Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Tomlinson Excerpts

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

The Arsenal result was extremely satisfactory and I was there to observe it.

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

15. What steps he is taking to improve the quality of mathematics teaching in schools.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Elizabeth Truss)]

I agree that mathematics teaching is a major issue. It is the subject with the highest teacher shortage, and we know that maths skills are vital for students. We are working to attract top graduates, with bursaries of up to £20,000. By increasing maths take-up between the ages of 16 to 18 we will increase the pipeline of people going into the maths teaching profession.

[Justin Tomlinson]

Does the Minister agree that teaching factual financial education, such as calculating APRs and tariffs, should be an integral part of the maths curriculum, and will she meet me to discuss the work of the all-party group on financial education for young people?

[Elizabeth Truss]

I completely agree that it is very important for students to be financially literate. In order to be financially literate they need to be mathematically fluent. That is why we are going to have higher expectations in topics such as using and understanding money, working with percentages, and positive and negative numbers. We are also looking at limiting the use of calculators in the early years of primary school so that students achieve proper fluency in calculations. I believe I am due to meet my hon. Friend in only a couple of minutes’ time, but I am happy to have a further meeting with him on this issue.