An advisory group will consider whether a new maths qualification is needed for 16 to 18-year-olds.
Image source, Getty ImagesRishi Sunak will say an “anti-maths mindset” is holding the economy back, as he announces 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.
The PM will repeat his ambition to ensure all school pupils in England study some maths until the age of 18.
The government has already confirmed this will not involve making it compulsory to study an A-Level in the subject.
Announcing the review in a speech, Mr Sunak will say “poor numeracy” has damaged economic growth in the UK.
Speaking in London on Monday to an audience of students, teachers and business leaders, he will attack an “anti-maths mindset,” saying that being bad at maths has become “socially acceptable”.
He will say that maths skills will be vital for the jobs of the future, with poor numeracy levels costing the economy “tens of billions a year”.
But opposition parties attacked the government’s record of recruiting maths teachers, with Labour saying targets for teacher recruitment in the subject has 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.”
The government has not put a number on how many more maths teachers will be required to increase the teaching of maths after the age of 16.
Asked for a figure on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said the number of teachers required would depend on the advisory group’s findings.
Downing Street has said the group will include mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives and study countries with high rates of numeracy. It will also consider how new technology can be used to help teachers.
Mr Sunak will also commit to introducing “a voluntary and fully funded 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 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.