The prime minister’s plan for all pupils to study maths up to age 18 could “overwhelm” stretched schools and have “unintended consequences” if implemented too soon, an ex-Conservative adviser has warned.
Mark Lehain, head of education at the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, said that a swift introduction of Rishi Sunak’s plans could put pressure on “an already struggling system”.
Mr Lehain, who was special adviser to former education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, was speaking yesterday evening at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
He said that if the prime minister wanted to foster a successful strategy for post-16 maths, it was crucial that we “work backwards” and “get the maths right as early as possible”.
Mr Lehain, a former maths teacher, said maths to 18 would be “really hard” to get right but was worth the effort.
Speaking at the event hosted by the Education Policy Institute, he said: “I think we do have to be careful about potentially overwhelming already stretched maths departments or headteachers or timetables.
“I think there is a risk that if we bring in maths to 18 in a certain way too soon, then there is a possibility of an unintended consequence would be that we put more pressure on an already struggling system.”
Mr Lehain also said he would be “wary” about bringing in more, or different, qualifications “because we’re potentially losing that equity of experience”.
Earlier this year, Mr Sunak appointed a maths-to-18 expert advisory group to report findings on the new approach to Number 10 and the Department for Education.
