Stoke-on-Trent council has teamed up with online betting company Bet365 in offering to pay off maths graduates’ tuition fees to persuade them to become maths teachers in the city.

The chief schools inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has previously singled out Stoke for its poor maths results. It has one of the five worst-performing local authorities in the country for maths and has been ranked by Ofsted as 144th out of 152 areas in England for GCSE A*-C grade attainment.



The initiative, organised by local MP and former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt, aims to improve the prospects for children in Stoke, where traditional industries such as pottery have declined in importance.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the scheme on Wednesday, which Wilshaw will attend, Hunt said the scheme was about attracting the best maths graduates to teach in Stoke.

“Ofsted has identified the quality and effectiveness of maths teaching as a particular challenge and that is partly because of our ability to attract those with maths qualifications,” he said.

“It’s obviously a national challenge too, but in Stoke-on-Trent – where there are particular challenges for the Labour market – it’s even more difficult to get those with the maths qualifications we need to teach in the schools and we’re seeing the consequences of that in terms of our results.”

The £1m maths excellence partnership is funded by £500,000 from Stoke-on-Trent city council and £500,000 from the charitable arm of Bet365, which is the biggest employer in Stoke-on-Trent.



The scheme will support professional development for maths teachers and enable trainee teachers from Keele University to build their skills in local school classrooms. It aims to get 70% of pupils achieving an A*-C at GCSE maths in the next three years, up from 59% at present.

The project is also offering recruits £2,000 per year for three years towards paying off tuition fees and a further relocation payment of £2,000.

“This government has very little interest in helping to get high-quality teachers into high-poverty areas and so we have got to do it ourselves,” said Hunt. “Forget Hackney and Tower Hamlets where everyone goes, how do we encourage [maths graduates] to come to Stoke?”

Denise Coates, joint chief executive at Bet365 – which she founded from a car park in the city 15 years ago – said: “Succeeding in maths education is vital for the future prospects of our young people. Maths skills are crucial for economic success and they have never been in such demand from employers.”

She added: “The partnership is a really exciting venture, based on schools, colleges and higher education institutions across the city agreeing to work together to support one another to raise maths education outcomes for the young people of Stoke.”



Hunt claimed the city had not been given the support it needed from central government to improve educational attainment, saying: “We’re entering a landscape now – which I think is worse rather than better – in which the central state is withdrawing, and local communities have to prioritise what’s important for them and think about how they come up with solutions.”

Roisin Maguire, principal of St Joseph’s College, where the initiative will be launched on Wednesday, said: “The reason that we’ve invited Michael Wilshaw is that he always names and shames Stoke-on-Trent and we want to demonstrate to him that there are actually some really good things happening.”

“I’ve very aware that unless we get our maths and our literacy improved children in Stoke are going to get left behind,” she added.

“Denise Coates herself, at Bet365, will tell you that she struggles to attract really good mathematicians and that’s what she needs in her company. And, in a sense, she’s buying into it because she knows that’s what the company needs.”