There should be no change to the level of maths qualification needed to get into teaching, according to Scotland’s teaching watchdog.

There have been calls in the past for teachers to be required to have a maths Higher, as opposed to the lesser National 5 qualification, in a bid to address concerns about teacher confidence and competence in the subject.

However, the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) - which sets minimum entry requirements for initial teacher education courses - has argued in a new document that teachers already have adequate numeracy skills and that changing the requirements could have a negative impact on teacher recruitment.  

The GTCS position, which it is currently consulting on, has come to light because the body is reviewing the minimum entry requirements for Scottish teacher education courses.

The requirements were last reviewed in 2013, when plans were put in place to look at them again this year.

Teacher recruitment fears

In 2016 there was a call from the Scottish government’s Making Maths Count group - set up to look at how attitudes towards the subject could be improved - that those wanting to enter teaching should have a maths Higher, as opposed to an N5.

It argued that this would give maths parity with English and help to address the need for “primary teachers, in particular, to be more confident and skilled in the teaching of maths”.

However, the GTCS said in the consultation document, published earlier this month, that the requirement for teachers to have sufficient numeracy skills to support learning across the curriculum was “presently being achieved through setting the required level at SCQF level 5 (National 5)”.

It said because of this and “the potential for a significant impact on teacher recruitment of raising the required entry to SQCF level 6 (Higher)”, it was recommending “no change to current provision”.

Those taking part in the consultation are invited to agree or disagree with the GTCS proposals.

The consultation will end on 21 December. The revised “Memorandum on Entry Requirements for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland” will be published in April next year, and the new entry requirements will apply from the academic year 2020-21.

Professor Jo Boaler, a maths professor keen to change the way the subject is taught in schools, recently told Tes Scotland that primary teachers “get a lot of stick” over maths. She said it did not help to have “a higher level of content knowledge if you don’t have good ideas about content teaching”.

The GTCS said of the ongoing consultation: “Views are welcomed from everyone and debate is encouraged about this important matter as this consultation is relevant not just to initial teacher education providers, teachers and employers of teachers but also to the parents or carers of children and young people, and other members of the public.”