All Outputs (32)

The mathematics pipeline in England: inclusion and the excellence stream (2024)
Journal Article

In England, there is currently heightened political interest in increasing mathematics attainment and maximizing post-16 participation. The latter is not merely an issue for upper secondary but requires a long-view of students’ mathematical progress.... Read More about The mathematics pipeline in England: inclusion and the excellence stream.

Local learning landscapes: conceptualising place-based professional learning by teachers and schools in decentralised education systems (2024)
Journal Article

This article sets out an original conceptual framework for place-based professional learning by teachers and schools in decentralised education systems. High quality Continuing Professional Development and Learning (CDPL) by teachers is associated wi... Read More about Local learning landscapes: conceptualising place-based professional learning by teachers and schools in decentralised education systems.

Predicting outcomes in sport and exercise science degrees: the effect of qualification pathways (2023)
Journal Article

In the UK, most prospective university students study ‘traditional’ academic qualifications such as A-Levels. However, increasing numbers of students are entering UK higher education with 'non-traditional' or vocational qualifications. This has provo... Read More about Predicting outcomes in sport and exercise science degrees: the effect of qualification pathways.

Mapping mathematical competences across subjects for advanced level qualifications in England (2023)
Journal Article

Efforts to increase the number of young people in England studying mathematics post‐16 have historically focused on participation in standalone mathematics qualifications. However, following the recent A‐level reforms, many advanced level students ar... Read More about Mapping mathematical competences across subjects for advanced level qualifications in England.

Developing the mathematics teacher workforce in England’s FE colleges: towards a ‘communities of practice’ strategy (2022)
Journal Article

Since policy changes in 2014 about who studies mathematics post-16 in England, the mathematics teaching workforce in further education (FE) colleges has grown and diversified. The question of how best to develop the professional practice of this chan... Read More about Developing the mathematics teacher workforce in England’s FE colleges: towards a ‘communities of practice’ strategy.

Mathematics in England’s further education colleges: who is teaching what, and why it matters (2022)
Journal Article

Improving mathematical skills is a priority in England, and a series of policy levers and government change projects have focused on improving mathematical outcomes in further education (FE) in recent years. Yet little is known about the mathematics... Read More about Mathematics in England’s further education colleges: who is teaching what, and why it matters.

Mathematics curriculum waves within vocational education (2021)
Journal Article

Links between mathematical attainment and economic performance, coupled with England’s poor showing in international comparisons of skills, have focused attention on post-16 mathematics education, for example in the UK Government’s 2017 Industrial St... Read More about Mathematics curriculum waves within vocational education.

The waxing and waning of functional skills mathematics (2020)
Journal Article

There have been repeated attempts to establish mathematics qualifications for lower attaining students aged 16 years and over on vocational pathways in England. In 2004, the Tomlinson Report proposed Functional Mathematics and this paper examines the... Read More about The waxing and waning of functional skills mathematics.

Mathematics education policy enactment in England’s Further Education Colleges (2018)
Journal Article

England’s Further Education (FE) sector is in permanent flux with policy interpretations and translations taking place at multiple levels within increasingly large and complex multi-site organizations. Devolved responsibility gives managers considera... Read More about Mathematics education policy enactment in England’s Further Education Colleges.

Mathematics in the disciplines at the transition to university (2018)
Journal Article

Mathematics education is highly valued in advanced economies due to its role in developing skilled workforces, economic resilience and social wellbeing. However, university academics across disciplines regularly bemoan undergraduate students’ under-... Read More about Mathematics in the disciplines at the transition to university.

Assessing mathematics within advanced school science qualifications (2017)
Journal Article

Following sustained discussion regarding the relationship between advanced mathematics and science learning in England, the Government has pursued a reform agenda in which mathematics is embedded in national, high stakes A-level science qualification... Read More about Assessing mathematics within advanced school science qualifications.

Do advanced mathematics skills predict success in biology and chemistry degrees? (2017)
Journal Article

The mathematical preparedness of science undergraduates has been a subject of debate for some time. This paper investigates the relationship between school mathematics attainment and degree outcomes in biology and chemistry across England, a much lar... Read More about Do advanced mathematics skills predict success in biology and chemistry degrees?.

Studying advanced mathematics in England: findings from a survey of student choices and attitudes (2016)
Journal Article

The UK Government has set a goal that the ‘vast majority’ of students in England will be studying mathematics to 18 by the end of the decade. The policy levers for achieving this goal include new Core Maths qualifications, designed for over 200,000... Read More about Studying advanced mathematics in England: findings from a survey of student choices and attitudes.

The impact of research on policy: a case of qualifications reform (2016)
Journal Article

The relationship between research and policymaking has been discussed repeatedly. However, the debate tends to be in general, abstract terms or from a macro-economic perspective with any examples described in a fairly cursory way. Despite the inhere... Read More about The impact of research on policy: a case of qualifications reform.

Bringing Bourdieu to mathematics education: a response to Williams and Choudry (2016)
Journal Article

Reassessing the economic value of advanced level mathematics (2016)
Journal Article

In the late 1990s, the economic return to Advanced level (A-level) mathematics was examined. The analysis was based upon a series of log-linear models of earnings in the 1958 National Child Development Survey (NCDS) and the National Survey of 1980 Gr... Read More about Reassessing the economic value of advanced level mathematics.

Reconsidering the rise in A-Level Mathematics participation (2016)
Journal Article

There is growing support for making the study of mathematics to age 18 compulsory for all young people in England. This paper aims to inform this debate through new insights into historic A-level Mathematics participation trends. We analyse full-ye... Read More about Reconsidering the rise in A-Level Mathematics participation.

Locating mathematics within post-16 vocational education in England (2015)
Journal Article

The political importance of mathematics in post-16 education is clear. Far less clear is how mathematics does and should relate to vocational education. Successive mathematics curricula (e.g. core skills, key skills) have been developed in England wi... Read More about Locating mathematics within post-16 vocational education in England.

Connecting mathematics teaching with vocational learning (2015)
Journal Article

For many vocational students in England, mathematics is now a compulsory part of their programme, yet the inclusion of an academic subject within a vocational course presents challenges. In this paper, an analysis of a series of case studies of vocat... Read More about Connecting mathematics teaching with vocational learning.

To grade or not to grade: balancing formative and summative assessment in post-16 teacher trainee observations (2014)
Journal Article

The issue of whether trainee teachers in the post-16 sector should have their classroom practice graded has been debated for a number of years. The case for training courses retaining an emphasis on written and verbal ‘developmental’ feedback at the... Read More about To grade or not to grade: balancing formative and summative assessment in post-16 teacher trainee observations.