There has been growing concern within higher education institutions that incoming mathematics students are not adequately prepared for the nature and demands of university learning, and as such there has been a greater effort to provide tailored support to incoming mathematics students. At Durham University, first-year mathematics research interns Sam and Charlotte have been conducting research on how to improve current pre-university transitional support materials for incoming students. Firstly, Charlotte will present her investigation to specifically improve this transition for international students, including her findings from a comparative taxonomy analysis on 5 popular international curricula, Durham Mathematics’ diagnostic test, and early first-year module assessments. She will then propose design principles to improve pre-university transition materials for international students, informed by her investigation and pedagogical literature. Then, Sam will discuss the overarching factors which can define the effectiveness of pre-university transition material in both consolidating a baseline level of knowledge required for entering their course through careful mapping and analysis of course content, as well as fostering a strong engagement with support materials using research-informed feedback mechanisms and question designs that promote valuable progress when using the transitional materials.
Sam and Charlotte gave an excellent talk at CETL-MSOR 2026: “Mind the gap: Improving transitional support for incoming mathematics undergraduates”.
Sam and I, with video input from Charlotte, presented at Durham’s Learning and Teaching Conference on 8 September 2026.