campus learning will be supplemented with additional recorded lectures, online content and taught sessions that you'll access on MS Teams.

Placements are an important part of your learning experience and take place in a range of settings. Placement arrangements will be informed by the government guidance in operation at that time. We are not currently planning to run activity outside the UK in semester 1 of the 2021–2022 academic year.

COVID-19

Like all universities we will be following government guidance and will be monitoring the pandemic very closely with our local Director of Public Health. Should a worsening of the pandemic occur and Public Health advice require us to make changes, we have robust plans in place for students to continue their studies remotely and for additional safety measures to be introduced on campus.

Careers

Our MaST PGCert is designed to support your career progression, increase your subject knowledge and help you to make a direct difference to your school and students.

Graduates of the course are well placed to take on subject development and leadership positions.

Entry criteria

Entry requirements

Qualifications and experience

You will normally be expected to:

provide evidence of prior study at IQF level 6, normally in the form of a good honours degree or equivalent
be a qualified teacher and be working in a primary setting
demonstrate readiness and potential ability to study at masters level.

All applicants are interviewed in person or by telephone.

Fees

Course fees

UK/EU (part-time)2,208 GBP

Scholarships, bursaries and loans

We offer a range of scholarships for postgraduate students. Bursaries and loans may also be available to you.

Find out more about postgraduate fees and funding.

What's included

You may have to pay additional costs during your studies. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. A summary of the costs that you may be expected to pay, and what is included in your fees, while studying a course in the School of Education are listed here.

You will have access to computers and necessary software, however many students choose to buy their own hardware, software and accessories. The amount spent will depend on your individual choices but this expenditure is not essential to pass any of our courses.
In most cases coursework submissions are electronic but you may wish to print notes and should budget approximately £30 for printing.
For courses which require a placement, you’ll be expected to pay for your travel expenses but you may be able to claim some travel costs back from the university, depending on where your placement is in relation to where you live.
Course books are available from the university but you may wish to budget up to £150 to buy your own copies
You may wish to consider budgeting up to £25 for stationery/teaching materials.

You can chat with our enquiries team through the Stay in touch panel at the end of this page if you require further information. Or check our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as more information about fees and advice on international and island fee-paying status.

Info

The fees listed here are for courses beginning in the academic year 2021–22. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.

Where UK students are subject to regulated fees, the annual fee increase cannot exceed the UK government’s maximum regulated tuition fee limit set for the relevant year. For all other students, ie those not subject to regulated fees, tuition fees are subject to a maximum annual increase of the higher of 5% or RPI.

Visit our advice for part-time students page. If you have specific queries about the course fee, our fees team will be happy to help. Email them at fees@brighton.ac.uk.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

Location

Campus where this course is taught

Falmer campus

Set in the South Downs, our Falmer campus is around four miles from Brighton city centre. 7,000 students are based here taking subjects including criminology, English, education, nursing and medicine, paramedic science, psychology and sociology. Brighton and Hove Albion's Amex stadium and beautiful Stanmer Park are right next door.

Specialist learning facilities at Falmer include the curriculum centre used by teaching and education students, which houses over 30,000 teaching resources and clinical skills and simulation suites used by health students. Psychology students learn in our applied cognition and flexible creative method labs.

Falmer campus has two halls of residence on site, as well as a library, restaurant, cafes, and a students' union shop and bar.

The campus sports centre has a fitness suite, activity studios and a sports hall. There is also a floodlit astroturf football pitch, netball and tennis courts.

Cycle lanes link Falmer with our other campuses and the city centre and there is a BTN BikeShare hub on site. There are regular bus services to the city centre and other campuses. Falmer train station is right next to campus and a nine minute journey to central Brighton.

Newly refurbished atrium in the Checkland Building

Accommodation

Brighton: Falmer

We guarantee an offer of a place in halls of residence to all eligible students who apply by 30 June.

Halls of residence
We have halls of residence across Brighton in the city centre, Moulsecoomb, Varley Park and Falmer.

You'll be prioritised for accommodation in the halls that are linked to your teaching base, subject to availability.
Falmer campus is linked to the halls on Falmer campus and at Varley Park. All halls are self-catered.
- Paddock Field and Great Wilkins halls are on Falmer campus and offer a range of rooms
- Varley Park offers a mix of rooms. It is around two miles from Moulsecoomb campus and four miles from the city centre. Public transport in the city is excellent.

Private renting
There's plenty of support if you opt for private renting. This is an option which offers choice and flexibility – enabling you to choose where you live and who with. We manage our own studenthomes database of properties. This lists accommodation offered by landlords who have signed up to our code of standards. Every summer we provide online events and resources, as well as other advice services, for students looking for a place to live and people to share with.

Outside views at Falmer accommodation

Extensive facilities at Falmer sports centre

Students dining at Westlain

Local area

About Brighton

The University of Brighton is at the heart of our city's reputation as a welcoming, forward-thinking place which leads the way when it comes to the arts, music, sustainability and creative technology. Brighton is home to a thriving creative community and a digital sector worth £1bn a year to the local economy, as much as tourism.

Many of the work-based learning opportunities offered on our courses such as placements and guest lectures are provided by businesses and organisations based in the city.

You can also get involved with city festivals and events such as the Brighton Festival, the Fringe, Brighton Digital Festival, Brighton Science Festival, the London to Brighton bike ride, and the Great Escape festival of new music to name but a few. Other annual highlights include Pride, the Brighton Marathon, and Burning the Clocks which marks the winter solstice.

You'll find living in Brighton enriches your learning experience and by the end of your course you will still be finding new things to explore and inspire you.

It's only 50 minutes by train from Brighton to central London and less than 40 minutes to Eastbourne. There are also daily direct trains to Bristol, Bedford, Cambridge, Gatwick Airport, Portsmouth and Southampton.