Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the total annual investment at Higher Education level in the pure mathematical sciences; and how, as a share of GDP, this compares with that of countries with the best mathematics results at that level.

​The government strongly supports mathematical sciences in higher education. Ensuring that there is high-quality provision in a range of subjects is critical in order to build our workforce and support our public services. We are pleased many students chose to take up courses in mathematical sciences, with 39,210 students enrolling in England in 2019/20 academic year: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-49.

Our student loan system supports students who have the qualifications to access higher education, including a range of mathematics courses. In the 2019/20 academic year, a total of £300 million was made available as tuition fee and maintenance loans for students doing mathematics courses.

The UK continues to be a world leader in mathematics. To support mathematics research and development, UK Research and Innovation has awarded £104 million of additional funding into Mathematical Sciences, over and above the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s core Mathematical Sciences Theme budget. The additional investment has funded institutes, small and large research grants, fellowships, doctoral studentships and postdoctoral awards.