Mathematical Sciences

Baroness Chapman of Darlington Excerpts

Tuesday 8th February 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

I thank my noble friend for her question. That sounds like an excellent event and I am sure we will want to do all we can to support it.

[Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Lab)]

My Lords, the UK’s position as a leader in maths would be more certain if we addressed inequalities in education at a young age. The Government should start by launching an urgent inquiry into the way A-level results were awarded last year, when we saw stark differences in the way that schools awarded top grades. As an example, one private girls’ school in north London nearly trebled its rate of A* grades awarded, so that more than 90% of its entries were assessed as A*. Pressure on teachers from senior leaders—not at all schools, but at some—to game the system is deeply troubling and unfair. This must surely be investigated in order to restore confidence in the system.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

This is obviously an important subject but we are getting slightly off the original topic, which was maths research council funding. However, I would be happy to look at that issue in more detail and come back to the noble Baroness.