Axiom Maths have published our first report on the state of maths education in England. The report pulls together a comprehensive set of attainment data to paint an holistic picture of performance, and adds detailed polling to shed light on attitudes to maths amongst the general public. Overall we find a more positive picture than many suspected, which should give us confidence that the next steps to improvement are possible.
Key findings
- We need to change the overall narrative around what people in the UK think about maths. Our poll shows that, contrary to common perception, the UK is a pro-maths nation. When we segment the population, two thirds of all adults think they are good at maths themselves; or think it is important to society, the economy, and to the future. By telling ourselves that the UK is anti-maths we are creating a norm that doesn’t exist in reality.
- Most people aren’t scared of maths, and the “maths phobia” often reflected in the media doesn’t come across. We find people recognise the importance of mathematics in the workplace, and to the future of the economy, even if they struggle with maths themselves, or have little use for it in their day to day lives. Only a small minority are anxious about doing maths themselves.
- And the stereotype of the “maths geek” doesn’t exist in reality. In our segmentation, mathematicians agreed that they are extroverted and enthusiastic, and disagreed that they are conventional and uncreative. And perceived at being good at maths doesn’t put others off: respondents to our poll overall were three times more likely than unlikely to go on a date with a person if they knew they were ‘really interested in maths’.
- But the UK does lack confident mathematicians – particularly with regards to mental maths. Even those with demonstrably high mathematical ability (via self reported school grades) were likely to indicate low confidence with mental maths, and were reluctant to label themselves as “good” mathematicians.
- Younger respondents in particular have a more complicated relationship with maths. Younger respondents are more likely to call themselves mathematicians, and young workers are more likely to say maths skills are important to their current roles. However, they are more likely to say that they get anxious when doing maths, and were more likely to have disliked studying maths at school.
- Despite this, overall people are keen to see maths taught in schools for longer – with overwhelming support for the principle of maths to 18. Almost half of all parents (48%) say they would like their 11-16 year old to study Maths at A-Level, far ahead of English Language (36%). A majority (52%) say that Maths will be important to their child’s future job prospects – the most of any subject we tested. Given the importance given to maths in the workplace, and in the future economy, it is perhaps not surprising therefore that there was overall support for the idea of maths to 18 for young people – overall, 72% of respondents said they would support the proposal, with just 20% opposed.
- The national data on maths suggests that younger mathematicians, in particular, are performing well. Whether looking at national test data for 11 year olds, or international comparisons, English young people perform well in maths – though the long tail of the pandemic should not be underestimated. But gaps emerge throughout primary school, and into secondary – so if we want a new generation of confident mathematicians we need to start early.
- We still have significant skills shortages in the economy. As our labour force becomes more technical, we are already seeing employers report significant skills gaps in STEM skills generally. All the data suggests that mathematics skills will become ever more important in the economy, even among what we might call “non-maths” jobs, so we need to work harder to fill these thousands of vacancies in the labour force, and prevent young people switching off maths as they get through secondary school.
- We could be raising many more capable and confident mathematicians. Around a quarter of children score highly in maths at age 11. As previous work by the University of Nottingham has shown, 30,000 of these children in every year group won’t go on to achieve top grades at GCSE. The attrition rate is around 50% for children from more disadvantaged backgrounds. International comparison work also shows that whilst we have higher than average numbers of high attainers in England, we also fall short of the very best countries.
- The teaching workforce will be critical to supporting a pro maths future. Although the total number of maths teachers has risen consistently over the last decade, the proportion recruited last year was less than two thirds the DfE’s target. As maths become more valuable in the labour market, the ability of teaching to compete will become even more constrained. We need to support a vibrant ‘people pipeline’ at all stages. And we need to do all we can to keep maths courses open at university, including for those courses which are likely to provide the teachers of the future.
The report
You can see the whole report here: