Maths GCSE should be split by ability into two separate qualifications, a leading mathematician has told peers.
Hannah Fry, professor of the public understanding of mathematics at the University of Cambridge, told a House of Lords committee that the current qualification attempts to cover too much ground.
“I really do think that bundling everything into one single qualification and using that to train exceptional mathematicians, as well as giving people fundamental numeracy skills, is trying to do too many things all at once,” she said.
Speaking at the Numeracy for Life Committee, Professor Fry added that the maths GCSE risked “leaving a lot of people behind”.
Her comments come days after the government announced that, until at least 2030, maths and science GCSE students will no longer have to memorise equations.
‘Tarnishing the really important stuff’
Professor Fry said that all students should do one version of maths, but that there should be an additional option for higher-performing students, similar to the way English language and English literature are commonly treated as separate subjects.
All students should do the “English language version” of maths, said Professor Fry. This would cover maths and data skills, while the other qualification - designed to “train mathematicians” - could include pattern recognition and geometric proofs, she told peers.
“What we’re doing is tarnishing the really important stuff with the brush of the very high-end mathematical stuff,” Professor Fry said of the current GCSE maths option.
The idea of separating the current qualification into two separate GCSEs has been proposed before, as in 2019 when there were concerns that it missed out a large group of young people described as “the forgotten third”.
Others, meanwhile, have warned that a well-meaning urge to contextualise maths to make it “more relevant” may distract from the objective of improving students’ mathematical thinking.
Scotland already offers a Higher applications of maths course - separate from the traditional Higher maths course and designed to make maths appealing to more teenagers - uptake of which has increased by more than five times since its first year, 2021-22, when there were 870 entries. In 2024-25, there were 4,680 entries.
The Francis curriculum and assessment review, published in November, recommended that the government “retain the amount and type of content in the key stage 1 to 3 curriculum” for maths in England.
However, it said that it should be resequenced so that topics are introduced in such a way that pupils can “master them deeply, with opportunities for more complex problem-solving in each area, and reduces repetition in later years”.
The review also suggested the introduction of a diagnostic maths test for students in Year 8, a proposal the government has backed.
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