UK students and Universities lacking in maths education

Updated on: Saturday, February 11, 2012

UK's universities and graduates have their reputation under threat as substandard maths education in schools has led to a 'crisis' in England's number skills, a report has claimed.

According to a report titled "Solving the Maths Problem", published by the education lobby group RSA, formally called the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Universities are dropping maths from degree courses because students and their lecturers cannot cope with it.

Decades of substandard maths education in schools has led to a 'crisis' in England's number skills, threatening the future of the economy, the report pointed out.

Universities are being forced to dumb down degree courses requiring the use of maths, including sciences, economics, psychology and social sciences.

"English universities are sidelining quantitative and mathematical content because students and staff lack the requisite confidence and ability," the report was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying.

English universities are 'not keeping pace' with international standards, the report added. It also claims that students are unable to tackle complex problems and their lecturers struggle to teach them anyway.

The reputation of the country's universities and graduates is now under threat, according to the report.

After looking at maths education in other countries, the authors found that lessons and qualifications in English schools were 'not fit for purpose'.

They say that classes fail to stretch the brightest while leaving weaker pupils ill-equipped to use maths for work and family budgeting, and warn of a growing knock-on effect on universities.

Some universities are no longer advertising the level of maths needed to study particular subjects for fear of putting off applicants, the report warns.

"Recent research suggests that universities are marginalising mathematical content in the delivery of degree courses because English students are not capable of studying it," the report says.

The report suggests that all students should be required to study maths until the age of 18, with the introduction of sixth-form qualifications such as 'Maths for Citizenship'.

England is just one of a handful of developed nations that fail to educate pupils in maths until that age, it says.

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