Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced potential plans for students to study Maths until they are 18. Here’s what our volunteer Youth Ambassadors had to say…
In Rishi Sunak’s first speech of 2023, it was announced that the Prime Minister is considering plans to ensure all pupils in England will study some form of maths until they are 18.
Youth Employment UK has reached out to our network of Youth Ambassadors to hear what young people feel about these proposals.
In an online poll, 85% of respondents were against the plan for all pupils to study maths until they are 18. Youth Ambassadors were also invited to share their comments and thoughts on the proposal, a number of Youth Ambassadors questioned how such plans would be put into practice and how it may impact student choice in post-16 education. One Youth Ambassador also raised concerns about the accessibility of any proposed compulsory maths courses for those learners with additional educational needs such as dyscalculia. The young people also wanted to know how such plans would benefit young people and how the content delivered would differ from maths at GCSE level.
Here are some comments from our Youth Ambassadors on the Prime Minister’s plans:
“I have maths dyslexia and so having to do maths at college alongside my course also was really hard for me so I bet lots of other people will now be in the same situation”
“When you enter sixth form you are allowed to have more “freedoms” and “choice” and one of those should be what subjects you take depending on your future career”
“My concern with that proposal is what benefit will it give every 18-year-old from a personal and employability point of view?”
However, our Youth Ambassadors did recognise that additional maths lessons and tuition could be helpful to teach life skills such as financial management. One Youth Ambassador wrote, “Maybe the extra ‘tuition’ can teach young people about risk analysis, percentage, finance, interest etc.”
Young people need clarity around what the proposal to make maths compulsory until the age of 18 will mean for them and their future plans. The suggested plans have the potential to cause concern for many young people who may see it as an additional barrier to their journey to work. The government should make the purpose and proposed delivery of such changes clear to young people so they are reassured that any proposed plans support their next steps.
