27/08/2025
Read our blog here: https://www.didaskomaths.co.uk/post/gcse-maths-is-not-a-basic-skills-test-and-it-shouldn-t-be-compulsory
TL;DR summary:
ââAround 40% of students are leaving school without basic maths skillsâ â is misleading on so many levels!â
âIn the same way you can be a skilled runner and still not make it into the top 60% in a race â it doesnât only depend on you and your skills, it also depends on the skills of your fellow racers too.â
âGCSE maths is an academic qualification, and not a basic life skills test!â
âSince GCSE maths is an academic course designed to demonstrate the deeper understanding needed for further study, it should not be compulsory for all students!â
âWe mandate that every student must aim for a standard that would lose value if they were all to succeed. Then we weave a narrative of failure when they inevitably donât all succeed.â
âOnly 17.1% of students resitting GCSE maths this year passed it. They internalise that they cannot do maths, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.â
âBy insisting they sit an academic qualification we hand them all the maths skills they need for adult life, then we hand them some more skills they don't actually need. And then we throw in some academic-level transferable skills for good measure. Itâs too much â even at the Foundation level!â
âNormalising maths options doesnât only help the lower end, it opens up these options more at the higher end too. It protects the academic prestige of the GCSE courses. It increases the chances that everyone will leave school with strong competence in the core maths skills needed to navigate everyday adult life.â