Head of Departments of MathematicsConference 7 April

Boosting the contribution of Mathematics – a Government perspective

John Neilson, Director Research BaseDepartment for Innovation, Universities and Skills

What is the Government’s Agenda?

• Educating the UK population to deliver a vibrant economy in the future

• UK successfully competing with emerging economies

• Maximising the contribution of maths to this agenda

DIUS Priorities

• World-class research base

• Exploit the research base to support innovation

• Increase participation in Higher Education

• Raise participation and attainment in post-16 education and learning

• Tackle the skills gap amongst adults

• Increase the supply of people with STEM skills

Commitment to science

10 year S&I Framework

• 0

• 1000

• 2000

• 3000

• 4000

• 5000

• 6000

• 7000

• 2000-01• 2001-02• 2002-03• 2003-04• 2004-05• 2005-06• 2006-07• 2007-08• 2008-09• 2009-10• 2010-11

Next Steps in S&I

Researc

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Science Budget

• An excellent settlement which allows:

– Increased investment in key areas of basic research such as digital technology, health and the environment

– Raising the economic impact of the research base

– Promoting international collaboration

£bn 2008/9 2009/2010 2010/2011

Science Budget

3.554 3.715 3.970

Main funders now together in DIUS

DCMS

Higher Education

T £5bn, R£2bn

FE & Skills

£4.5bn

Science & Innovation £4bn

Technology Strategy £300m

DfES

DTI

What are the key challenges?

• Maths underpins the research base

• Mathematical capability key, not just in natural science, engineering but also in other research areas, eg systems biology, quantitative methods in the social sciences

• Weaknesses in supply

HE Maths Research strong

• UK Maths third in the world for citations

• 10 % world share - highest for a decade, overtaken by China but ahead of France

• Both Pure and applied - 8 Depts rated 5*

• John Thompson 2008 Abel Prize, work on group theory, ‘science of symmetries’

Health of Disciplines

• EPSRC Science and Innovation Awards example Statistics

• EPSRC doubled number of quantitative methods studentships

• Workshops bringing together researchers from mathematics and biosciences

• Developing provision of mathematical biology within BBSRC institutes

But problems in supply

• Use of maths in other research disciplines

• Need to teach remedial maths to undergraduates in other disciplines

• Relative decline in take-up of maths at A level as cohort expands

• Some improvement in performance of maintained sector

• Lower participation of girls in maths post 16

• Recognise some increase in maths at HE level (do we sufficiently understand what underpins this?)

A Level Entries 1976 - 2007

1

Declining/static trend in A level entries for physics, chemistry and maths over the last

30 years

Entries shown as a proportion of the population aged 17 to take into account changes in the size of the cohort

A level entries

-

2

4

6

8

10

12

19

76

197

7

19

78

19

79

198

0

198

1

19

82

19

83

198

4

1985

19

86

198

7

198

8

19

89

19

90

199

1

19

92

199

3

199

4

19

95

19

96

199

7

19

98

19

99

200

0

200

1

20

02

20

03

200

4

2005

20

06

200

7

Perc

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17 a

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Au

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Physics Chemistry Biology Maths

A/B at GCSE to A Level conversion rates

16

Higher continuation rates for English and History

22% 17% 12%21%

28% 32%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Biology Chemistry Physics Maths English History

Took A level Didn't take A level

Proportion of pupils with A*/B at GCSE continuing to A level

Continuation to A level

Figures are for maintained schools only and relate to pupils who took KS4 exams in 2005 and A levels in 2007

A Level, A/B grades

A Level Maths Proportion of A and B grades by school type 2007

FE College5%

Maintained36%

Grammar15%

Independent29%

Sixth Form15%

PISA 2006

• For mathematics, students achieved a mean score of 495 (OECD mean of 498). Ranked 24th, with 18 countries performing at a significantly higher level.

• Compared to science where we achieved a mean score of 516 in science, above the OECD mean of 500, placing us 14th with only seven of the 56 other participating countries significantly outperforming England.

What more should be done?

University

• Continue to strengthen the UK research base in Maths and further develop its links with users

What more should be done?

Pre -University

• Promote Maths curriculum which is sufficiently challenging for the top 25% ability cohort

• Consider opportunities as diplomas are developed to strengthen Maths component in engineering and social science based diplomas

What more should be done?

Pre -University

• Build on the UK annual schools maths competitions – 600,000 already participating

• Stronger marketing of value of Maths to young people

What more should be done?

• Further research on demand for Maths skills from employers

• Important agenda requiring cohesive action from all