Abstract: Case study research suggests NLP influencing strategies benefit teachers. Maths pedagogy involving higher-order questioning, challenge, problem solving and collaborative working may be a way of improving attainment in adult numeracy learning, however, such strategies may be less effective if the relationship between teacher and learner does not reflect sensitivity to attitudes, beliefs and emotions (areas which advocates of NLP claim effectiveness in). The present study investigated these claims and the combined effect of such approaches using a pre- and post-treatment maths tests with 173 adult numeracy learners. Teachers were randomly allocated to three conditions, these were: (1) teachers given no training (control condition); (2) teachers trained in innovative maths pedagogy (including higher amounts of higher-order questioning, challenge, problem solving and collaborative learning); and (3) teachers trained in NLP and the innovative maths pedagogy. NLP training included suggestion using language patterns modelled from hypnosis, body language modelled from family therapy and spatial anchoring for emotional state management. A significant within-subject mean difference in maths test scores for the innovative maths pedagogy group (MD = 10.97, t(66) = 7.292, p< .0005, .2=.446) was nearly twice that of the control (MD = 5.67, t(42) = 3.099, p = .003, .2 = .186). Although there appeared to be the closing of an attainment gap between pre- and post-treatment scores for the innovative maths alone condition, post hoc between-subject contrasts indicated differences between pre- and post-treatment means were not statistically significant (p = .404 and p = .689, respectively). However, with the addition of NLP training, post hoc contrasts showed mean maths attainment had significantly improved compared to the control (p = .040) with mean difference, pre- and post-treatment attainment, increased to over three times that of the control (MD = 18.35, t(62) = 9.552, p< .0005, .2 = .595). CfBT Education Trust carried out this research with funding from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.