Peers warn maths teaching seen as ‘irrelevant’ in data-driven era
23 May 2025
UK maths education is failing to adapt to the AI and data-driven age, the chair of the House of Lords science and technology committee has told government.
Lord Mair and his fellow peers have demanded to know what work is currently being done by Whitehall to adapt the school curriculum to digital developments and training demands.
In their letter to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, they argue there is a case for “reforming the curriculum properly to reflect the widespread use of computers in practical mathematics, for an AI and data-driven age”.
Said Mair: “This would put a higher value on coding, as well as high-level conceptual abilities in mathematics: abstracting real-world problems into mathematical problems that can be computed by machines, and interpreting the result.
“Without this, there is a risk that maths education is increasingly seen as irrelevant.”
He added that committee members were further concerned that a “rigid focus” on students obtaining a minimum Grade 4 GCSE routinely failed nearly one in three children.
As a result, 30% were left with nothing to show for their education, said the committee. It called for a functional based maths qualification allowing this large minority the opportunity to demonstrate the level of their skills.
The committee has asked the education secretary to respond to the concerns raised in its letter by 30 June.
To read a copy of the committee’s letter, click here.
