Schools that traditionally have larger numbers of pupils already studying maths post-16 have taken the bulk of cash under a government initiative aimed at boosting take-up, analysis shows.
Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said in 2018 the advanced maths premium (AMP) would “open up the opportunity” for more young people to study the subject.
A total of £56.7 million has been paid out in the past four years. But 86 per cent has gone to schools and just 14 per cent to colleges, which provide about about 25 per cent of level 3 maths entries.
Maths remains the most popular group of subjects at A-level, with just shy of 90,000 entries this summer.
