Introduction
If maths teachers were to assess the health of their subject at present, what would they conclude? On the one hand, maths has never been more highly regarded - it's the most popular A level by some distance, increasing numbers of students are studying it at advanced levels and, for a subject perceived to have a male bias, more girls are choosing it at A level than ever before.
On the other hand, the subject's popularity hasn't resulted in a boost to teacher recruitment, particularly of maths specialists. And, despite the increase in student numbers, far fewer girls than boys study maths post-16. Moreover, attainment in the subject hasn't recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with the underperformance of girls in primary schools being especially noteworthy1.
This mixed picture should be put in a wider context. However gratifying the uptick in maths qualifications, maths anxiety inside and out of school is widespread. Many adults admit to struggling with numbers, most parents say they lack confidence to support their children in the subject2, and too many girls still have to battle against the erroneous assumption that it's not for them.
As one primary school teacher put it: "It's a mindset - even very young children will say, 'I'm rubbish at maths. My daddy's rubbish at maths, my mummy was rubbish at maths and so was my granny, and that's why I'm rubbish at maths'." Even those who don't lack ability can lack confidence: "Maths is OK at school, but I dread it throughout the day as I don't find it very fun or entertaining. I get told I'm good at maths, but it doesn't feel like it." That feeling was not atypical of the small group of students we asked about their experiences of learning maths to accompany this report.
Despite the increase in student numbers, far fewer girls than boys study maths post-16.
Almost three-quarters of teachers find it difficult to cover the maths curriculum in the time allotted.
To understand what impact teachers thought these attitudes had on students in general and on girls in particular, we commissioned pollsters YouGov to survey over 1,000 teachers, two-thirds of whom teach or have taught maths. We also wanted to discover why they thought girls' maths results had continued to lag post-pandemic3, if teachers thought the curriculum should be made more relevant and if they believed some form of assessment in Years 1 or 2 would be beneficial.
The results were revealing if unsurprising:
- Maths anxiety was cited as the biggest obstacle to learning by the majority of teachers
- Half think girls make slower progress than boys because they are too keen to avoid making mistakes
- But lack of confidence, lack of support at home and lack of relevance are also blamed
- Almost three-quarters of teachers find it difficult to cover the maths curriculum in the time allotted
- And by two to one, teachers think it's important for children to be assessed early to identify their maths strengths and areas for improvement.
The main findings of our survey are below, but teachers have told us that they would find any measures that help reduce maths anxiety and allow for more nuanced assessment useful. So, elsewhere in this report, we outline how our adaptive New Group Maths Test can remove much of the stress from assessment while providing key insights for teachers and more targeted interventions for students.
YouGov surveyed 1,088 teachers (52% primary, 43% secondary, 5% all-through) online in August 2024.
Main findings
Gender differences
Previous academic studies have found that girls tend to have lower confidence and a different approach to learning maths than boys4. Teachers in our survey agreed that girls' preconceptions about the subject and a lack of confidence could be holding them back.
Half of the teachers surveyed (50%) believe girls make slower progress in maths because they work more cautiously to avoid mistakes. Only 5% think the same of boys, while 39% see this as equally applicable to both sexes.
Teachers attribute girls' lower confidence in maths to several factors:
- Prejudices and stereotypes about the subject (50%)
- Differing parental expectations (31%)
- Approaches to learning more suited to other subjects (25%)
- Peer disapproval (22%)
Teachers in our survey agreed that girls' preconceptions about the subject and a lack of confidence could be holding them back.
Maths anxiety was cited as the biggest obstacle to learning by the majority of teachers.
Less than a fifth (17%) of teachers cited the content of the maths curriculum as a factor, and just 13% pointed to differing expectations from teachers.
The latest research from Renaissance and the Education Policy Institute shows that the pandemic has disproportionately affected girls' maths attainment, particularly at primary. When asked, teachers said they believe this is due to:
- Greater anxiety and stress levels among girls (44%)
- Less confidence in maths abilities (37%)
- Less parental support compared to other subjects (37%)
- Gaps in foundational skills due to disrupted learning (35%).
