How esports could improve behaviour and engagement in your college

Improving engagement and behaviour is always at the forefront of lecturers’ minds. Often, our solution is to gamify our lessons with the likes of an interactive quiz. But what if there was a way to bring gamification further into our educational settings to drive engagement more broadly?

For those new to the term, esports is not the same as simply playing a video game for fun. Instead, esports is competitive video gaming on the same level as more traditional sports such as football or rugby, with built-in prioritisation of players’ mental and physical health as well as in-game skills.

At St Vincent College in Gosport, our esports journey began in late 2019 when we discovered the British Esports Federation and their student championships through our level 1 IT students. We entered a team and quickly found that giving our students the opportunity to compete against other schools and colleges from the comfort of our educational spaces gave them a platform to develop their understanding of IT terminology and hardware as well as a hobby to strive towards.

The initial uptake was huge, and our first step was to set clear expectations. In order to compete, we insisted that all their work must be handed in on time, their attendance in lessons must be high and their behaviour must be excellent. They obliged, and we saw considerable improvement for the students involved.

Lockdowns impacted, but our students’ understanding of esports and the industry had grown over the short period of time, which allowed us to continue to play in friendly matches known as scrims. We were able to stream these games, giving students and staff not directly involved the ability to watch and support the only active team at the time.

Our expectations set earlier in the year were also adhered to through lockdown, because all our students wanted to compete and represent their team nationally.

In this way, esports kept our learners engaged through lockdown, with many of them completing tasks at home that helped to develop their hard and soft skills as well as evolve our team, the St Vincent Sharks into the organisation it is now.

Students used their own resources and creativity to bring the team to life, from designing the logo and T-shirts to starting social media pages and a YouTube channel.

It is a format that is genuinely equal for everyone

Alongside this, they continued to make progress in other subjects – from literacy in the form of writing to potential local sponsors to numeracy by working out win percentages and costs to create jerseys.  This enrichment opportunity proved to be a huge success and, when we returned to onsite learning, we were pleased to find that it was just as effective at re-engaging learners as it had been at engaging them to begin with.

As a result, we went on to develop our curriculum to offer our students the level 2 and 3 BTECs in esports. We are also extremely proud to have made a professional connection and partnership with Dell Technologies, which has led to the creation of our own 30-seat esports arena, nicknamed The Shark Tank.

Of course, there were hurdles along the way. Ours was configuring our cyber security protocols to enable onsite access to video games and the multiplayer aspect while keeping learners safe and secure online.

But the bigger hurdle for many is likely to be negative assumptions about gaming. For our part, we can truly attest that the benefits of esports considerably outweigh any negative perceptions.

Not only can they be used as a platform for students to develop the transferable skills employers need, but it is a format that is genuinely inclusive and equal for everyone, uniting players through their in-game abilities rather than academic or physical prowess.

We know the benefits of extra-curricular engagement. We accept this with music, traditional sports and even chess clubs. We gamify our subjects all the time to bring some of that competition and fun to our lessons.

Esports are here to stay and every college can benefit from their inclusion. And besides, the Sharks need some competition.

Multiverse posts sixth consecutive financial loss

Apprenticeship training and edtech firm Multiverse has said it’s on track to grow despite reporting financial losses for the sixth consecutive year. 

Accounts for the company’s 2021/22 financial year, published this week, reveal that Multiverse made a £14.2 million loss despite its turnover nearly tripling from £10 million in 2020/21 to £27.2 million in 2021/22. 

This follows net losses of £10.9 million in 2020/21 and £5 million in 2019/20. 

Multiverse hit the headlines in 2022 by becoming the first UK based company to gain ‘unicorn’ status, which is awarded to edtech companies valued over $1 billion, following a drive for investment in the United States which raised £176 million. The company’s valuation at the time was a staggering £1.4 billion. 

It’s these investment rounds that will be sustaining the organisation while it racks up annual losses.

