@Nat6999
Maths should be split into arithmetic type with the scientific stuff as a separate subject with everyone studying the arithmetic.
Yes, 100% agree with that. You've hit the nail on the head as to why we, as a nation, have such poor Maths skills. Kids are forced through the education system and have to move on to algebra, trig, etc., even if they don't have the basic skills, like knowing their times tables, prime numbers, etc. It's a mad system. You simply can't do algebra effectively if you don't know your times tables and prime numbers, in fact simplifying equations is impossible and solving equations is a lot harder than it needs to be.
I think we should split Maths and have a "lower" qualification called something like numeracy which deals with the basics of "real life" Maths. My son did the 11+ and I thought the 11+ exam was brilliant as it was mostly very "real life" based on the basics including fractions, percentages, etc. It would be a very good "base level" qualification for everyone. Schools should only move onto technical, scientific and engineering maths once an equivalent to the 11+ exam has been passed by the pupil.
There really is no point at all in trying to teach pythagoras, simultaneous equations, etc to pupils who can't add up, do multiplication, understand fractions/percentages, etc. In my opinion, trying to do the more complex stuff without the basics is exactly why so many pupils struggle with Maths and end up not only with a poor grade at GCSE, but also a mindset of "I can't do Maths, Me!"
My OH got a U grade in his Maths O level. He had the "can;t do maths" attitude at that time. He said he has a succession of crap Maths teachers who couldn't understand why he didn't "get it" so they basically just ignored him. He went to college to study catering, and surprised himself at how he could do the Maths it entailed, i.e. menu costings, portion control, scaling up/down recipes, etc., and got a string of distinctions/merits in the modules. He went on to do GCSE Maths at the local college and came out with an "A" grade simply because he had an "inner confidence" once he knew he could do it after the catering course.
When it came to our son, we were aghast at how badly they taught Maths at his primary school. It was sodding number lines year after year. Even division and multiplication were done by number lines. No attempt whatsoever to teach times tables nor prime numbers. By the time he was around 8 or 9, we took matters into our own hands and bought our own Maths books for him to work through himself. I taught him the times tables and prime numbers the "old fashioned" method, i.e. rote learning and did the same old fashioned methods for long multiplication and long division and he was a whizz at it all after just working through a few worksheets we printed off the internet.
Once you have those basics mastered, you've got the framework to excel at Maths, which my son did at secondary school. He only "stumbled" one year when they had a crap teacher (a "Doctor" who clearly knew and breathed Maths but couldn't teach it to save his life), which we had to pick up the slack in the Summer by getting son some appropriate level work book and printing off worksheets from the internet and he spent an hour or so for 2 or 3 days a week of the Summer working through them to get him back up to standard, and then he was fine again for subsequent years. I knew that if we didn't get him back on track, he'd struggle in the later years.
Maths is very much a "build on last year" subject, and if you fall behind or struggle with earlier years' skills, you're really going to struggle to cope with later years and more complex things. A "middle" exam of the basics which you have to pass before going onto higher level stuff is probably the best way of dealing with our current societal Maths skills problem.
By the way, Rishi's stupid idea of compulsory Maths to 18 is one of his craziest plans. The damage is done and rot has set in by then. The pupils with difficulties in Maths needs to be addressed far sooner, preferably before they even get to secondary school! A lot of primary maths teaching is dire, not because of the teachers, but because of the "trendy" teaching methods that seem to change every few years. Just go back to basics!