**Inconsistent Teaching Hinders Mathematics Achievement in Welsh Schools, Estyn Report Reveals**
A newly released report from Estyn has shone a spotlight on concerning trends in maths education across Wales, suggesting that pupils are not reaching their full potential in the subject due to inconsistent teaching quality and inadequate subject-specific support for teachers. The findings, based on detailed inspections and school visits, indicate substantial variability in how mathematics is taught, raising alarm bells for the future of maths attainment in the region.
Entitled ‘Unlocking Potential: Insights into Improving Teaching and Leadership in Mathematics Education’, the Estyn report draws from a broad range of evidence, including recent school inspections, feedback from thematic visits to both primary and secondary institutions, and responses to national surveys. While some schools were praised for effective practices in mathematics teaching and curriculum planning, the overarching message is that too many schools struggle to provide a consistently high standard of maths education.
Inspectors noted that in schools where mathematics teaching was most successful, teachers demonstrated strong subject knowledge and maintained high expectations for all students. These educators made effective use of various assessment approaches to identify students’ needs and to build a deeper understanding of complex mathematical concepts. However, this was not the norm across the country. Many classrooms lacked challenge, and common misconceptions among pupils went unaddressed, hindering their progress.
One area of particular concern highlighted by the report is the decline in subject-specific professional development opportunities for teachers. As a result, gaps in teacher confidence and competence are reportedly widening, particularly with the recent introduction of the Curriculum for Wales. This shortage of ongoing support means some educators overly rely on pre-packaged schemes of work, often failing to adapt them to the unique requirements of their pupils.
Estyn’s chief inspector, Owen Evans, addressed the findings directly, stating: “Too many pupils in Wales are not reaching their full potential in mathematics because the quality of teaching and leadership varies so widely between schools. We must raise expectations for all learners and provide our teachers with the targeted training and support necessary to help every pupil succeed.”
The report also outlines the crucial role of a coherent and progressive mathematics curriculum that builds systematically on prior knowledge and introduces real-world applications. Schools that showed the strongest outcomes were those where curriculum planning was tackled collaboratively, with a defined progression model and a balanced approach—combining explicit instruction with opportunities for exploratory and independent reasoning.
Practical examples of effective practice are dispersed throughout the report, offering video resources and day-to-day teaching strategies designed to help educators strengthen their own classroom delivery. By drawing on these best-practice models, Estyn hopes to support teachers in bridging the current gaps in achievement.
In response to its findings, Estyn has put forward several key recommendations for various stakeholders, including the Welsh Government, local authorities, regional consortia, and leadership teams within schools. The objective is to raise the standard of maths teaching so that all students, irrespective of their postcode, benefit from a high-quality mathematics education.
As the Welsh education sector digests these findings, the hope remains that targeted action can address the disparities highlighted in the report. The future of young learners in Wales depends not only on effective policies but also on continued investment in teacher training and support—a commitment that Estyn insists is fundamental to the country’s aspirations for educational excellence and wider prosperity.