Multiverse founder Euan Blair
Blair

The company, owned by Euan Blair, son of former prime minister Tony Blair, has said it is “typical” for venture-backed companies to report losses while it invests in its infrastructure. 

A spokesperson for Multiverse said: “We’re at the forefront of growing the number of apprenticeship opportunities in both the UK and the US, doubling the number of apprentices we’re training, expanding our geographic reach, and increasing our team of world-class coaches.

“Investing for growth and reporting a loss is completely typical for this stage of the journey of successful venture-backed companies. 

“We have made significant investments across all teams at Multiverse to put the company in the best position to meet the need for our apprenticeships in the year ahead.” 

The company’s latest accounts show that it has invested heavily in expanding its staff team, from 181 employees in 2021 to 312 in 2022. This more than doubled its staffing bill from £13.9 million to £30.1 million. 

Remuneration of its highest paid director also doubled from £125,000 to £257,033.

Its US operations made up a small proportion of its turnover in 2021/22, just 5 per cent, whereas turnover for its UK operations grew to £26 million from £10 million the year before.

Department for Education statistics for 2021/22 show that Multiverse started 4,940 apprentices, up by 1,980 on the year before. It’s offer includes apprenticeships standards in data analysis, team leadership and project management at levels 3 and 4. 

In September 2022, Multiverse became the first provider that only delivers apprenticeships to be awarded degree awarding powers. It currently advertises a BSc (Hons) degree apprenticeship in digital and technology solutions.

Multiverse scored a full slate of ‘outstanding’ judgments in its first full Ofsted inspection in July 2021.

Six key trends that will define apprenticeships in 2023

From their central role in the levelling up agenda to their vital importance in meeting labour market shortages, apprenticeships were never far from the news in 2022. 

This year, the growing trend of using apprenticeships to upskill existing workers and the urgent need to address chronic shortages in specific sectors such as data science, cyber security, and digital marketing will mean they continue to dominate discussions about the skills sector.

Here are six key trends to expect in 2023.

Drive for quality

There will be a huge improvement in the overall quality of apprenticeships this year. A great many apprenticeships on offer do not measure up, for apprentices and employers alike. We predict a crackdown on these low-quality apprenticeship providers as the government enforces a far stricter certification regime.

Organisations are also starting to pay more attention to traditional educational rankings such as Ofsted reports when choosing an apprenticeships partner. Employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will want a better return for their money and will start to understand that not all providers are equal.

In-work apprenticeship growth

There will be a growing acceptance of the value of in-work apprenticeships. Rather than just being seen as a way of getting the unemployed into work, the number of organisations that use the apprenticeship route to upskill existing workers will rise, especially in areas of high demand such as data science and digital marketing.

More nurturing apprenticeships

There will be a shift towards employers offering a clear growth path to employees on apprenticeship programmes. The traditional “enrol and forget”policy has led newly trained and skilled employees to knowing their value in the marketplace and moving on for higher salaries.

It is unrealistic to expect younger staff to confront their bosses and ask for the pay rise justified by their new skills, so those who want to hang on to their apprentices will need to take a more active role in coaching them along the way so they understand their prospects within their companies.

Demand for data analysts

Data analysts will be in even higher demand as organisations realise that this role is not some back-room boffin but essential in driving growth and efficiencies in every part of a business. They will become the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of growth, not just the spreadsheet wizard.

As digital transformation becomes the norm, someone has to make sense of the data that will drive investment decisions. With such skills in short supply, it is vital that companies invest in building teams of data analysts. A year ago,  employers were asking why  they needed a data analyst. They will stop asking the question as they realise they can’t find out what is driving their business without one.

An urgent cyber-crisis

The chronic shortage of cyber security skills will be addressed by a drive to train non-graduates. With the UK now suffering the third highest number of ransomware attacks globally, companies have to move fast to fill the gap and the sky-high salaries for the diminishing pool of cyber talent will be unaffordable for many SMBs.

Apprenticeships will form part of this strategy, but local and regional authority-funded boot camps will also play a major role as companies understand the urgency of the situation.  

