Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has recently announced plans to make it mandatory to study maths until 18. This is to prepare more people for the modern workplace.
Last week, Rishi Sunak revealed he has plans to make it mandatory for students to study maths until 18. This rule however, does not apply to A levels as ministers are mainly considering T levels.
He stated in an interview, “Just half of 16- to 19-year-old study maths at all yet in a world where data is everywhere, and statistics underpin every job, letting our children out into the world without those skills is letting our children down.”
Gov.uk says that 8 million adults in the UK know less maths than what is expected of a 9-year-old. It has been shown that people who have studied maths until 18 stand a higher chance in getting an employment in IT professions securing more higher paying jobs.
Many jobs in the modern world require many maths skills and a good knowledge of maths. Some of these jobs include data scientists which make around £50,000 pounds in full time per year. The average salary in the UK as of November 2022 is £27,756. This means that maths could help people get a job almost double the average UK salary.
Your YJA journalists here are in their first year of secondary education. To us the thought of an additional two years studying maths is a complex one to unpack. On one hand, studying maths for two more years would be beneficial to us as it is proven maths can get you a higher paying job. On the other, having to study a compulsory subject could take away study from our personal interests in other subjects and can limit the subjects we actually want to pursue. Comment below and let us know your thoughts?
By Reuben and Aiden Y7
Carres Grammar School Newsroom
Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Education, Featured, News
I can imagine it will be deemed as functional math’s for life long living, understanding mortgage rates etc?
Yes I think it will be for stuff like mortgage rates and other maths that people will need to use in the modern world. I think the main concern of mandatory maths will be to prepare people for their future jobs.
Isn’t it numeracy that’s important for everyone, rather than an advanced understanding of mathematics?
Why is it only ‘mandatory maths?’ What about English? Surely that is equally important!!!!
How would this work for children and young people who really struggle – so those with dyscalculia for example.
I think that it’s a tricky one because it will help lots of people but also make people fail at some of their key interests
Very well written boys, you make a good point about mandatory maths potentially restricting your personal choices. Would it be better to only make maths mandatory to those that haven’t attained a predetermined standard? This however could be more difficult to administer.
I think you should only do more maths if you need to and when there’s a cost of living crisis why is the prime minister talking about maths?
I think you should only do more maths if you need to and when theres a cost of living crisis why is the prime minister talking about maths?
Highly true
A very well written article Reuben and Aiden as you are only in year 7.
The more pupils that leave school with a good standard of maths the better. This will help in their every day living as well as in their work prospects.
Interesting article. think a decent understanding of maths and statistics is a big help for understanding the news and for financial literacy, but mostly it’s training in being able to think clearly. However I’m not sure how it would fit into the traditional A-level system of picking 3 or 4 subjects to concentrate on. Broadening the curriculum at 16 to 18 is probably a good idea, but would lead to less preparation for degrees and maybe extending degrees to 4 years…