Prospective Teachers of Mathematics

Information on Programmes and Modules for future Post-Primary Teachers of Mathematics:

(Q1) Teaching Council criteria for Mathematics:

You can find the current Teaching Council entry requirements for post-primary teachers of Mathematics on page 37 of this Teaching Council Requirements document.

Keep in mind that these criteria are under review and some changes in the details may occur in the near future. Keep an eye on this link to stay abreast of all changes.

(Q2) Options for people looking to embark in a full-time undergraduate degree at UCC with a view to becoming a post-primary teacher of Mathematics:

Post-primary initial teacher education (ITE) is provided through either integrated programmes or programmes of a consecutive nature:

(A) Integrated mathematics education degrees:

Currently, UCC offers only one integrated mathematics education degree:

• BEd Sports Studies and Physical Education – with Mathematics
• BEd Gaeilge + Mathematics

However, a number of other integrated mathematics education degree are in the pipe-line and may become available within the next few years, likely including but possibly not restricted to:

Once approved, new additions will become visible on the UCC list of undergraduate programmes.

(B) The most common route to qualification is the consecutive route, which comprises a suitable undergraduate degree and a separate teacher education qualification. 

Step I: Here are some undergraduate degrees suitable for future teachers of Mathematics:

• Mathematical Studies
• Mathematics in Arts
• Mathematics and Physics; also see the option through Physics CK408.

If you plan to embark on any of these programmes, please keep in mind that in the second and third years of your undergraduate degree you will have to choose among a list of optional modules, some of which are essential to fulfilling current teaching council requirements. Please check Q3 below to find out which modules you should choose at each stage.

Mathematics in Arts and Mathematics and Physics are mathematically more demanding than Mathematical Studies, leading occasionally to students transferring from the former to the last in their second year of studies. Students who do so currently should seek permission to register for MS1004 in their 2^nd year, as they would have missed it in year 1.

Step II: The Professional Master of Education (PME) in UCC helps complete the separate teacher education qualification.

(Q3) Recommended choice of optional modules for current undergraduate students looking to satisfy the Teaching Council requirements for Mathematics:

A. Students currently taking Mathematical Studies (MS)

• If you are taking MS as the minor component of a BA Major Honours degree then you will not take enough credits to satisfy the requirements. To do so, you may consider taking at least 1 extra module as a flexi-option at the end of your studies. See (Q4) below for more information.
• If you are taking MS as part of the BEd Sports Studies and Physical Education then you will do a suitable selection of modules. Note that you must do at least one of the algebra modules (MS2014, MS3001, and MS3014) in the course of the second and third year, and an additional geometry module MS3024 is recommended.
• If you are taking MS as part of the BA Joint Honours degree then in addition to the core modules which you must take, the following applies:

- You should take MS2013 in 2^nd year to cover the necessary material in geometry.  An additional geometry module MS3024 in 3^rd year is recommended.

- You will also need to take at least one module in algebra in either the second or third year, so at least one of the following: MS2014, MS3001 or MS3014.

- After that, you are free to make whatever choices you like and fit your schedule.

In all cases above, keep an eye on the Teaching Council website as requirements are currently under review and may change.

• The link to the current relevant page is here 

If you have any other further questions about the degree in general the coordinator of the degree is Anca Mustata a.mustata@ucc.ie. Questions about fine details in a particular module should be directed towards the relevant lecturer.

B. Students currently taking Mathematics in Arts (MA)

• If you are taking MA as the minor component of a BA Major Honours degree then you will not take enough credits to satisfy the requirements. To do so, you may consider taking at least 1 extra module as a flexi-option at the end of your studies. See (Q4) below for more information.
• If you are taking MA as part of the BA Joint Honours degree then in addition to the core modules which you must take, the following applies:

- You should take MS2013 in 2^nd year to cover the necessary material in geometry. 

- You should take ST1051 in 2^nd year to cover the necessary material in statistics. 

- After that, you are free to make whatever choices you like and fit your schedule.

C. Students looking to switch from Mathematics in Arts (MA) to Mathematical Studies (MS) after 1^st year:

You should make arrangements to take MS1004 in your 2^nd year to cover the necessary material in statistics.  Going forward, please consult section A above.

D. Students currently taking Mathematics and Physics

You will not fully satisfy current Teaching Council requirements at the end of this programme, but you can complete the requirements by subsequently taking the following additional 10 credits as flexi-option at the end of your studies:

- MS2013 to cover the necessary material in geometry. 

- ST1051 to cover the necessary material in statistics. 

(Q4) Options for current or future post-primary teachers who are already qualified to teach and would like to add Mathematics to their list of subjects.

What course of action you might like to take depends on whether or not you already have taken any university-level Maths Course. If you are not looking to embark in a full-time undergraduate degree at UCC with a view to adding Mathematics to your list of subjects to teach, UCC offers some alternatives. The most likely way to cover the minimum of 60 ETS credits required by the Teaching Council is through a combination of flexi-option modules and possibly a postgraduate Masters degree in 2 steps:

1. You can take up to 30 credits of UCC modules as flexi-option (i.e. pay-by-module, without being registered for a full degree programme).
2. Analysis - minimum of 10 ECTS credits:  MS1002, MS2015
3. Algebra - minimum of 10 ECTS credits: MS1003, MS2014, MS3001 or MS3014
4. Geometry - minimum of 5 ECTS credits: MS2013 (must take), MS3024 (recommended)
5. Probability and Statistics - minimum of 5 ECTS credits: MS1004.

Recommended Core modules:

Depending on what you have covered already, you may replace some of the above with any other modules from this list - look for modules coded MS. 

1. However, this would not cover the full 60 credit requirement. The remaining 10 core area and 20 optional area credits could be fulfilled by completing a Masters degree – this would only work after covering 30 credits from the modules above, as the level of mathematics difficulty would increase considerably.
2. Here is a list of Masters and Higher Diploma programmes currently offered by the School of Mathematical Sciences in  
3. Other UCC Masters programmes have a mathematical element that may serve en route to the remaining credits, for example the MSc Bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

Before you decide which Masters programme is for you, please carefully check the list of core and elective modules on offer to make sure you can complete the required number of credits on the core and optional areas listed by the Teaching Council!