Grow-your-own salespeople

One area that has grown rapidly over the past 12 months and will really take off in 2023 is the sales apprenticeship. In the past, salespeople were seen as being “born, not made” –  but this is simply not the case. Companies who have struggled to fill sales vacancies will see the value of training their own people with government support, rather than gambling on “proven” sellers that come with a hefty recruiter’s fee and no guarantees.

Beefed up Baker clause comes into force

Secondary schools must provide students with at least six “encounters” with further education providers from this month, following a change in the law.

Legislation was changed on January 1 to provide pupils with more exposure to technical education opportunities in a move to beef up the so-called “Baker clause” introduced in 2018, with a warning that schools that fail to adhere to the new rules face a legal direction from government.

Secondary schools now have a legal duty to provide pupils with “at least six encounters with a provider of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships”.

The new law states that two of these must be in the “first key phase” of school – to take place any time during year 8 or between September 1 and February 28 in year 9. Another two encounters must then be in the “second key phase” – to take place any time during year 10 or between September 1 and February 28 in year 11.

A further two must be offered in years 12 or 13. However, unlike the earlier encounters, sixth formers will not have to attend by law.

The change follows criticism of the lack of enforcement of previous rules, with a 2019 study by the Institute for Public Policy Research finding that two-thirds of secondary schools were still flouting the Baker clause a year after it was introduced.

The DfE consulted on the changes to statutory guidance last summer but has only just published its response and the updated guidance document, despite the law coming into effect four days ago.

Schools that fail to meet the new requirements will be subject to a “ladder of support and intervention”, with a legal direction serving as the most severe form of punishment.

Schools may also lose out on government careers funding if they are non-compliant, the guidance states.

The DfE also announced today that primary school teachers in deprived areas of England will receive training to deliver careers education programmes under a new £2.6 million scheme.

Skills minister Robert Halfon said: “To deliver the future workforce that this country needs, it is essential that careers advice and work experience help young people from all backgrounds to climb the ladder of opportunity.

“The changes we are making to boost our careers programme will raise ambitions from an early age for thousands of children in primary schools across the country, while providing opportunities to unlock talent, think about skills, engage with employers and discover different workplaces.”

Colleges’ local solutions to global workforce problems

In the autumn, Collab Group held a roundtable discussion with our partners, the Global Community College Leadership Network. Nearly 20 colleges from the United States, Canada and the UK were represented. The topic was skilling the workforce, and our intention was to facilitate an open exchange of views and experiences. What was striking was how consistent some of the themes were across different contexts.

Responding to labour markets

All participants pointed out the tight nature of labour markets in their respective jurisdictions and the impact this had on their provision.

In Canada there are more than 1 million vacancies, with a population of 38 million. By comparison, the UK also has more than  1 million vacancies, but with a much larger population of 67 million. Similarly in New Mexico, there is a low participation rate as well as low unemployment. The result is that employers are struggling to recruit and end up poaching staff from each other.

But this is also where colleges can provide a solution with work-based learning, through apprenticeships. Not only can learners continue (or return to) education, but they can also continue being a part of the labour force and meeting skills needs. Indeed, engaging in education at the same time means their potential earnings are likely to rise over the long term too. This is a win-win-win situation as there are benefits for employers, employees/students as well as the wider economy through improvements in skills and therefore productivity.

And this is exactly what our participants said they were doing, with our Canadian and American attendees targeting a 100 per cent participation rate in such programmes for their students.

Engaging with employers

Second, our participants shared the myriad ways in which they engaged with their employers.

South Yorkshire, where The Sheffield College operates, has a large SME population, which are a tougher nut to crack for apprenticeships. The college has taken what it calls a “sectoral approach”, whereby businesses from the same sector will come into the college to speak about their skills needs, and the college may be able to offer more bespoke provision.

