The fourth investigation of the Maths Horizons Project has been focusing on the maths excellence pathway, during A-Levels.
Our findings highlight stark inequalities in the perceived potential of students to pursue mathematics-related degrees, reflecting broader challenges of aspiration and opportunity in schools serving less affluent communities. Teachers in less affluent schools are almost twice as likely to believe that fewer than 10% of their students have the potential to study maths at university, compared to their counterparts in more affluent settings. This disparity is compounded by debates around the availability of A-Level Further Maths, seen as a critical stepping stone for advanced mathematical study. With two in five teachers advocating for universal access to Further Maths, but significantly fewer in deprived schools supporting this view, it’s clear that systemic barriers and resource gaps are shaping both perceptions and possibilities for students nationwide.
We asked secondary teachers what percentage of students in their school show potential to pursue university courses in maths or related fields.
We found that school’s deprivation level (based on proportion of students eligible for free school meals) was a predictor of the proportion of students believed to have the potential to pursue a mathematical degree.
In the most affluent quartile of schools, only 22% of teachers thought that less than a tenth of their students had potential to pursue a maths-related degree. But in the least affluent quartile schools this rose to 47%. The converse was also true. 9% of teachers in the most affluent schools thought that at least half of their pupils had the potential to go on to study maths, but this dipped to 2% of teachers in the least affluent schools.
The availability of the Further Maths A-Level emerged as a really controversial area in our early findings, with some comments suggesting that it should be scrapped if not all schools could offer it, while others suggested that we should do more to offer it universally. We took the question to the Teacher Tapp panel and found that two fifths (41%) of secondary teachers would expand its availability to make it possible for students in every school to be able to study it, while just 2% wanted to remove the course completely.
Once again, there was a difference in the least affluent schools, where only 29% of teachers wanted to expand the availability of Further Maths, and where more teachers were unsure what they would do if they were in charge.
If you would like to contribute to our fourth investigation, please do so here.
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