How to choose the right primary maths programme for your school
Choosing a primary maths programme is one of the most important decisions a school leader makes. This guide explains what the main programmes actually do, how they differ, and what to look for before you commit.
Why schools choose Big Maths
Schools usually come to Big Maths when they want more than a scheme of work. They want clear next steps, better visibility of learning gaps, and a simpler way to track progress across the whole school.
Weekly assessment
Automatic weekly assessment with no marking and no extra tracking spreadsheets.
Step-level gap analysis
Teachers can see exactly which learning step each pupil is ready for next.
Proven results
Schools using Big Maths have reported exceptional SATs outcomes, strong Ofsted feedback, and nationally recognised performance.
Built for real classrooms
Especially powerful where attainment is wide, gaps have compounded, or teachers need clearer next steps for each pupil.
Which of these best describes your school?
The right primary maths programme depends on the problem you are trying to solve. Most schools fall into one of these three situations.
Our teachers need structure and ready-made resources
Your school wants a clear, term-by-term plan that covers the national curriculum (England, Scotland and Wales), with lesson resources ready to use. The priority is consistency across year groups and reducing planning time. You are broadly confident that children are keeping up and gaps are manageable.
Our pupils are not where the calendar says they should be
You have pupils working at very different levels, a high SEN/SEND/ASN profile, or gaps that have built up over time. Age Related Expectations are aspirational targets set by academics and politicians, not evidence of what any individual pupil actually knows. You need a way to identify what each pupil actually knows and teach from there. See how maths gap analysis works in Big Maths.
We need structure and we need to know where each pupil actually is
A scheme of work tells you what to teach. It does not tell you whether each pupil has secured it. You need a programme that gives teachers both: strong teaching resources and reliable weekly evidence showing what each pupil needs next.
Most primary maths programmes begin with the year group and the term. Big Maths begins with a different question: what does this pupil actually know right now, and what is the right next step for them?
What the main primary maths programmes actually do
A plain-English summary of the most widely used programmes in UK primary schools.
White Rose Maths
A curriculum framework organised by term and year group. Widely used and well aligned to the national curriculum (England, Scotland and Wales). Lessons are planned around curriculum blocks. Assessment is usually handled separately, and built-in gap analysis is limited.
Power Maths
A mastery programme published by Pearson, aligned to White Rose and approved by the DfE. Uses a textbook and workbook model. Strong on conceptual understanding. Tracking and gap analysis are still largely teacher-managed.
Maths No Problem!
A Singapore-method mastery programme with textbooks, workbooks and teacher guides. Strong and rigorous pedagogically. Works best when implemented fully across the school and usually requires significant training investment.
Big Maths
Built around 1,200+ individual learning steps from Early Years / P1 to Year 6 / Primary 7. Assessment is weekly and automatic. The Learning Gaps tool identifies exactly which step each pupil is struggling with. Resources, tracking and assessment all sit in one system.
Side-by-side comparison
How the main programmes compare across the areas that matter most to school leaders and maths leads.
An honest assessment of each programme
Every programme on this list is used effectively in UK schools. The right one depends on what your school actually needs most.
White Rose Maths
Best for: Schools that want a well-known curriculum framework and are confident planning lessons and managing tracking separately.
Worth knowing: White Rose Maths is primarily a curriculum and planning framework. Assessment, tracking and gap analysis usually need to be handled elsewhere. Many schools use it alongside other tools.
Power Maths
Best for: Schools committed to a mastery approach who want a textbook-based programme with strong DfE endorsement and clear lesson structures.
Worth knowing: Per-pupil textbook costs add up, and tracking and gap analysis still need separate systems. It works best when implemented consistently across the school from the start.
Maths No Problem!
Best for: Schools looking for a rigorous Singapore-method implementation with strong pedagogical structure.
Worth knowing: One of the more expensive options when textbooks are included and usually requires a significant training commitment to implement well. Still needs separate tracking and gap analysis.
Big Maths
Best for: Schools where pupils are working at widely different levels, where gaps are compounding, or where teachers are spending too much time on tracking, marking and trying to work out what to teach next.
Teacher agency: Big Maths gives teachers clear information about what each pupil knows and what comes next, while leaving every professional decision with the teacher. Structure supports teacher judgement rather than replacing it. Research consistently shows that teachers with genuine professional agency deliver better outcomes and stay in the profession longer. Big Maths is designed with that in mind.
