1. Mathematics matters – the international perspective December 2013 Lorna Bertrand Head of International Evidence & Partnerships Lorna.bertrand@education.gsi.gov.uk

2. PISA 2012 – a bit of background In 2012… …a sample of 15 year-olds (510,000 in total) …in 65 countries (including 4,185 pupils in 170 schools in England) …took a maths test! (with some science and reading questions too and some background questionnaires)

3. Going backwards: UK literacy and numeracy standards slip down international tables East Asian nations top PISA global exam Too early to draw meaningful conclusions from PISA results Welsh education is worst in UK OECD education report 'a wake-up call' Poor exam results for UK teens in PISA global education ranking After 13 years of Labour, England's schools are worse than Poland's UK educational performance stagnating Wales still worst in UK in global school tests Wales worst in UK for education rankings UK Lagging Behind The Best Introduction

4. PISA 2012 in the UK UK (and England) is around the OECD average for maths and reading but above for science England, Scotland and Northern Ireland perform similarly in maths, science & reading …. …. except Scotland is significantly above Northern Ireland in maths Wales is below the OECD average and significantly below the rest of the UK

5. The UK & England are very middling … remaining a long distance behind the top- performers… …but remaining ahead of others. …similar to a number of close neighbours…

6. Countries performing significantly worse than England. Countries performing significantly better than England. Source: OECDs PISA 2012 results 2. Key messages We have too many low performers and not enough high performers

7. We are better at statistics … … but particularly bad at geometry

8. Our gender gap in maths is large Boys perform better than girls Girls perform better than boys Source: OECDs PISA 2012 results

9. … and even worse in science Boys perform better than girls Girls perform better than boys Boys half a year ahead Girls half a year ahead Girls a year ahead

10. Boys tend to have greater belief in their maths abilities than girls Source: OECDs PISA 2012 results

11. Reducing mathematics anxiety among girls could narrow the gender gap in mathematics performance, particularly among the highest- achieving students Source: OECDs PISA 2012 results

12. What we are doing about it? We should aim for where the Chinese are going – not where they are now. Kingsbridge College Why didnt you teach us this before? Pupils report how much easier it is to do long division without bus stop or chunking methods

13. What we are doing in Primary Published a more rigorous curriculum for maths. –The new national curriculum increases the level of demand with greater emphasis on arithmetic. Removed calculators from the test for 11 year olds to ensure that children get a rigorous grounding in mental and written arithmetic

14. What we are doing in lower secondary Introducing a new more demanding curriculum from 2014 Developing more demanding maths GCSEs to be taught from September 2015 Focusing on maths in school accountability

15. What we are doing post-16 Our ambition: by 2020, most young people will continue to study maths to age 18 Reforming maths A and AS levels, to be taught from September 2016 Students without a grade C in GCSE maths now have to continue to study the subject Developing new high-quality Core Maths qualifications aimed at students who have a grade C or higher at GCSE but do not wish to take A or AS Level Maths Introducing specialist Maths Free Schools supported by strong university maths departments and academics to support our most talented young mathematicians

16. The Teachers Increased maths bursaries to £20,000 for trainees with a 2:1 or a first and £15,000 for trainees with a 2:2 Increased the number and the value (to £25,000) of prestigious scholarships for the highest calibre trainees offered by the Institute of Mathematics Funded the development of professional development programmes - for key stage 3 maths teachers focussed on multiplicative reasoning (£500,000); and for 16-18 teachers to enable them to teach GCSE mathematics (£700,000)

17. Our long-term vision Our standards of maths education are on a par with the very best in the world All students have a thorough grasp of key mathematical skills by the end of primary school, and finish secondary education with the skills needed for employment and higher education The vast majority studying maths through to the age of 18, with more studying maths at the highest levels Many more young people going on to study STEM courses in higher education