Mathematical Sciences

Lord Wigley Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a very interesting point. We have to compete globally for maths graduates, but at the same time we need to have a pipeline of students going through universities, studying maths and coming out to teach it. I will give some figures. We are spending some £233 million to try to recruit teachers, and giving graduates a £25,000 tax-free scholarship to take up teaching. We are spending some £6,000 each to encourage them to stay on as maths teachers.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, to ensure that the maximum number of people have the potential to study maths, does the Minister accept that at the ages of 15 and 16 they should have not only GCSE maths tuition but the opportunity to study additional maths? That would then open the future of mathematics for them. What will the Government do to try to ensure that we not only keep the teachers we have but add more teachers with a flair for maths to encourage that vital step forward?

[Lord Leong (Lab)]

The noble Lord makes a very interesting point. We have to get children to be interested in maths, to love maths and not to be scared of maths. We are putting a lot of money towards the various mathematical societies and learned societies. For the maths hubs, we have invested £185 million to get more teachers and students into maths. We have to do more, and we will continue to do more.