New Mexico provides an interesting contrast, as the employer landscape there is predominantly public sector – schools, hospitals, national research laboratories and government agencies. This means Central New Mexico Community College’s attention is more attuned to government-funded schemes, such as a federal government initiative to subsidise the wages of students who undertake internships in certain sectors.

This comes with its own challenges, as government funding streams are rarely permanent. But the common thread is the importance of sustaining links with employers who become advocates for effective educational schemes.

Innovative provision

Third, participants spoke about the more innovative aspects of their activities. Innovation could involve tweaking existing provision to better fit employer needs or engaging in new kinds of activity altogether.

In Southern Alberta, for instance, a recent review of apprenticeships concluded with recommendations for the formal recognition of apprenticeships, updating standards and laws to keep pace with economic change, and achieving parity of esteem with academic routes. These will no doubt sound familiar on this side of the pond.

Derby College is currently developing a programme with a locally-based global engineering company in which the college teaches students on the business’s own premises – an excellent opportunity for staff as well as students. Teachers will be immersed in cutting-edge facilities and equipment and students will become high-skilled, job-ready candidates upon graduation. The company benefits too, thereby potentially driving broader employer engagement with the college.

Some pertinent questions were left open at the end of our discussion, which all colleges were interested in finding answers to. Among these, how do we navigate a situation whereby employers ask colleges for help but are unable to articulate their own skills needs? And how do we help employers engage with and attract our students, especially in sectors not traditionally seen as appealing?

Thankfully, this roundtable was the first in a series. We are sure to return to these issues and more, and look forward to sharing the insights gained.

LSIPs will achieve little if we don’t upskill workers

Last summer, I wrote for FE Week about factors that bodies developing local skills improvement plans (LSIPs) should consider if they want to make them a success. In the months since, the government has published its statutory guidance for the development of LSIPs. Stakeholders that include mayoral combined authorities, local enterprise partnerships and local authorities will come together to set out the key priorities and changes needed to make post-16 technical education or training more responsive and closely aligned to local labour market needs. 

Given that the number of unfilled jobs rose to 1.3 million in March last year (the highest ever recorded), LSIPs evidently couldn’t come soon enough. However, the solution is not as simple as a lack of responsiveness in our education system. 

Although vacancies are high, there are also an estimated 6.2 million workers (19.8 per cent of the UK labour market) experiencing severely insecure work (defined as involuntarily part-time and/or temporary employment). 

One possible explanation for this mismatch between supply and demand is that an estimated 9 million adults in England (of whom 5 million are in work) have low basic skills. 

Basic skills are generally defined as a proficient level of literacy to comprehend, interpret and evaluate complex texts and a proficient level of numeracy to solve mathematical problems in a real context. In qualification terms, they are the equivalent to a level 2 (eg GCSE). Digital skills are also increasingly included within definitions. 

While some of the 1.3 million vacancies are in technical professions such as nursing and software development, many others are in lower and intermediately skilled jobs such as care workers, sales and retail assistants, cleaning and domestic staff, and trades such as metal working, carpentry and joinery. 

Nine million adults in the UK have low basic skills

Instead of amending post-16 provision – much of which is directly aligned to employer standards (such as T Levels, HTQs and apprenticeships) or informed by employer panels (such as many BTECs and City and Guilds qualifications) – supporting the 9 million individuals who currently lack basic skills would arguably be a more effective way of tackling labour market shortages. Level 2 English and maths qualifications would enable these individuals to fill many of England’s vacancies directly or to continue in education to fill higher-skill roles. 

At London South Bank University, for example, the NHS trusts we work with will sometimes propose health care support workers for our apprenticeship programmes, but they often lack the required level 2 English and maths qualifications for entry. The LSBU Group structure, which includes Lambeth College, enables us to run pre-enrolment programmes to help candidates overcome this. Over the next few years, the college will develop a “hub and spoke” model to increase the accessibility of its adult education programmes by delivering it in community buildings in the evenings. 

