Enhancing the quality of mathematics education in Scotland: Background
The focus of this thematic inspection emerged as a result of several key factors, including international comparisons, recommendations in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future”, and national policy priorities. These highlighted the need to improve our curriculum in a planned and systematic way – the Curriculum Improvement Cycle. Additionally, our own inspection evidence has revealed variability in the quality of learning and teaching which has a direct impact on learning outcomes.
To support the Curriculum Improvement Cycle, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills asked His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education to carry out a national thematic inspection of learning and teaching in mathematics across schools and settings. The findings of this inspection are detailed in this report.
In 2019, HM Inspectors (HMIE) undertook a national thematic inspection on mathematics and numeracy: “Numeracy and mathematics for Scotland's learners: a thematic report”. We found that practitioners and teachers needed to ensure greater consistency in the provision of quality of learning and teaching and differentiation to meet the needs of all learners.
Since that report, we know that children and young people’s experiences in school have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Children and young people have experienced difficulties with mental health and wellbeing[1], as well as issues with attendance[2] and behaviour[3]. Children and young people’s attitudes to mathematics can also be significant factors to learning[4], as can the recruitment and retention of mathematics teachers[5].
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, attainment in mathematics in Scotland has not improved significantly. International comparisons of Scottish attainment in mathematics through the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment’s (PISA) show that, like many other OECD countries, Scotland’s performance in mathematics is lower than all previous results since 2003. Scotland’s score remains similar to the OECD average but is lower than the United Kingdom as a whole. Although care must be taken when making comparisons in young people’s attainment across countries, and being mindful of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear the declining achievement of Scottish young people is a concern.
Scotland’s national attainment and achievement measures of Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels (ACEL) are for numeracy only but do show improvement from 2020/21 to 2022/23 for children in primary 1, primary 4 and primary 7. Children and young people’s achievement of a Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) level in numeracy in academic year 2022/23 is broadly in line or above pre-pandemic figures from 2018/19.
Attainment in National Qualifications at grades A to C in Higher Mathematics in 2023/24 has remained broadly stable compared with 2018/19.[6] However, attainment at grades A to C in Advanced Higher Mathematics in 2023/24 is lower than in 2018/19. At National 5 Mathematics, attainment at grades A to C improved in 2023/24 compared with 2018/19. National 5 Applications of Mathematics continues to increase in popularity.[7] Attainment at grades A to C in this course in 2023/24 was largely in line with 2018/19.
The national attainment data[8] shows considerable variation across local authorities at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher in Mathematics and National 5 and Higher Applications of Mathematics.
The numeracy and mathematic outcomes detailed above can only be changed through the collective effort of everyone involved in mathematics education across Scotland. Children and young people’s engagement and experiences, and how they are taught, supported by a relevant curriculum, are key drivers for success.
This report begins with the main findings across all sectors followed by detailed sectoral evidence. We conclude with recommendations for staff in schools and early learning and childcare (ELC settings), local authorities, national bodies and the Scottish Government.
We found strengths in each sector. However, the quality of learning and teaching in mathematics needs to improve. From our inspection findings, we have set out what is working well, what needs to improve and the barriers to improvement settings and schools are facing. These apply to learning mathematics in English and Gaelic unless otherwise stated.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Health and wellbeing: a thematic review (education.gov.scot)
[2] Improving attendance: Understanding the issues (education.gov.scot)
[3] Behaviour in Scottish schools: research report 2023 (www.gov.scot)
[4] How do young people in Scotland feel about maths? (Winning Scotland)
[5] In 2008, there were 2,787 teachers in secondary schools whose main subject was mathematics. In 2016, there was a low of 2,331 mathematics teachers. This had recovered to 2,456 mathematics teachers in 2023, the joint highest number in 10 years. Teacher census supplementary statistics (www.gov.scot)
[6] We have not compared national data for National Qualifications in 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 because of the different approaches to awarding National Qualifications in those years
[7] In 2019, there were 4,460 entries for National 5 Applications of Mathematics. In 2024, this has risen to 24,260 entries. https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/attainment-statistics-provisional-2024.xlsx
[8] https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/files_ccc/attainment-statistics-provisional-2024-centre-type-education-authority.xlsx
