About Martin Scott
I'm a Senior Lecturer and full-time Programme Leader in Further Education and Skills. I joined the University in 2019 following 18 years working in local Further Education (FE) colleges. I've held many roles during this time in a wide variety of contexts ranging from teaching to support to management, in 14-16 education, maths, and engineering related subjects.
My final role in FE was Head of Maths, having previously occupied roles such as Advanced Practitioner (in Engineering), Teaching and Learning Coach, and Curriculum Manager for the Engagement Team.
Teaching and supervision
I am Programme Leader for the full-time PGCE Further Education and Skills (FES) course, where I also lead the mathematics and computing pathways and oversee Enhanced Mentoring provision at Durham Sixth Form Centre and Hartlepool Sixth Form. Alongside this, I teach on the BA Education Studies programme and serve as Module Leader for 'The Future of Learning', delivering to both full-time and in-service students.
Interests
My professional interests are rooted in over twenty years of working in Further Education, and focus on how we can better develop both trainee teachers and the learners they work with across the sector. I am passionate about helping trainees recognise and respond to the diverse needs of FE learners, many of whom have experienced educational disengagement and arrive carrying real anxieties about learning. I aim to achieve this by embedding authentic vocational and experiential approaches that connect with who learners are and where they want to go.
I am keen to explore how we develop the digital capabilities of trainee teachers not as an end in itself, but as something that genuinely strengthens their teaching and opens up new possibilities for learner engagement. Central to my work is preparing trainees to meet the professional demands of the sector with confidence, developing their understanding of accountability, their ability to navigate the expectations placed upon them, and their readiness to uphold the standards required of skilled and reflective practitioners. Underpinning all of this is a commitment to building trainees' academic resilience, their capacity for critical reflection, and a professional identity firmly shaped by the realities of education practice, so that they enter the workplace equipped to meet sector demands and able to create the kind of learning environments where their students can find their confidence, engage, and move forward.
Research
My passion for working with the most reluctant learners has been a constant thread throughout my career, evidenced early on through the creation of 'The Real Project', an initiative designed to engage young people through vocationally relevant subjects, which I evaluated as part of my BA (Hons) in Education in 2010. In 2015, I retrained as an FE mathematics teacher through a Level 7 qualification in Maths Pedagogy, a move that deepened both my subject expertise and my understanding of the learners I work with.
I am committed to my own ongoing professional development, and over the years this has led me to study at higher level across a wide range of disciplines including engineering, mathematics, leadership and management, education, and digital technology, all of which have been fundamental in shaping my professional interests and informing my academic research.
Most recently, this journey has culminated in my MPhil research project, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Teaching Maths in Further Education, which explores how mathematics teachers in FE develop professionally within the complex realities of the sector.
Further information
- QTS – Qualified Teacher Status: 1724223
- QTLS – (Member) Society for Education and Training: AB058007
- FHEA – (Fellow) AdvanceHE: PR216369
In addition to my professional interests, I have a passion for travel and I'm currently planning motorbike adventures in Europe. I enjoy sport and play for/coach a local rugby team.