Guidance

Subject hubs

Updated 12 March 2025

Applies to England

Overview

This support is designed to develop expertise in a teaching a specific subject or discipline and complements the early career framework and national professional qualifications.

Cost

Support is either fully funded or subsidised depending on the programme.

Eligibility

All state-funded schools and colleges, special schools and alternative provision settings in England are eligible for support. Some hubs only target specific phases of education:

• English hub support is for primary schools
• Languages hub support for secondary schools

English hubs

English hubs offer a range of support and continuing professional development (CPD) to primary schools to improve the teaching of early reading, with a particular focus on systematic synthetic phonics, early language and reading for pleasure.

This consists of tailored support from a literacy specialist, CPD and funding to buy phonics and early language resources.

There are 34 English hubs.

Cost

The support offered by English Hubs is mostly free and funded by the Department for Education (DfE). Contact your English hub for details.

How to access

Find your English hub and contact them directly.

Maths hubs

Maths hubs provide support to schools and colleges to help them continuously improve mathematics education.

This consists of working with teachers and leaders from reception through to key stage 5 via CPD, leadership communities and early career teacher professional communities.

More information on different support offered for each phase is available on the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics’ website.

There are 40 maths hubs.

Cost

All of the support offered to schools by maths hubs is entirely free of charge for state-funded schools and colleges.

How to access

Find your maths hub and contact them directly.

Computing hubs

Managed by the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), the computing hubs programme comprises 31 lead hub schools. These hub schools work with other schools to improve the teaching of computing and increase participation in computer science qualifications, through offering CPD, guidance and support. The computing hubs model ends at the end of March 2025. The DfE is working with the NCCE to develop a new model of support from April 2025, with online CPD at its core.

More information on the support available is on the Teach Computing website.

Music hubs

Music hub partnerships are made up of a range of organisations who work together to deliver high-quality music provision for all children and young people in and out of school. The hub programme funds a network of 43 hub partnerships which cover every area of England.

Cost

The amount of subsidised provision offered by music hubs is determined by each hub in response to local need.

How to access

Find your music hub and contact them directly.

Language hubs

Managed by the National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE), based at University College London’s Institute of Education (UCL IOE), the language hubs programme comprises 15 lead hub schools. These hub schools work with other schools to improve standards of language teaching across the country in line recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s modern foreign languages pedagogy review. The language hubs model ends at the end of March 2025. The DfE is working with NCLE to develop a new model of support from April 2025 with online CPD at its core.

The NCELP Resource Portal provides resources to support teaching in:

• French
• German
• Spanish