Unfortunately, the government does not appear to have made this connection. A month before publishing the LSIP guidance, the Department for Education concluded its consultation on Implementing a new FE funding and accountability system, which proposed removing the ringfence for community learning within the adult education budget. This will hugely undermine the ability of colleges and local authorities to help adults (particularly those who are most disadvantaged) to make the first step back into education. 

In the autumn statement, the chancellor committed another £2.3 billion to the core schools’ budget while providing no extra funding for colleges or adult education; and just this week the prime minister announced an ambition for all young people to study maths up to age 18. Neither will help to upskill the 5 million adults already in the workforce, but insufficiently skilled to meet the demand for staff. 

Sadly, this is setting up yet another well-intentioned policy initiative for failure. If the government truly wants LSIPs to support skills provision and local economic growth, it needs to invest in adult education. 

FE should have a bigger role in addressing NHS challenges 

Rarely does a week go by without a headline about the NHS being in crisis. This points to some fundamental, systemic issues – not least chronic staffing shortages across the healthcare sector as a whole.

We need to rethink the way we’re recruiting and training the future NHS workforce. We must take stock of how effectively local government and health and education providers are working together to ensure regional skills provision aligns with the changing needs of regional health and social care landscapes.

This means giving both FE and HE much greater involvement in developing workforce strategy. Currently, there is no formal role carved out for education providers within the Integrated Care System (ICS) – the framework established in 2022 that sees local organisations come together in each of England’s 42 regions, to deliver ‘joined-up’ health and care services. This is a missed opportunity that should urgently be reviewed.

In Bolton, we recognised that a closer partnership between the NHS, the university and the college could significantly improve strategic workforce planning.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust identified the need to improve on-site technical training to meet the needs of future care delivery. And so, for the past four years, the trust, college, University of Bolton, and Bolton council have been working together on developing a new technical skills-training facility located at the hospital.

Bolton College of Medical Sciences (BCMS), a £40 million project funded by the university and the levelling up fund, is currently being built and will open in 2024, training approximately 3,000 learners annually.

The trust has granted us the space, and together with the university, Bolton College has been entrusted to lead on curriculum development and delivery. This has seen us take a new approach in mapping the strategic and operational workforce development requirements with the trust, and in creating a bespoke curriculum response.

There is clear benefit to closer collaboration between healthcare and education

We are working across all of the trust’s operational functions, identifying new training and apprenticeship opportunities in everything from nursing and midwifery to leadership and management, digital and IT provision.

This has enabled us to design new pathways that create greater opportunities in healthcare. The Bolton College and university partnership will offer introductions to FE and HE courses, as well as T levels in health, apprenticeships and traditional provision at levels 3 through 7, new HTQs and other commercial CPD provision.

Crucially, it will optimise access and progression in an attempt to increase the ‘grow-your-own’ culture for the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership (ICP).I In turn, this will optimise local employment and career opportunities and improve standards in local healthcare provision.

BCMS is part of the University of Bolton Group’s vertically integrated model, which includes a STEM Academy, Bolton College, Alliance Learning (a private training provider) and the university itself.

This means that, in essence, a local learner could start with a STEM-focused curriculum at age 11 and progress through a technical route into an apprenticeship or traditional degree, with work placements or employment at the hospital or elsewhere within the ICP.

By being located on site, the learning provision at BCMS will be part of the trust’s operational environment, and college and university teaching staff will be augmented by clinical professionals both for delivery and for end-point assessment. This will mean a fully-integrated FE/HE/employer-delivered and -assessed curriculum – a first in Greater Manchester and across the UK clinical and medical sector.

The message is this: there is clear benefit to closer collaboration between local healthcare providers and their FE/HE partners. However, we need a proactive approach in identifying the skills required to deliver future operational strategy and designing and delivering an appropriate curriculum response.

Our progress will be followed closely in Greater Manchester. Indeed, BCMS is expected to be seen as a blueprint to create similar facilities across the region. But this is a national problem, requiring solutions that reach beyond regional boundaries. In the meantime,  we’re happy to talk to other FE colleges about what they can do to work more closely with their local NHS partners.

