3 out of 5 maths challenge: Building on success

The 3 out of 5 maths challenge was developed with the prison workforce and its learners and, has been introduced to a number of prisons across England during the past two years. The ethos of the scheme is to encourage reluctant learners to tackle and enjoy maths, in non-traditional settings - in the gym, library and gardens - in fact anywhere outside of the maths classroom.

The 3 out of 5 Pack consists of 21 Challenges grouped into 5 Topics. Any learner who completes 3 Challenges - one from each of any 3 of the 5 Topics - receives an ETF-branded 3 out of 5 calculator, and the prison / YOI with the largest number of Completers wins8 the 3 out of 5 Challenge Shield which they retain for one year before passing on to the next winning prison. To date, 50 English prisons/YOIs have participated in the challenge and the 2017/18 winning prison was HMP Guys Marsh.

We now want to take the 3 out of 5 maths challenge to the next level whilst retaining its spirit. We wish for the 3 out of 5 maths challenge to become the "doorway" maths scheme of choice - comparable to the Reading Agency's 6 reads approach to literacy learning. Many of the activities have been created by or with learners and the 3 out of 5 logo is the creation of a former prison learner. We wish to build on this learner led approach and commission an organisation to work with us to achieve the activities listed in the tender specification.