Welcome back to a new academic year. I hope that you had an enjoyable and restful summer. In the academic year 2023/4, the AMSP actively engaged with over 62% of schools and colleges in England in our mission to support and develop students, teachers and schools in level 3 maths. We are keen to engage with every school and college offering level 3 maths, and we are very pleased to be working with so many of you. I would like to thank you and your school for working with us.
We were delighted by this year’s increases in participation in A level Mathematics, A level Further Mathematics and Core Maths. A level Mathematics remains the most popular A level, and exam entries were up by 11.3% (total A level cohort increase of 2.5%) to over 100,000 for the first time. A level Further Mathematics entries increased by 20% to 18,000, and Core Maths entries increased by 3.6% to 12810.
Another pleasing aspect was the grade profiles, which suggest that the increased numbers have not been detrimental to outcomes. We strongly believe that all students who have the desire and motivation to study A level Mathematics should be afforded the opportunity and hope this year’s numbers will increase further in future. One area where we have significant work to do is closing the gender gap, and we encourage schools and colleges to visit our encouraging girls’ participation page. If girls’ participation in A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics had been the same as boys’, this year’s A level participation numbers would have been over 133k for maths and over 26k for further maths.
In February, the Government announced the Core Maths premium of £900 per student. We hope that this will provide the impetus for significant increases in participation in the qualification. Currently, the majority of young people in England who achieve a grade 4 or above in GCSE maths stop studying the subject at age 16. This is more than 200,000 young people each year. In other developed countries, a far higher proportion of young people study maths post-16. Our young people are missing out. If you are new to Core Maths or wish to increase your provision, we can offer extensive, fully-funded expert support for your school. Check out our Support and Strategies page on our website for more information.
The AMSP has now been running for six years. During that time, we have developed very strong relationships with schools and colleges across England. Our aim is that all schools and colleges with a post-16 level 3 provision will offer a full range of level 3 maths options, and all students will choose to study maths after GCSEs because they want to.
We continue to offer a wide range of professional development to ensure that teachers and schools have the capacity to deliver A level Mathematics, A level Further Mathematics and Core Maths to the very highest level. We also continue to inspire and signpost students towards careers and higher education that include maths through our full range of student enrichment events.
If you would like advice or guidance on either introducing level 3 maths and/or increasing capacity for level 3 maths, please contact your local AMSP area coordinator.
We look forward to working with you in 2024/5, and I’d like to wish you an enjoyable and successful year.
Will Warne
AMSP Programme Lead
