Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry 2004 and the Society's recommendations

The report of Professor Adrian Smith's inquiry into post-14 Mathematics, Making Maths Count, often referred to as the Smith Report, was published in February 2004. It is available from  this link.

The Smith Report drew attention to many serious problems in school mathematics education in the UK, especially England. The Society strongly agreed with most of the points made by the Report, but was very concerned about a recommendation that much of the statistics content in GCSE Mathematics should be removed and taught instead in various other disciplines. The Society believed that this would essentially destroy the teaching and learning of statistics in schools as it would no longer enjoy intellectual coherence.

As an immediate response, the Society issued a press release emphasising its view that the appropriate place for teaching statistics in an intellectually coherent manner lies for the present within the mathematics curriculum. To highlight the point, Professor Andy Grieve, then the President of the Society, said "Statistics must be taught as a coherent whole and a fragmentary approach alone will be detrimental to the discipline. Application to other subjects is of course vital but the teaching cannot be left solely to non-specialists in the subject". The Society also emphasised that there should be clear provision of statistics within ITT and CPD for all teachers of all subjects which use statistical methods.

The Society went on to set up a working group under Professor Harvey Goldstein to prepare a major report setting out the Society's view of the position of statistics in the curriuclum. This reaffirmed the Society's view that currently the best place for statistics in the 14-19 core curriculum is within mathematics. Statistics and data handling should continue to be taught alongside and as part of mathematics, as they draw heavily on and contribute heavily to core mathematical skills. The report found no evidence to suggest that these topics would fare better if taught as part of other subjects such as biology or geography, as had been recommended in the Post-Mathematics Inquiry.

The Society's report and other documents are available for download using the links below. Please note that the report includes substantial appendices and is 44 pages long. The Executive Summary of the report is available for download on its own.

The Society's report on statistics in the curriculum (PDF 666 KB)
 The Society's report on statistics in the curriculum - executive summary (PDF 14 KB)
Evidence submitted by the Society to the Post-14 Mathematics Inquiry (PDF 100 KB)
The Society's press release on the Smith Report (PDF 92 KB)
The Society's detailed initial response to the Smith Report (PDF  94 KB)