Primary Education with Mathematics
Primary education with mathematics is a degree that prepares you to become a primary school teacher with particular expertise in mathematics education. Teaching in primary schools is one of the most important and rewarding of professional roles, shaping the experiences, knowledge, and dispositions of children during the years when the foundations of their learning are laid. Mathematics is both a fundamental subject in the primary curriculum and one that many children and adults find challenging, making well-qualified mathematics specialists particularly valuable in primary settings.
At the University of Reading, this three-year full-time programme leads to Qualified Teacher Status in England, giving you the professional qualification required to teach across the primary age range in state schools. The programme combines academic study of child development, curriculum, pedagogy, and education policy with sustained school-based training, giving you the classroom experience that is essential to developing as a teacher alongside the theoretical frameworks that underpin good practice. The mathematics specialism develops your own mathematical subject knowledge and your understanding of how children develop mathematical thinking, including common misconceptions and effective approaches to teaching number, shape, measure, and data.
Graduates are qualified to teach in primary schools across England and can apply for teaching posts across the full primary age range, from Reception through Year 6. There is sustained demand for primary teachers, and mathematics specialists are particularly sought. Career progression leads through classroom teacher to subject leadership and middle leadership roles, deputy headship, and headship.
Many teachers pursue further professional qualifications through routes such as the National Professional Qualification for Middle Leadership or the National Professional Qualification for Headship as their careers develop. Teaching can also lead to roles in curriculum development, educational consultancy, and teacher education.