Sunak review to tackle ‘anti-maths mindset’

Rishi Sunak has said an “anti-maths mindset” is holding the economy back, as he announced a review of the subject in England.

A group of advisers, including mathematicians and business representatives, will examine the “core maths content” taught in schools.

It will also consider whether a new maths qualification is necessary.

But opposition parties attacked the government’s record of recruiting maths teachers.

Outlining the review in a speech, the prime minister admitted more maths teachers were needed, and this was “not going to happen overnight”.

He wants all school pupils in England to study some maths until 18 – although it will not be compulsory to study the subject at A-level.

Speaking in London to an audience of students, teachers and business leaders, Mr Sunak said children risked being “left behind” in the jobs market without a solid foundation in maths.

A “cultural sense that it’s OK to be bad at maths,” he added, had left the UK one of the least numerate countries in the developed world.

Poor numeracy had proved a problem for employers, he said, and was costing the economy “tens of billions a year”.

But opposition parties attacked the government’s record of recruiting maths teachers, with Labour pointing out that targets for teacher recruitment in the subject have been repeatedly missed.

“The prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers,” shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said.

Liberal Democrat education spokeswoman Munira Wilson said the government lacked a “proper plan” to recruit more maths teachers, adding: “You don’t need a maths A-level to see that these plans don’t add up.”

Experts recently told MPs that 12% of secondary school lessons in England are taught by someone who hasn’t studied any higher than A-level themselves.

Targets to recruit new trainee teachers haven’t been met for more than a decade, despite being lowered since 2019.

Asked earlier how many new teachers would be required to deliver Mr Sunak’s pledges, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the number of teachers required would depend on the advisory group’s findings.

The prime minister said the group would report back with recommendations for improving the maths curriculum around July, with a delivery plan then announced later in the year.

Downing Street has said the group will include mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives.

It added that the group would look at how maths in taught in countries with high rates of numeracy, and would also consider how new technology can be used to help teachers.

A government review published in 2017 suggested several measures to improve pupils’ maths ability, but not all of them were put into place.

The suggestions included scrapping compulsory GCSE resits in favour of promoting existing core maths qualifications, which focus more on applying maths to real-life situations.

Mr Sunak also committed to introducing voluntary qualification for teachers leading maths in primary schools, and extending the 40 or so Maths Hubs across England, which aim to improve the standard of maths teaching.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the prime minister’s aim was “laudable” but warned it would be “thwarted unless he faces up to the reality of the state of education in England”.

She said there was a “crisis of teacher retention as a result of low pay and excessive workload” and called on the government to explain how it would recruit more maths teachers.

In the short term, the sector is also set to experience more disruption after unions rejected a government pay offer for 2022.

In 2019, the UK was ranked 18th in the world for attainment in maths, based on tests taken by 15-year-olds.

Almost a third of 16-year-olds in England fail GCSE maths each year and face compulsory resits in college. The resit pass rate is about one in five.

Reports /TrainViral/