As a maths specialist, I would love for every citizen of the world to become acquainted with what I consider to be a very beautiful, but also very useful subject.
So I wish I could say I was pleased to hear prime minister Rishi Sunak announce his intention for all students to be taught maths up to the age of 18. Unfortunately, without thinking a policy like this through, it’s little more than another political soundbite.
Which parts of mathematics is Sunak talking about? General numeracy is very different from, say, decision maths. And how do we implement an idea like this in an education system with an enormous shortage of maths teachers, and pressure on funding and pay conditions?
While it’s tempting to look at how we are doing compared with other countries in this area, those comparisons are never straightforward.
In a 2010 survey of 24 countries, commissioned by the Nuffield Foundation, England, Wales and Northern Ireland had the lowest levels of participation in upper-secondary mathematics. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were four of only six countries that did not require compulsory participation in mathematics at upper secondary for any students.
England is an outlier, then. But we know that these topics are hard to consider outside of a country’s specific education system or culture. For example, some countries have streamed systems with different mathematics syllabi for different groups in the 12-18 age range, distinguishing more academic and vocational tracks.
And in England, there have already been attempts to make mathematics more accessible for students between the ages of 16 and 18, through the introduction of the new Core Maths qualification. In my view, it’s a solid qualification. But uptake has been modest. Indeed, it’s not clear why many would choose to sit it; if you need maths for further study or a particular career path, you would choose a full A level.
One hope for Core Maths was that it might support attainment in non-maths A-level subjects. However, a recent study by Rachel Mathieson and Matt Homer found no evidence of enhanced examination attainment in other qualifications for those who also studied Core Maths.
A final point to bear in mind when we are thinking about the viability of Sunak’s plans is whether we are really talking about mathematics or more about financial literacy or numeracy.
In the 2012 International Survey of Adult Skills, produced by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), England showed an unusual pattern in numeracy levels among adults of different age groups. Contrary to international patterns, the oldest age group (55-plus) had higher average scores than those aged 16-18, with a particularly poor performance among England’s youngest adults compared with other participating countries.
Whether numeracy levels have improved remains to be seen in new editions of the assessment, but there might be something important to improve on here.
Is making maths compulsory to 18 the best way to do that, though? It all depends on whether it is a well-resourced initiative. If, as some have speculated, it is little more than a compulsory online course, I think it would be very hard to maintain standards of high-quality mathematics education.
I would also caution against the use of testing to “enforce” such a policy. England can look at the Netherlands’ shambles of a statutory numeracy test for 15- to 18-year-olds to see that this would be a bad idea. That test has been scrapped there for now.
I would be the last to complain if more children were introduced to what I consider to be one of the most beautiful and useful disciplines around. But, the devil is in the implementation.
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