Other factors cited include the greater impact of social isolation on girls (21%), increased screen time (20%), fewer opportunities for collaborative problem-solving (19%), and greater household responsibilities for girls during lockdowns (18%).
Barriers to learning
The main obstacles to learning maths for both girls and boys, according to teachers, are maths anxiety (59%), closely followed by a lack of support at home (52%) and a lack of additional support in the classroom (34%).
The content and structure of the maths curriculum also present challenges. As one secondary student said: 'I don't enjoy it very much. I find it quite daunting as well as confusing as there is so much of it and it is so complicated.' According to our survey:
- 26% of teachers say there's too much content
- 16% believe it lacks relevance
- 11% say it lacks personalisation.
Other factors cited by teachers include unidentified dyscalculia (16%) and lack of specialist maths support in school (11%). Only 3% of teachers cited lack of access to technology as a barrier.
Maths was always a hard subject for me,” explained one female post-16 student, “and I didn't get the support as and when I needed it, which made me stressed, and [I] avoided trying to get help.
56% believe it's important to assess children in Years 1 and 2 to identify their maths strengths and weaknesses.
Content challenges
There are clear indications in our survey that teachers think the current maths curriculum content could be revisited. Almost three-quarters (72%) agree that they find it difficult to cover the content in the expected time, and a similar proportion (74%) believe the government should update the primary school maths curriculum to make it more relevant.
Teachers are evenly split on whether they find it challenging to prioritise which parts of the maths curriculum to teach, with 38% agreeing and 38% disagreeing.
However, by two to one (56% vs 25%) they believe it's important to assess children in Years 1 and 2 to identify their maths strengths and weaknesses.
The challenges of the curriculum are reflected in student experiences. One girl in primary school told us she "found maths hard last year and struggled to keep up in class but then I got given some extra help and now I'm doing much better." And another older former student said, "I found it very difficult and didn't get much one-on-one help. Having an external tutor helped me pass."
Teacher confidence and CPD
Despite the challenges, most teachers feel confident in their ability to teach maths, four in five (80%) feel confident teaching all the maths concepts expected of them. Nevertheless, the vast majority (80%) are open to new initiatives to enhance their maths teaching skills - only 6% are not. And while half (48%) say they've received sufficient maths CPD in the past year, a third (31%) say they have not.
One former student we talked to underlined the impact of teacher enthusiasm: "When the teacher was enthusiastic and clearly enjoyed teaching maths, although challenging, [it] was made fun and enjoyable. However, if there wasn't that encouragement, it was awful to learn and [to] fall behind classmates."
The vast majority (80%) are open to new initiatives to enhance their maths teaching skills.
While most remain confident in their abilities to teach maths, a majority of teachers also believe it would be beneficial to conduct some form of maths assessment early in primary school.
Conclusions
Despite the increased recognition and popularity of maths, anxiety over learning it remains widespread. This is particularly so in the case of girls, whose outcomes in maths appear to have been harder hit than those of boys by the pandemic.
Teachers are aware of these challenges and, according to our survey, cognisant of the persistence of maths anxiety, the lack of support at home and the low confidence of girls as significant barriers to learning.
Many also believe there is too much content in the curriculum, that it should be updated to make it more relevant, and that they find it difficult to cover the required material in the time expected.
And while most remain confident in their abilities to teach maths, a majority of teachers also believe it would be beneficial to conduct some form of maths assessment early in primary school.
- Renaissance and EPI report, March 2024
- National Numeracy survey, May 2021
- Restorative Practice - Access research and resources to help accelerate learning recovery
- Number Confidence: the gender divide, National Numeracy, July 2023; Girls are more afraid of mathematics than boys in 80% of countries, Glasgow University, 2016
