Chronic shortages of mathematics teachers in the UK could be linked to the rapid expansion of Russell Group departments, because their graduates are much less likely to enter education than those at lower tariff institutions, a leading British mathematician has claimed.
Speaking at The Maths Summit on 12 March, Catherine Hobbs, director of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, said the failure to train enough maths teachers could be traced to shifting patterns of undergraduate recruitment over the past decade, which has seen huge growth at many highly selective institutions. Meanwhile, annual enrolments in maths have reduced to a few dozen at some institutions with “middling tariffs”, she said.
“Some departments are getting smaller and smaller until they are not viable,” explained Professor Hobbs, who said this was significant for teaching because “about 25 per cent go into maths teaching but just 8 per cent from the upper echelons [higher tariff institutions] go into maths teaching.”
Just 1,844 new maths teachers were recruited last year – 90 per cent of the government’s target, which had itself been reduced from 2,800 to 2,044, according to Tes magazine. The shortages have been highlighted in light of Rishi Sunak’s plan to ensure all school pupils in England study maths until the age of 18 – an ambition, announced in January 2023, which will require many more maths teachers.