Subject knowledge support: Every one of the 1,200+ learning steps links to teacher guidance notes, subject knowledge support and CPD resources, helping teachers understand not just what to teach next, but why it comes next and how to teach it well. This complements and builds teacher subject knowledge rather than bypassing it.
Worth knowing: Big Maths is not organised around curriculum blocks and terms in the same way as White Rose or Power Maths. If your primary need is a term-by-term scheme of work, it may not be the right fit. If your primary need is knowing where each pupil is and what to teach next, it is. See how assessment and tracking works.
Using White Rose resources alongside Big Maths: Many schools use White Rose resources and wider maths content alongside Big Maths, and this can work well. The important thing is that the teacher takes the lead from Big Maths when selecting and sequencing content, specifically from what each pupil has actually secured in their Big Maths Basic Skills journey. Mastery approaches do not recognise or plan for individual progression in Basic Skills, so the crucial prerequisite and complementary skill identification is absent when planning new learning. White Rose organises content by year group and term, ignoring individual learning gaps. Big Maths organises content by what each pupil is genuinely ready for next, based on the foundational skills they have secured. A pupil who has not yet secured a particular Basic Skills step is not ready for the White Rose content that depends on it, regardless of what the calendar says or what class the pupil is in. Most importantly, teacher judgement always sits at the centre: Big Maths tells teachers where each pupil actually is, and the teacher decides which resources best serve that next step.
The fluency problem that mastery programmes created, blamed on Covid, and are still not fixing
This is the most important thing to understand about primary maths in UK schools right now. And it is the thing the main programme providers would rather not discuss directly.
What Ofsted actually found
In 2023 Ofsted published its mathematics subject report, based on inspections across hundreds of primary schools. It found “deficiencies in the quality and quantity of practice that pupils undertake.” The report stated directly that even in schools where “teachers teach with clarity and precision, it is likely that these deficiencies undermine pupils’ ability to remember important knowledge.”
Gaps in basic number facts in younger year groups “may not become apparent until a significant amount of time has elapsed.” By which point they have compounded into something much harder to fix. Ofsted also noted there was “a lack of knowledge” among school leaders about what procedural fluency actually requires and how to benchmark it.
This is not a pandemic finding. This is a structural finding about the quality of maths teaching in schools that have been following mastery approaches for years.
The Covid excuse
When fluency and mental arithmetic results declined sharply, the dominant response from the mastery programme community was to point at the pandemic. Covid undoubtedly caused disruption. But the fluency deficit in UK primary maths was not created by Covid.
Ofsted’s 2023 report, based on inspections years after schools reopened, found the same structural fluency weaknesses. The Lingfield Education Trust’s 2024 curriculum analysis put it bluntly: when the expected standard for a KS2 maths SAT is 54 marks out of 110, “it is clear that we do not really have a mastery system.” Children are meeting the expected standard while answering only around half the paper correctly. That is not mastery. That is managed underperformance.
The government’s own response tells the real story. They launched Mastering Number as a separate, additional programme precisely because the main mastery schemes were not building the fluency they were supposed to. That is not a Covid intervention. It is a public admission that the approach had a fundamental structural gap. Schools are now paying for two programmes to do what one should have done from the start.
Big Maths is built differently
Learn Its and It’s Nothing New are non-negotiable parts of every Big Maths lesson. Not optional extras. Not bolt-ons. Core elements of the framework, every week, from Early Years / P1 to Year 6 / Primary 7.
Learn Its builds systematic, sequenced instant recall of every key number fact a pupil needs. It’s Nothing New shows pupils that new learning connects directly to what they already know, reducing cognitive load and building genuine confidence. The approach is built on a clear understanding of how children actually learn mathematics: fluency is not an add-on. It is a prerequisite. Without it, reasoning cannot happen at the level it should.
The Beat That! challenge measures fluency every Friday. Teachers always know which facts each pupil has secured. Not termly. Not at the end of a unit. Every week.
A pupil who cannot instantly recall 7 x 8 is using working memory on that calculation instead of on the problem they are trying to solve. Programmes that deprioritise fluency in favour of reasoning are asking pupils to reason without the tools they need to reason well. Big Maths builds those tools first. Every pupil. Every week. That is what the programme is designed to do.
If it is in nearly every school, who is responsible for the decline?
