Hegarty Maths (Now Sparx): Everything Teachers Need to Know
Explore Hegarty Maths, now Sparx Maths, and understand its teaching methods, transition details, and alternative platforms for UK secondary education.
HegartyMaths joined Sparx Maths. Colin Hegarty's approach still features in Sparx Maths. This guide helps you grasp HegartyMaths' teaching ideas. Schools wanting similar features should look at Sparx Maths.
What is Hegarty Maths?
Hegarty Maths, a problem-solving platform with 943 activities, merged with Sparx Maths in 2025. Learners access over 40,000 questions on the platform. Topics are broken down with videos and exercises. Hegarty Maths prioritises creative thinking.
Key Takeaways
- Hegarty Maths champions deep conceptual understanding through problem-solving. The platform's emphasis on creative thinking over rote memorisation aligns with research advocating for learners to develop robust problem-solving heuristics in mathematics (Schoenfeld, 1985). This approach helps learners apply mathematical knowledge flexibly, rather than merely memorising procedures.
- The platform's multimedia approach optimises learning efficiency and reduces cognitive load. By dividing topics into small sections with accompanying videos, Hegarty Maths effectively applies principles of multimedia learning, enhancing comprehension and retention for learners (Mayer, 2001). This structured presentation helps manage intrinsic cognitive load, making complex mathematical concepts more accessible.
- Hegarty Maths fosters robust long-term retention through structured, spaced practice. The extensive bank of over 40,000 questions and comprehension exercises facilitates retrieval practice and spaced repetition, which are critical for embedding learning into long-term memory (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006). This systematic reinforcement helps learners achieve mastery and reduces the forgetting curve.
- The core pedagogical principles of Hegarty Maths offer enduring value for mathematics instruction. Despite the platform's merger into Sparx Maths, its foundational emphasis on structured learning, problem-solving, and formative assessment reflects highly effective teaching strategies (Hattie, 2009). Teachers can therefore confidently explore Sparx Maths, knowing its pedagogical underpinnings are rooted in evidence-based practices.
Hegarty Maths, now part of Sparx Maths, offers 943 activities. Learners tackle 40,000+ maths questions. It breaks topics down, using videos and exercises to boost thinking, not memorisation. It no longer accepts new users, but Sparx Maths continues the approach.
Researchers show that Hegarty Mathematics values problem-solving, not just learning by heart. The platform helps learners solve maths problems creatively. It focuses on logic over simply memorising rules and formulas.
This approach is based on the idea that children learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. As a result, Hegarty Math is used in classrooms worldwide. Hegarty Maths is an online platform for all ages of students that helps learners practice math problems and to test their math skills.
Hegarty Maths uses short maths videos and checks understanding. This UK subscription program breaks topics into smaller parts. Learners gain easier comprehension with this approach.
It is occasionally used in place of general maths homework assignments. Colin Hegarty, the project's inventor, was named UK National Teacher of the Year in 2014 and was nominated for the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize in 2016. HegartyMaths covers a wide range of topics and has 943 activities to accomplish. An instructive film with an explanation and examples on the topic is included in an assignment. Following that, there is a quiz to take with topic-specific questions.
The site stays current with GCSE maths. We update it routinely with new topics. Learners can do projects independently. Teachers assign these as homework or revision. Teachers then track learner progress.
Hegarty Maths History and Evolution
Colin Hegarty made YouTube videos to help learners study maths using flipped learning. The platform became a subscription program for UK schools. Colin Hegarty's teaching content remains in use through Sparx Maths, following the 2019 merger of HegartyMaths with Sparx.
Colin and Brian made YouTube maths videos for learners initially. These videos helped learners understand maths ideas more easily. They saw a need for a bigger tool to support the curriculum. Their project, Sparx Maths, is now popular in English schools.
- Colin Hegarty and Brian Arnold, co-founders and teachers, founded Hegarty Maths.
- They started making videos on YouTube in 2011 for math homework and revision.
- Because the videos were publicly available on YouTube, students from all across the country and the world began to use them as well.
- Colin earned £15,000 from the education charity SHINE in 2012 through its Let Teachers SHINE competition to create a website to host the videos and create further content.
