Colin Hegarty

Colin grew up in a one-bedroom London council flat. His Irish immigrant parents, a builder and a cleaner, emphasised the importance of education. He went on to became the first person from his family to attend university, gaining a first-class degree in Mathematics from Oxford University. Colin uses a flipped classroom approach to teach mathematics to London students aged 11-18. He believes there is no such thing as being ‘bad at maths’; it is simply a case of hard work and receiving the right kind of tuition and support. Since setting up a series of online teaching aids to help a student who was forced to move abroad to care for his father, Colin has created 1,500 online videos which have been viewed almost 5 million times. The free resources on Colin’s website have been used in at least 65 UK schools and have had a great impact on the grades of his students and the understanding of those across the world. Colin is a sought-after presenter at conferences and teacher training seminars. He writes about educational issues online and was ranked among the top 50 most influential UK bloggers. His popular posts have discussed improving students’ confidence in their mathematical ability, the similarities between teachers and entrepreneurs, and the role of technology in education. Colin received the 2015 National Teacher of the Year award from the UK Prime Minister.

His 1,500 mathematics videos have been viewed 5m times across 224 territories

65 UK schools trialled mathswebsite.com in a 20-day period (7,407 hours of learning with 465,761 maths questions answered)

2015 UK National Teacher of the Year

“I believe that all students should have free access to the best quality mathematics teaching so they can learn this beautiful subject that will be at the centre of innovations to help our planet.”