Ban on borrowing puts college capital projects ‘at risk’

College capital projects are in jeopardy due to strict and “unnecessarily complicated” government rules on borrowing that have been rapidly introduced following colleges’ reclassification as public sector bodies.

Kendal College had secured finance from a high street bank to redevelop the disused Westmorland Shopping Centre into a new campus but has now been forced to pause this option and look for “alternative methods of funding”.

Meanwhile East Durham College has had to put a multimillion-pound loan refinancing deal planned to pay for a new T Level facility on hold with no timeline for a solution despite facing a tight deadline to give the project the green light.

The issue follows a Department for Education ruling that colleges must gain special permission, which will only be granted in rare circumstances, to borrow commercially from November 29, 2022, when the Office for National Statistics changed their status from the private to public sector.

Shadow skills minister Toby Perkins said there were more college capital projects at similar risk in a letter to education secretary Gillian Keegan. He called on her to urgently investigate the situation and criticised the DfE for failing to put in alternative plans for college borrowing immediately.

The Association of Colleges said at least 20 colleges had to ask for borrowing approvals in December and “many more are in the queue waiting for an ESFA verdict in the spring”.

Julian Gravatt, AoC deputy chief executive, told FE Week that officials had explained that colleges with DfE-funded projects will be able to get a government loan in future, but it is “unclear what the terms are and there is a risk of delay while the two sides discuss the amount”. 

Kendal College completed phase one of its Westmorland campus before the end of 2022 and has already moved over 150 students to be taught in the centre. It is being designed to hold up to 500 students and the project is planned to complete by September 2023. 

Kendal College principal Kelvin Nash said that not proceeding with the Westmorland campus build was “not an option for the college”. He is continuing funding negotiations with the DfE.

He told FE Week: “Whilst no outcomes have yet been reached, the discussions are positive and on-going, and the college will continue to engage with the ESFA and the DfE over the coming weeks until a satisfactory solution is found.”

Sarah Judson, vice-principal of finance and business planning at East Durham College, said her college’s loan refinancing was “very close to signing” and had incurred costs of about £70,000.

She said the college had not expected an immediate “shutters down” approach at the point of reclassification and had been led to believe the process would be phased, “given the DfE knew we were in the middle of a refinancing”.

Judson added: “There is no clarity or timeline for responses in the complex consent process that has been put in place and there appears to be little consultation with and involvement in any future decision by the college.

“One of our capital projects is at risk as our match funding is now in jeopardy and we have no clarity over our ability to continue.”

When colleges were reclassified as public sector bodies on November 29 the DfE announced that permission would be required, as a condition of funding, for any new private sector borrowing. It added that colleges “may only borrow from private sector sources if the transaction delivers value for money for the Exchequer”.

The department said it was “very unlikely” colleges would be able to satisfy that condition given the higher financing costs of non-government lenders.

Extra funding worth £150 million was promised to colleges in spring 2023 through the DfE’s FE capital transformation programme to make up for the inability of colleges to borrow commercially. But Gravatt said the situation had created “uncertainty for dozens of colleges”.

He added: “The position for colleges with projects funded by other government departments, or who had planned to use bank loans to self-fund projects, is totally unclear.

“It is possible the Treasury is planning further increases in the FE capital budget to help colleges fill the gap left by the loan embargo and still meet future investment needs, including those associated with net zero targets and levelling up plans. But I am worried that state control and austerity targets will leave the sector short of the long-term finance needed in its estate.”

Judson said the situation was an “added and unnecessary complication” that was going to cause “massive uncertainties at a time when colleges are facing unprecedented challenges from the external environment, from inflation, from energy costs and staff recruitment and retention”.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We encourage colleges with commitments to capital projects which had been planned to include commercial borrowing to open a dialogue with the department as soon as possible.”

Sunak outlines maths to 18 ‘ambition’…but not before 2025

Rishi Sunak will set an “ambition” for all students to study “some form of maths” until the age of 18.

