Mathematics education

The Royal Society's work on mathematics education is overseen by its Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education. This committee provides authoritative and considered advice to policy makers on high-level, cross-cutting issues in mathematics education and beyond. 

Royal Society Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education

The Royal Society Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) has overseen a programme of activities aligned with the Society’s 2014 Vision for science, mathematics and computing education and more recently has gathered evidence to answer key questions on the future of mathematical education. The Mathematical Futures Programme has been the focus of RS ACME's work in recent years.

Mathematical Futures Programme

This programme seeks to identify the competences which young people will need in the future, and to suggest how our education system will need to change in order to equip young people with these competences and to thrive in a technology and data-rich world. A final report and executive summary were published in September 2024.

Recent work

• Mathematics education reform - In January 2023 the Society's President, Sir Adrian Smith, responded to an announcement from then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak about Mathematics education reform. This was followed by a statement made in April 2023 in response to the announcement of an expert-led review of Mathematics education to 18. The Society believes there is a strong case for increasing the mathematical and quantitative skills of young people, as outlined in this publication.
• Core Maths
  • In 2022, the Society and The British Academy published a joint statement on the importance of promoting Core Maths as practical and valuable qualifications. The Society also published a blog, written by Professor Paul Glaister CBE, called We need to support Core Maths qualifications to realise young people's ambitions.
  • In December 2023, the Society issued a press release highlighting the patchy provision of Core Maths across England. An interactive map was published alongside this, showing the take-up of Core Maths by local authority for the 2021/22 academic year.

• GCSE Mathematics resits - In 2021, RS ACME examined the existing policy on GCSE resits which resulted in two Working Papers.
• COVID-19 - In December 2020, the Society and the Joint Mathematical Council for the UK submitted a joint response to the Commons Education Committee Inquiry into the impact of COVID-19 on education and children's services. An overview of the submission is also available.

Past work

• Mathematics Education Policy Conference - Held in 2018, this conference 'Working together: Mathematics Education in a changing landscape' provided an opportunity to discuss current and emerging areas of mathematics education policy. Please see the conference report (PDF) for more information.
• Data Science - In 2018, the Society published a review of how data sciences skills are nurtured (PDF) in England's National Curriculum. The review examines the extent to which data science exists and is developed within the primary and secondary curriculum, focusing on computing, geography, history, mathematics, science and other data-rich subjects.
• Teacher development - In 2016, the Society convened an expert panel to develop a report on Professional learning for all teachers of mathematics (PDF). The report sets out principles for teachers, senior leaders and those who commission and provide professional learning. Cambridge Mathematics and the Wellcome Trust supported this project.
• Assessment - In 2016, the Society published Problem solving in mathematics: realising the vision through better assessment (PDF). It considers the assessment of problem solving in public tests and examinations across all key stages of mathematical development and describes the desirable characteristics of questions used to assess problem solving. It also sets out actions for policymakers, awarding organisations and the mathematics community to ensure that improvements in the quantity and quality of problem solving in mathematics tests and assessments are realised over time.
• Initial teacher education - In 2015, the Society published Beginning teaching: best in class? (PDF) The report urged for the articulation of a shared standard for the initial teacher education (ITE) of teachers of mathematics. Although the focus was on high-quality ITE, the project also identified some elements that could form part of a comprehensive plan to secure the future supply of teachers of mathematics. A number of activities were undertaken to inform the report, including a review of some elements of the ITE system in four jurisdictions (Germany, Massachusetts, Shanghai and Singapore).
• Curriculum - In 2014, the Royal Society and the Royal Statistical Society worked together on a project looking at the statistical content and assessment of a selection of A Level qualifications. The aim of the project was to investigate how statistics was embedded within these qualifications and to identify further steps to ensure that students gain statistical literacy as they move into higher education and employment. The report, Embedding Statistics at A level (PDF) was published in 2015.
• Curriculum - In 2011, the Society published a report called Mathematical Needs (PDF) which analysed the mathematical content of a range of university courses and found that there was a marked discrepancy between the number of courses requiring mathematical skills beyond GCSE and the number of people with these skills that the UK is producing.