1,000 UK schools join NRICH's Problem-Solving Schools community

Over 1,000 UK schools have now registered for NRICH's new Problem-Solving Schools initiative, which helps schools to embed problem-solving throughout the curriculum.

Our Problem-Solving Schools resources provide free additional guidance, tools and support for teachers to help schools embed problem-solving in the curriculum, either as a whole primary school or as a secondary school maths department. The free programme complements and extends NRICH's existing support and resources, which attract millions of users each year.

Positive impacts and Eureka moments

1,001 UK schools registered as Problem-Solving Schools by July 2026, including 7% of secondary schools in England, with more schools also joining the community internationally. 

The Problem-Solving Schools initiative provides resources, professional development opportunities and guidance to help teachers support their students' development of mathematical thinking, mathematical mindsets and conceptual understanding. Alongside these, the programme also includes self-assessment tools to help schools identify progress and areas for continuing development. 

Feedback from schools which have completed interim self-assessments has been very positive –  sample comments include:

"We’ve seen significant positive impacts on our students since adopting the Problem-Solving Schools initiative. Students are now more engaged and confident in approaching complex, non-standard maths problems."

"I have seen the confidence and enjoyment grow in some children as they have had more exposure to problem solving. It has been lovely seeing those Eureka moments, especially after previous efforts have failed."

"Students are more confident in tackling tricky problems, an attitudinal shift in thinking."

Sharing learning and ideas

To help share learning and ideas within the Problem-Solving Schools community, in July we also published the first in a series of case studies giving insights from our registered schools. This case study features The Polesworth School in Tamworth, Staffordshire, an 11-18 community secondary school, and gives a personal insight from the KS3 Co-ordinator into how they have approached introducing NRICH’s resources, guidance and support.

"Ultimately, this wasn't about teaching a particular problem-solving strategy. It was about beginning to change students' beliefs about what it means to do mathematics and helping them develop strategies for what to do when they don't know what to do.”

KS3 Co-ordinator, The Polesworth School

The Problem-Solving Schools programme is completely free and open to all schools. Find out more, and learn how your school can register, on the NRICH Problem-Solving Schools pages.