Are the government still planning on making everyone do Maths until their 18?

[Milana82]

A while back it was in the news about children having to do Maths until their 18 even of they pass the GCSE. Is this actually happening?

I don't think they have enough teachers to teach up to 16, I have no idea how they would manage beyond.

This policy alone would mean my daughter would refuse education 16-18.

Another idea without the required infrastructure.

It was Rishi Sunak's unformulated idea. It would require a complete overhaul of the system. At the moment it is only compulsory to be in education or training between 16 and 18. He's have to start by making education compulsory and providing the infrastructure for that, then overhauling A Levels to make room for a compulsory Maths course at a level suitable for a wide ability range. Plus the Conservatives are going to lose the next general election, so it is a bit late to be thinking about radical educational reform. Key Stage 5 has been tinkered with a bit, usually unsuccessfully, with T Levels etc. I think Key Stage 4 (GCSE reform) is likely to be more of a priority if there are any major changes under the next government.

Silly idea. The infrastructure isn't there.

It was an announcement on the intention and then a study group was formed. This was due to report back to the Prime Minister at the end of July

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1150741/Expert_advisory_group_on_maths_to_18_terms_of_reference.pdf

They can’t recruit enough maths teachers for secondary, so don’t know where they would find them to teach it beyond gcse.

I think many other countries do require Maths until 18 though there may be a chicken and egg issue with teacher supply.

I won't trust a single promise of the current Tory government.

It's already a requirement, if GCSE maths is not passed at Grade 4 or above, for students to continue studying Maths or English alongside A levels, BTEC or apprenticeship until they pass it. If they get grade 2 or less they are allowed to attempt Functional Skills Level 2 instead.

It's not been brought in, no. It won't be either because there is a teacher shortage.

It was a soundbite that they'll never be able to afford to do at this time.

Although I'm sure many voters will assume it's happening and vote Tory again.

My (y14) 18 yo wants to continue with English/Maths and so far no one will teach her!

The group reported back something something we should teach teens how to fill in tax returns (even though most people never need to do one) and then moaned about how many kids fail GCSE resit and we really should look at that.

I think that was pretty much it.

I can confirm that dd2 is starting sixth form on Monday and will not be doing maths if that's any help! 😉

Eugh, big mistake imo, I thought that the UK system was better in that a student could specialise and choose subjects they're good at at 15/16.

I had to do maths to 18 as it's a core subject in the leaving cert and it was really hard for me to do pass maths. I failed it the first time and had to repeat. The shame. I got As and Bs in Spanish, English, Art, History and Biology but failing maths branded me STUPID for years. Made worse by the fact that a lot of people around me were doing honours maths in the leaving.

The stupid thing is I've worked in pensions for years, calculating all sorts of things without any problem at all. Pension adjustment orders, actuarial reductions et cetera, I can divide 2 mars bars in to 3 :-p but no, I can't plot the notional mid point between two planets using algebra, but percentages et cetera, no problem. REAL maths as I call it.

Not everybody can be good at every subject at this level (to get in to university). It's ok when you're 7 and it's still relatively easy. But many people struggle with the leaving cert, it's not easy to be good at everything at this stage in your education. A lot of people will argue with me because they found all subjects easy. Good for them.

Just because other countries do it does not mean it is a good idea. Once upon a time we as a nation influenced the world. Now we don’t have a backbone.
Let children excel in what they enjoy, be it maths poetry or making wooden objects

Yes, stick with a levels, the idea that by 17, everybody should still be able to do really well at everything at a pre-university level is not right. By 16/17, you have strengths and weaknesses and usually lean at least slightly towards maths/physics/chemistry or English/Spanish/history, or, geog/biology. Or art/design
It's just ignoring human nature to force every child to meet a minimum standard in a still quite difficult course in a subject they're not cut out for. Torture.
If id been raised in UK I could have dropped maths at 16. And I wouldn't have felt stupid.

It's because the economy is suffering from a lack of maths skills in the working population at all levels.

They should change the maths syllabus then. As I said, I failed leaving cert maths the first time I sat it. It was nothing you'd ever use in real life. I've no trouble in real life and I have worked in reinsurance and pensions. It is the subject of maths that is not a fit for what we need. My brother did honours maths, applied maths and he's no matter than i am at REAL LIFE MATHS, ie, calculating what his net salary will be after a 3.5% raise, or calculating how much money he'd save if he used a car with better mileage to drive a bit faster. Ykwim. I was apparently "shit at maths" and have the E in pass maths 1989 to prove it, but I have had no problem in my jobs which weirdly have all required real life maths.

The legacy of feeling stupid for having failed maths has stayed with me as I've aged, imprinted itself on to my identity for 30 odd years though. It's shit.

The British system would have suited me so much better. Clearly I'm a bit bitter about it!

I imagine it's going to be kicked into the long grass- the maths teachers with the skills to do this simply don't exist, and it's likely to become a timetabling issue in overcrowded schools (there are periods in my school this year where every single classroom is in use- I'm not sure where we'd put additional Y12/13 classes to do maths, even if we had the spare teachers!).

That said, we are trialling a plan to allow students unhappy with their GCSE maths and English grades to resit alongside their A-levels, even if they previously got a 4. Funding this seems more productive and useful than making an arts student who got a 5 in maths sit through two years of core maths!

The other thing to bear in mind is that this summer's pass rate for resitters who didn't get a 4 previously was <20% nationally. So clearly the current plan isn't working that well, and perhaps we should be focusing on ensuring these weaker students are numerate first?

@Postapocalypticcowgirl funding resits of gcse maths is a much better idea.

It was to start in 2025 or something....