The prime minister’s recent (re)announcement of an ambition that all young people continue studying maths until 18 might seem ambitious, but probably does not go far enough.
As those in the finance world know too well, the reality of the adult world is that we all need maths until we die.
Financial literacy in particular is a vital foundation for surviving and thriving as adults in society, and all of our knowledge and skills need continual refreshing.
In terms of adult numeracy, we remain close to the bottom of OECD league tables, and more than 8mn of us would fail maths tests designed for 9-year-olds.
While some good practices amongst further education colleges are emerging, we need to start earlier.However, a focus on young people is a good starting point, and one that might help move the dial on what Rishi Sunak called our "anti-maths culture".
Maths is, of course, already compulsory to 16, when almost all young people take GCSE. After that, 34 per cent of our 16 to 18-year-olds continue to study for a maths qualification.
While the ‘maths to 18’ mantra might secure attention when it is given to the other two-thirds, the young people who really deserve more attention are, in fact, those already carrying on with maths after 16, through no choice of their own: the GCSE resitters.
About a quarter of pupils fail to achieve a grade four in maths GCSE (commonly seen as a pass), and it is compulsory for them to keep on trying – either through retaking the GCSE or through a ‘functional skills’ programme. Both have depressing results, with only 20 per cent of resitters achieving grade four.
As the Centre for Education and Youth's current practice review for the Education Endowment Foundation is showing, the odds are stacked against them.
We should create a high-quality tutoring and mentoring offer for these young people.They already feel that they have failed, but are forced to undertake exactly the same qualification, often with far less curriculum time, and teachers in further education colleges who often lack the subject specialism or departmental support to teach them well.
What can be done to support these young people, both to succeed in and to enjoy maths?
Proposing a new deal
While some good practices amongst further education colleges are emerging, we need to start earlier.
Every secondary school will, by the age of 14 if not before, be able to identify those pupils who are at risk of failing maths GCSE, or even if they scrape through, are unlikely to be secure in their numeracy or ever want to go near the subject again.
At CFEY we are proposing a new deal for these struggling 14 to 19-year-olds, one that would encompass both numeracy and literacy.
We should create a high-quality tutoring and mentoring offer for these young people who at 14 are identified as struggling in English, maths or both.
Each of these young people should be assigned a learning mentor who will provide both academic and pastoral support that will continue from ages 14 to 19, offering continuity of support at the transition to college (most of these pupils move to further education college at 16).
We should also trial a properly funded extension to three years for these young people that blends working, learning, and civic opportunities.
Many of these students take three years before they complete qualifications anyway, but let’s fund and organise this properly, so this learning journey can happen by accident, rather than by design.
These pupils are in their last chance to get recovery support from a pandemic that might have affected their life chances.All of this costs money, of course. While there is never a magic money tree, it was recently revealed that the Department for Education underspent on its flagship (but flagging) National Tutoring Programme by £200mn last year.
The department went, not cap but cash in hand, to the Treasury to return this money.
If the prime minister is serious about his commitment to improving numeracy for all, and about supporting the social mobility of our most disadvantaged young people, he should return to his old departmental stomping ground and demand the money back, and rapidly redirect it (if possible bypassing the DFE) towards a five-year new deal for our 14 to 19-year-olds.
These pupils are in their last chance to get recovery support from a pandemic that might have affected their life chances more than any other age group, given others will have more time to catch up.
There is no time to waste.
Joe Hallgarten is the chief executive officer for the Centre for Education and Youth
