Spatial reasoning has been widely talked up as a way of boosting pupils’ maths skills - yet while some countries have embraced the idea, others are far further behind.

As of this week, however, Scotland now has a dedicated hub for spatial reasoning at the University of Glasgow, which will be a key part of national efforts to improve maths performance in schools.

The Turner Kirk Centre for Spatial Reasoning will run a national pilot scheme involving 17 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, with the aim that spatial learning will reach 40 per cent of Scottish classrooms by 2028.

The impact of spatial reasoning

Spatial reasoning has been described as the ability to understand the spatial properties of objects and to visualise and manipulate problems in the mind.

Ambitions are high for the long-term impact of bringing the approach to primary schools.

Quintin Cutts, director of the new centre and a professor of computer science education, said: “Research has shown that those with stronger spatial reasoning tend to progress further in maths and in Stem [science, technology, engineering and maths] careers generally.”

This week the University of Glasgow said: “The expectation is that improved spatial reasoning and maths at primary level will lead to transformational change in uptake and attainment across all Stem subjects in secondary school, particularly among underrepresented groups such as girls and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.”

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The pilot - led by University of Glasgow researchers and funded by the Turner Kirk Trust and the Scottish government - arrives amid wider efforts by the government and Education Scotland, the national curriculum development agency, to improve maths education and numeracy outcomes.

In November 2024 an Education Scotland review of maths education reported that “many children” in upper primary and secondary found maths “repetitive, lacking in challenge and disconnected from real-life applications”.

The University of Glasgow said that early studies carried out with Primary 4 pupils (children aged around 8) suggested that “learning maths while exercising spatial reasoning increases performance in the subject by 20 per cent and can reduce attainment gaps”.

This research also showed success in “reducing gender and economic deprivation-based gaps in maths skills, and even improved skills in unexpected areas, such as collaboration, creativity and communication”.

Improving maths outcomes

The University of Glasgow said: “The link between spatial reasoning and maths ability is well known but has largely been overlooked worldwide as a mechanism for improving education and performance in Stem subjects.”

Initiatives in some countries - including Canada, Finland, Singapore and Australia - have led experts to observe that maths has been “spatialised”.

In a December 2024 article for Tes, however, one expert wrote that, despite it being strongly backed by research evidence, “spatial reasoning has little emphasis in maths curricula in England”.

The existing STEM SPACE Project, based at the University of Glasgow, uses MathsBURST, a sequence of spatial learning materials from Australia that have already been used there on a large scale.

The aim now is to bring spatial learning to primary pupils across more of Scotland, for children in the latter years of primary school (P4-7).

In 2023, the first year of the Scottish project, the teaching model was used in P4 classes in 22 schools across three local authorities. In 2024 it was used in 80 schools across six local authorities, involving 2,300 pupils in a mix of P4 and P5 classes. This year 208 schools across 12 local authorities are signed up, with more expected to join soon.

In the longer term, the new centre will research how training in spatial reasoning affects success in secondary and tertiary education, as well as how it may help change the direction of careers and improve the skills of the existing workforce.

Scottish education secretary Jenny Gilruth said: “While there is some good international research evidence linking spatial skills to improvements in maths performance, it is important that we clearly establish what approaches are most likely to succeed in a Scottish context.”

She described the early University of Glasgow findings as “encouraging”.

The Turner Kirk Centre for Spatial Reasoning is being match-funded by the Turner Kirk Trust, a charity that supports experimental initiatives in Stem and biodiversity. The earlier STEM SPACE project was also funded and supported by the trust, which is led by technology entrepreneur Dr Ewan Kirk and philanthropist Dr Patricia Turner.

Dr Kirk said: “Every child should have the opportunity to succeed in Stem, but until now there seemed to be no cheap, scalable and highly effective method for making this a reality.”

The centre was officially launched this week during a visit to Kelvindale Primary School in Glasgow, which has adopted spatial reasoning with help from the University of Glasgow.

Headteacher Gillian Roulston said: “Although our initial assessments showed pupils were already performing above average, our post-assessment results revealed that 96 per cent made gains, with spatial skills improving by 20 per cent on average.”

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