But the prime minister will only commit to starting work to introduce the new policy in this Parliament.

He will acknowledge in a speech tomorrow that the proposed reform would not be achieved during the course of this Parliament – which will come to an end in 2024 at the latest.

The government also “does not envisage” making maths A-level compulsory for all students, Downing Street has said.

Ministers are “exploring existing routes”, such as the core maths qualification and T Levels, as well as “more innovative” choices, Number 10 said this evening.

But there are no details about how more maths teachers would be recruited. Government has failed to recruit the required number of maths teachers since at least 2012, Labour analysis shows.

‘Empty pledge without more maths teachers’

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the prime minister “needs to show his working”.

“He cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers, yet the government has missed their target for new maths teachers year after year, with existing teachers leaving in their droves.”

Sunak pledged during the first Conservative leadership campaign this summer to introduce a “British baccalaureate”, which he said would also involve compulsory English study in sixth form.

However, his government has focused on maths since taking office in October.

In a speech setting out his priorities for the year ahead, Sunak will say the ambition is “personal for me”.

He will say “every opportunity I’ve had in life began with the education I was so fortunate to receive”. He attended prep school and then the private Winchester College, whose fees for boarders currently top £45,000 a year.

“And it’s the single most important reason why I came into politics: to give every child the highest possible standard of education.”

Ambition won’t be delivered before 2025

He will pay tribute to the “reforms we’ve introduced since 2010, and the hard work of so many excellent teachers, we’ve made incredible progress”.

“With the right plan – the right commitment to excellence – I see no reason why we cannot rival the best education systems in the world.”

The prime minister is expected to acknowledge the reforms won’t be easy, with Downing Street tonight admitting there are “practical challenges involved”.

Sunak is committing to starting the work to introduce maths to 18 in this Parliament, but not finishing it until the next.

The announcement will likely prompt scepticism about whether it will ever be realised, with the Conservatives mired in the polls.

Maths remains the most popular group of subjects at A-level, with just shy of 90,000 entries this summer.

But the government said only around half of 16 to 19-year-olds study any maths at all, warning the problem is “particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils”.

Downing Street also said the “majority” of OECD countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway and the USA, require some form of maths study to 18.

Sunak will say that “one of the biggest changes in mindset we need in education today is to reimagine our approach to numeracy.”

“Right now, just half of all 16–19-year-olds study any maths at all. Yet in a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before.

“And letting our children out into the world without those skills, is letting our children down”.

Since 2014, all 16- to 19-year-olds without at least a grade C (now 4) in GCSE maths or English have had to continue studying these subjects alongside their main programme as a condition of funding.

But a DfE-commissioned review, led by Sir Adrian Smith in 2017, called for a rethink of this controversial resit policy and stopped short of recommending that everyone should continue to study maths until the age of 18.

Smith said today that the country needed to “upgrade the post-16 approach as part of wider reform at secondary and post-16”.

“It is time for a baccalaureate style system that will give a broader education than the exceptionally narrow A-levels.”

He added that “radical reform of the education system will not be easy and will take time but we need to get started now and build a cross party approach with support from teachers, students, parents and employers”.

“This matters too much to be a political football that could be punctured by the ebb and flow of politics.”

‘Show us the evidence’, says union boss

Bridget Phillipson
Bridget Phillipson

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Lleaders, said it was “important that the government sets out the evidence for extending maths for all students to the age of 18 before embarking upon a significant change affecting future generations”.

“It may improve employability and the ability to cope with modern life, as the prime minister suggests, but it is important that this is based on solid research and is not a pet project.

“We would also want to hear how such a policy would avoid exacerbating the already-chronic national shortage of maths teachers.”

Barton acknowledged the current post-16 qualifications system “encourages students to specialise in a small number of subjects, and, in fact, government reforms in recent years have actually served to narrow the curriculum”.

“There is a strong argument for developing a system which allows for greater subject breadth tailored around the needs of the student rather than simply bolting on more maths.”