Britain trailing the world in higher maths studies, report reveals

December 14 2010

The UK is at risk of falling behind the rest of the developed world in the fields of finance, science and technology should more youngsters not be encouraged to carry on studying maths past the age of 16.

That is the conclusion reached by a number of education experts following the publication of a new report highlighting the extent to which England, Wales and Northern Ireland are lagging behind numerous other nations in the teaching of higher maths.

Indeed, reporting on the research, the Guardian has revealed the study found that just 14 per cent of UK pupils study maths after the age of 16.

This compares with a figure of around 95 per cent in the likes of Finland, Japan, Korea and Sweden, with a number of experts warning that, far from just impacting upon the number of teaching jobs available for maths experts, this could have a devastating effect on economic competitiveness in the years ahead.

Commenting, Buckingham University's Alan Smithers told the newspaper: "The main problem here is that we do not have the clear pathways that other countries have, where maths is integral to the qualifications that people want to take, whatever they want to do in the future."

Earlier in the month, the latest OECD statistics showed that the UK now ranks below the likes of Estonia and Poland in terms of teaching maths and science.

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