Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve attainment in numeracy of primary school pupils, particularly in regard to basic arithmetic.

High and rising standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances.

The department funds the Maths Hubs programme, which is supported by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. Local Maths Hubs provide school-to-school support focussed on mathematics subject knowledge and pedagogy training for teachers. The national network of Maths Hubs across England aims to raise the standard of mathematics education from reception to age 18. Maths Hubs deliver the Mastering Number programme, which is designed to encourage the use of mastery methods to teach solid number sense, to primary schools.

Through the department’s Accelerator Fund, we are also supporting up to 800 nurseries to complete the Maths Champions programme this year. Maths Champions is an evidence based professional development programme, proven to improve children’s mathematics and language outcomes by an average of three additional months.