Supporting and Promoting Advanced and Further Mathematics

The FMSP's aims are to

• give every student who could benefit from studying Further Mathematics the opportunity to do so;
• increase the number of schools and colleges offering Further Mathematics;
• increase the number of schools and colleges able to teach Further Mathematics themselves;
• increase the number of students studying AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics;
• provide training and support to teachers of AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics.

The work of the Further Mathematics Support Programme (FMSP) is funded by the Department for Education. It is managed by MEI, an independent educational charity. 

The FMSP has 20 Area Coordinators across the 9 government regions, covering the whole of England. The Area Coordinators are expert in teaching and learning mathematics at this level and experienced at working with mathematics teachers. The Area Coordinators work with schools and colleges to support and promote the study of AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics and to arrange Further Mathematics tuition for students when their schools and colleges cannot provide it themselves.

All secondary schools and colleges should register with the FMSP. Registration is free and all registered schools and colleges receive

– free access to expert advice on

• any issues associated with teaching and learning AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics
• progression to university courses in Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects (STEM);
• supporting mathematically-able students at KS3 and 4 (this means that it is useful for 11-16 schools to register with the FMSP).

– information about

• professional development activities;
• revision days;
• enhancement and enrichment events for KS3, KS4 and sixth form students;

organised through the FMSP (these often involve links with local universities).

– free access to extensive online resources

• for AS/A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics units (there are separate resources tailored to match the AQA, Edexcel, OCR and OCR(MEI) specifications).

Further Mathematics Support Programme tuition

Schools and colleges that are teaching AS/A level Mathematics but are currently unable to offer AS/A level Further Mathematics can work their local Area Coordinator to make Further Mathematics available to their students. 

• The FMSP's provision of free resources and expert advice can enable some schools and colleges who were not teaching Further Mathematics to start teaching Further Mathematics themselves.
• Other schools and colleges can arrange for their students to receive Further Mathematics tuition through the FMSP.  Maintained schools and colleges are able to pay for this tuition from their DCSF funding.  Last year over 600 students received tuition in this way and so were able to study for Further Mathematics qualifications when they otherwise would not have been able to do so.
• In some cases Further Mathematics tuition can be shared between a school/college and the FMSP.
• A key aim of the FMSP is to enable more schools and colleges to teach Further Mathematics themselves. Experience shows that schools and colleges who begin by offering Further Mathematics using external tuition are able to begin to teach Further Mathematics themselves a year or two later, as demand from students increases. The FMSP will build on this success, providing proven resources and expert advice to help schools and colleges to develop their own Further Mathematics teaching.
• The FMSP also encourages and supports schools and colleges to work together in consortia to provide Further Mathematics tuition. This can enable neighbouring schools and colleges to teach their Further Mathematics students together, forming viable teaching groups and sharing teaching expertise. This can be an effective way for smaller schools and colleges to make Further Mathematics tuition available to their students.

Through the FMSP, EVERY sixth form Mathematics student in England has the opportunity to study for AS/A level Further Mathematics qualifications, even if their school or college is unable to offer them tuition directly.