The mastery programme providers regularly cite their reach as a mark of quality. White Rose materials are used in approximately 80% of primary schools in England, and Teaching for Mastery has received over £73 million of government funding and reached the majority of primary schools in England.
That reach is also a liability. When a programme is used in nearly every school, and outcomes across nearly every school show a structural fluency deficit, the question of where to look first is not a complicated one.
The government launched Mastering Number to plug the fluency gap that mastery programmes left open. Ofsted published a subject report in 2023 identifying structural practice deficiencies across the system. Schools are spending money on TT Rockstars, intervention programmes, and additional resources to do the work the main programme should be doing.
This is not a bad teacher problem. It is not a Covid problem. It is a programme design problem. The evidence is clear that the dominant approach is not working well enough: in Ofsted reports, in government interventions, and in the results of schools that have moved away from it. It is time for something different.
Big Maths is that alternative. Fluency, mental maths, and basic skills are built into every lesson by design. Not retrofitted. Not an add-on. We have the results to show it.
Improving teacher agency and locus of control improves morale and teacher retention
The programme your school chooses affects more than pupil outcomes. It affects how your teachers feel about their work.
When teachers lose control
Research shows that 68% of educators experience moral injury from being forced to act against their professional values. Nearly 50% admit to taking actions that betray their own judgement. Teachers with external locus of control, where decisions are made for them rather than by them, experience higher rates of stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion.
40% of teachers leave the profession within five years. Most attribute their departure not to the children, but to feeling unsupported and disempowered by the systems they are required to use.
When teachers are trusted
Teachers with internal locus of control, where they make the professional decisions, report significantly higher job satisfaction, lower burnout, and stronger commitment to the profession. International evidence, including from Finland, consistently shows that teacher autonomy drives both teacher wellbeing and pupil outcomes.
A programme that gives teachers the information they need and then trusts them to use it is not just better for children. It is better for the profession.
Big Maths is built on the principle that the structure is a tool for the teacher, not a cage. Teachers choose the route. The programme provides the map. Professional judgement and responsibility stay exactly where they belong.
Nine questions to ask before you commit to a maths programme
Most programmes are easy to compare on features. These questions get closer to what matters in practice.
1. What does the assessment actually tell teachers on Monday morning?
Not what it generates at the end of a unit or term. What does a class teacher know on Monday about what each pupil needs to learn that week? If the answer is “not much until the next assessment”, that is worth examining. Weekly gap identification is only useful if it is genuinely weekly.
2. How much teacher time does tracking and data entry take?
Some programmes require significant manual input to keep assessment and tracking current. Ask providers to show exactly what a teacher has to do each week. “Zero marking and zero data entry” is not the default in most programmes.
3. What happens when a pupil joins mid-year who is not yet working at the level the calendar assumes?
Age Related Expectations tell you what an academic decided a pupil of a given age ought to know. They do not tell you what any individual pupil actually knows. Can the programme find that pupil’s actual starting point and give the teacher the right next steps, or does it simply place them into the year-group sequence and hope for the best?
4. What does the gap analysis actually show?
Topic-level analysis tells you a pupil is struggling with multiplication. Step-level analysis tells you which specific step they have not yet secured and what to teach next. That difference matters every Monday morning in every classroom.
5. What does the whole-school data look like for a headteacher?
Can a headteacher see, at any point in the year, how each pupil and each year group is actually progressing, not just whether they are hitting the age-based targets that Ofsted and government have agreed to use? Age Related Expectations are a reporting convention, not a learning truth. The best programmes show you both: where each pupil genuinely is, and how that maps against the benchmarks others will judge you by.
6. How does the programme handle fluency and number fact recall?
Times tables and number fact fluency do not come from incidental practice. Ask whether the programme includes a specific, structured approach to building instant recall, or whether teachers need to add that separately at extra cost.
7. What is the true cost when all tools are included?
A lower headline price may still require separate subscriptions for tracking, assessment, fluency or reporting. Work out the total cost of a complete solution versus bolting tools together around a cheaper one.
8. Can you see it working in a school like yours?
Ask to speak to a school with a similar profile: similar SEN/SEND/ASN population, similar spread of attainment, similar size. A programme that works well in a high-attaining suburban school may not have the same impact in a school with a high proportion of pupils entering significantly below the level the calendar assumes.
