Mathematics for Life and Work

Executive Summary

England (United Kingdom) consistently ranks among the top OECD countries in mathematics performance at age 15 in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Yet the share of young people studying mathematics post-16 is among the lowest across the OECD. Many young people in England enjoy maths, are motivated to study it and are proficient in the subject but stop developing their mathematical skills at a comparatively early age. This potentially reduces the pool of individuals with maths skills across society and for the workforce.

One of the motivations for this report was a policy by the then Government (the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative Government) to tackle the country’s “anti-maths mindset”. Yet this report shows that 15-year-olds in England express greater enjoyment and confidence in mathematics compared to their peers on average across the OECD. This report suggests that reasons for low participation in maths post-16 in England stem from the structural and policy environment. Challenges include a limited range of options for continuing mathematics post-16 when compared with other systems.

This report offers analysis of the provision of upper secondary mathematics across OECD countries, identifying insights and policy considerations for England. Based on internationally comparative analysis it examines performance, participation, and student views towards maths. It also looks at curricula, policies such as requirements for studying mathematics in upper secondary and options to study different types and levels of maths. It also considers the wider societal context for maths, by looking at demand for mathematical skills in the labour-market and tertiary education. The report presents data from OECD countries with a specific emphasis on policies and practices in six focus countries – Austria, British Columbia (BC), Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore.

Chapter 1 presents a summary of the report’s key findings, highlighting the main challenges affecting participation rates in mathematics in England. Chapter 2 outlines the context and methodology of the report, detailing the data sources used in the analysis. The text below sets out the key policy pointers from the report’s main substantive chapters.

Performance in mathematics across countries (Chapter 3)

• Mathematics is not a relative weakness among young people in England, comparative to other systems.

• Promoting greater completion of upper secondary education is important for improving numeracy skills among young adults in England.

• England has one of the largest gender gaps in favour of boys and men across OECD countries in maths.

Setting requirements for studying mathematics in upper secondary education (Chapter 4)

• Few systems require all students to study mathematics for the duration of upper secondary.

• High participation in mathematics can be achieved in the absence of compulsory requirements.

• High levels of participation are a common feature of systems with high mathematics achievement, but high participation alone is not sufficient.

Choices and options in upper secondary mathematics (Chapter 5)

• Nearly all systems provide mathematics at different levels of knowledge and skills.

• Most systems explicitly design different mathematics levels and options to cater to students’ future pathways and communicate these different purposes to students.

• Mathematics in vocational education tends to be integrated as applied content but some systems also provide mathematics as a separate subject.

The knowledge and skills profile across mathematics programmes internationally (Chapter 6)

• Vocational and lower-level mathematics programmes sometimes set limited expectations for the development of higher-order maths competencies.

• The breadth and depth of England’s A level in mathematics is very high.

• GCSE mathematics in England set a comparatively high level of demand.

Culture and views towards mathematics, take-up and performance (Chapter 7)

• Few countries demonstrate an overwhelming “culture of mathematics”.

• At 15, students in England have more positive attitudes towards maths than their peers across the OECD on average.

• Promoting positive views and attitudes towards mathematics can support more equitable distributions of maths skills across society.

The perceived importance of mathematics, take-up and performance (Chapter 8)

• High numeracy skills are associated with greater wage premia than high literacy skills.

• Tertiary entrance exerts strong incentives for take-up of maths and can potentially influence national policy goals.

• Consider expanding the range of post-16 mathematics options in England to cater for the diversity of student strengths, interests and future ambitions.