25th July 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Education Minister Elizabeth Truss has said that Universities have complained that not enough students are taking Maths A’ level, leading to low numbers of applications for the subject at University. In addition to the lower number of students applying for Maths, the unpopularity of Maths A’ Level means that students are missing out on other courses which require knowledge of the subject, including Physics and Engineering. Universities are now being encouraged to provide support for specialist Maths schools, which are designed to encourage more young people to take up the subject. Exeter University and Kings College London are opening Maths Free schools, and other Universities are being encouraged to follow their lead.
Mrs Truss has announced that universities will now be able to apply for a fast track procedure for setting up maths free schools, which will help them avoid the standard, competitive application procedure. The initiative is designed to help improve the standards of maths teaching in the UK, and encourage students from low income backgrounds to apply for Maths at University. The Office for Fair Access is supporting the initiative, and have said that if universities contributed to the sponsorship or development of maths free schools, this would count towards their requirement to widen access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Universities are required to show that they are making significant efforts to widen access for students from lower income backgrounds in order to be permitted to charge the full tuition fees.
It is hoped that the scheme would help encourage more girls into maths and related subjects at university, as the low levels of applications from girls in these subjects is a particular cause for concern. Statistics from 2009 show that 330,000 students began a university course that required at least some elements of maths, but that only 125,000 students had studied the subject at A level that year, with the majority of A level Maths places being taken by boys. Commenting on the scheme, Universities UK said that the decision to start free schools would have to remain with individual universities, but that they support any initiative which would encourage more students to take Maths at University.