9. Does the programme protect teacher agency or erode it?
Some programmes reduce teachers to delivery mechanisms. They prescribe what to teach, when, and how, driven by the calendar rather than the pupil. Ask whether the programme amplifies professional judgement with good information and support, or replaces it with rigid prescription. Ask also what subject knowledge support is built in, and whether it helps teachers understand the learning rather than just deliver it.
What schools using Big Maths are achieving
We do not ask you to take our word for it. Every claim on this page links to a named school, a published report or a result you can verify.
Schools using Big Maths have been recognised by the DfE for KS2 maths results in the top 2% of primary schools nationally. One school achieved 100% of pupils at expected standard in KS2 mathematics.
“We achieved our highest ever results in the history of our school for this year’s SATs results, thanks to Big Maths. Almost 20% above national average.”
Ofsted, June 2025: “Pupils achieve exceptionally well.” Mathematics was one of four deep-dive subjects.
See the full evidenceTop 2% nationally
Big Maths schools recognised by the DfE for KS2 maths results in the top 2% of primary schools nationally.
20% above national average
SATs results reported by schools using Big Maths, with named schools and verifiable data.
Strong inspection feedback
Schools using Big Maths have received exceptionally strong Ofsted feedback, including maths as a deep-dive subject.
Used across England, Scotland and Wales
Big Maths meets curriculum requirements for all three nations. One programme, one subscription, wherever you are.
Big Maths has provided us with clear progression across our whole school where each step is broken down into steps that children can actually understand. Since using Big Maths the children in our school are enthused and gaining confidence.
Teacher, Durham, England
Frequently asked questions
Common questions from headteachers and maths leads comparing primary maths programmes.
Can we use Big Maths alongside White Rose Maths?
Yes, and many schools do. White Rose resources and wider maths content can work well alongside Big Maths. The key is that sequencing and pacing should be led by what each pupil has secured in their Big Maths Basic Skills journey. Big Maths shows where each pupil genuinely is, and the teacher chooses the resources that best support the next step. Mastery programmes do not plan for individual Basic Skills progression, so teacher judgement, informed by Big Maths, is essential when selecting wider content.
Is Big Maths a mastery programme?
The mastery principle is built into Big Maths at the structural level. Each of the 1,200+ learning steps is sequenced so that a pupil does not move to the next step until the current one is secure. The programme does not move pupils on because the term does. It moves them on because the weekly evidence shows they are ready.
How does Big Maths compare on cost?
Big Maths is a single school subscription with no per-pupil textbook costs. It includes curriculum resources, assessment, gap analysis, tracking and reporting in one price. Schools that switch from a combination of premium resources, separate tracking tools and additional assessment software often find Big Maths works out cheaper overall. Contact us for a quote based on your school size.
How long does it take to implement Big Maths?
The Baseline Assessment can be run in the first two weeks. From that point, the weekly Beat That! cycle begins and the gap data starts building immediately. Most schools are fully operational within a half term. Implementation support is included in the subscription and your account manager will work with you on a plan suited to your school.
Does Big Maths work for small schools and mixed-age classes?
Yes. Because Big Maths works from individual learning steps rather than year-group blocks, it is particularly well suited to mixed-age teaching. Each pupil works from their own starting point. Tracking data is organised by individual, class and year group, making it easy for leaders to see the full picture without separate spreadsheets.
What training and support is included?
All subscriptions include onboarding support, training resources and ongoing access to your account manager. Big Maths Online includes teacher guidance notes linked to every learning step, and CPD resources are available within the platform. We also offer school visit support for larger implementations or schools working through significant attainment challenges.
How does Big Maths support teacher agency and subject knowledge?
Big Maths is built on the principle that structure should enable teachers, never constrain them. The programme tells teachers what each pupil knows and what comes next. Every teaching decision remains with the teacher. Professional judgement and responsibility stay exactly where they belong.
Subject knowledge support is built directly into the programme. Every learning step links to teacher guidance notes that explain the mathematics behind the step, common misconceptions and how to teach it effectively. This complements teacher subject knowledge and builds confidence, rather than bypassing professional expertise with a script.
See how Big Maths would work in your school context.
Book a free demo and we will walk you through the Baseline Assessment, the weekly Beat That! cycle, the Learning Gaps tool and the whole-school tracking view, tailored to your context and year groups.
Not ready to book? Send us a question or see the evidence.