- The original website, which went up on July 12, 2013, was called mathswebsite.com. It was created to provide free math videos to help learners revise and is still available today.
Key Features and Principles
- Personalised Learning: Teachers can set comprehensive, personalised work directly from their mark book, saving an estimated 200 hours per year.
- Rich Content Library: The platform offers over 600 high-quality video lessons and more than 40,000 bespoke questions.
- Efficient Feedback Loop: Teachers can easily view student results, identify misconceptions, and provide targeted feedback to improve skills.
- Cognitive Science-Based: The platform's design focuses on principles of cognitive science, with carefully scaffolded work and minimally different examples to support understanding and build confidence.
- Promotes Independence: By providing clear video explanations and opportunities for deliberate practice, the tool helps students become more independent learners.
Status and Alternatives
- Transition to Sparx Maths: Existing HegartyMaths schools have been transitioned to Sparx Maths. New subscriptions are no longer available for HegartyMaths.
- Competitors: Other platforms offering similar resources include White Rose Maths (mastery-focused) and MyMaths (interactive homework).
Hegarty Maths Benefits for Teachers
Hegarty Maths cuts marking. It also tracks learner progress. The platform gives personalised learning, targeting varied needs. This lets teachers focus on lessons, not admin.
Hegarty Maths saves teachers 200 hours each year. Automated features set work, track learner progress, and give feedback. Learners watch videos before class, supporting problem-solving (Bergmann & Sams, 2012). Teachers easily differentiate work and monitor learner progress. This aids metacognition without extra admin.
Hegarty Maths offers Activities and Lessons. Activities focus on specific topics. Lessons, however, cover wider areas. Both options give the learner choices.
Save Teaching Time with Hegarty Maths
Age Groups Covered by Hegarty Maths
HegartyMaths is a program designed for KS3 and KS4 students in the UK. Students in Years 10, 11 need to complete a minimum of two tasks a week on Hegarty Maths in addition to their written homework set by their teacher. To log on, students need to knowtheir first name, last name, and date of birth.
Supported UK Exam Boards
Hegarty Maths supports exam boards such as AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC CBAC (for GCSE) and also IGCSE; the platform helps teach, assess and track everything a child needs to learn in school maths.
Ready to plan it?
You have explored Hegarty Maths. Now turn it into a lesson learners will remember.
Free for teachers. The platform builds a classroom-ready lesson plan from your topic in under two minutes.
Create Free Account →
Frequently Asked Questions
HegartyMaths Changes: School Impact Explained
HegartyMaths joined Sparx Maths in 2019 and the HegartyMaths brand was retired in 2022; schools cannot subscribe to HegartyMaths directly now. Colin Hegarty's methods and content remain in Sparx Maths. Schools can use similar tools there.
Annual Time Savings for Teachers
The platform's automated features save teachers around 200 hours each year. It creates personalised work, tracks learner progress, and gives feedback. This saves time on admin, letting teachers easily monitor each learner's progress.
Flipped Learning with HegartyMaths
Bergmann and Sams (2012) found learners watch videos at home. This prepares them to use maths in class, freeing teachers for problem-solving. Focus lesson time on application with targeted support (Bergmann & Sams, 2012).
HegartyMaths vs Traditional Teaching Methods
HegartyMaths builds learners' problem-solving and thinking, not just formula recall. It applies cognitive science using 943 activities. These activities include over 40,000 questions. They encourage creative mathematical thinking.
Individual Student Progress Tracking
Teachers see learner results after work completion, then give specific feedback (Vygotsky, 1978). Tracking helps identify areas learners need support, reducing marking time (Sadler, 1989; Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
UK School Curriculum Coverage
The platform covers all GCSE maths with 600+ video lessons. It has 40,000+ questions, sequenced logically,. We update content often to match the curriculum,. Learners can use it for homework and revision,.
Transitioning HegartyMaths Setup to Sparx
HegartyMaths is now part of Sparx Maths, so schools can explore it. Sparx Maths maintains Hegarty's problem-solving methods. The platform may include new features for learners.
Curriculum PlatformCurriculum design
Sequence a Hegarty Maths unit in three steps.
Mapped to the curriculum. CPD-aligned. Free for teachers.
1
Year
Year 5
2
Lesson plan
Sequenced unit
3
Export
PDF
