Pupils in England will study maths up until the age of 18 under plans to be unveiled by Rishi Sunak.
The prime minister will say there is a need to "reimagine our approach to numeracy" in his first speech of the year today, adding: "Letting our children out into the world without those skills is letting our children down."
The details of the prime minister's "new mission" will be announced "in due course", Number 10 said, though the government did not "envisage" making maths A-level compulsory.
Labour said it would be "an empty pledge" if they could not recruit more maths teachers.
Around eight million adults in England have the numeracy skills of primary school children, according to government figures, while 60% of disadvantaged pupils do not have basic maths skills at 16.
