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• Full Report (1.0 MB)
• Executive Summary  (172 KB)
• Ipsos MORI survey of 11-13 year olds on their attitudes to their primary mathematics teaching and learning (196 KB)

In 2007, pupils in their final year of primary school achieved the best set of results so far recorded in the national mathematics tests, yet almost a quarter of pupils are still not reaching the expected standard. Attainment in mathematics increased significantly between 1998 and 2000, but improvements in results since then have been small.

Today’s National Audit Office report found that meeting the 2011 target – that 84.5 per cent of pupils make at least two National Curriculum levels of progress in mathematics – will be a considerable challenge. A significant minority of primary school pupils, including some of the more able, are not making as much progress as they might in mathematics. In 2007, 66,000 pupils did not make the nationally expected level of progress which their earlier attainment suggested they could. In contrast to other subjects, girls are making less progress than boys, and there is a 20 percentage point gap in attainment at age 11 between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers.

Since 2000, spending by primary schools has increased in real terms by more than 30 per cent and the NAO estimates that £2.3 billion is now spent teaching primary school mathematics. Improvement programmes targeted at lower performing primary schools are having a positive impact, with nearly 85 per cent of primary schools achieving the Department’s target for the proportion of their pupils reaching the expected standard in their final year of primary school.

A national strategy to improve performance in primary mathematics was introduced in schools in 1999 and has helped to bring greater consistency in the planning and delivery of mathematics teaching. But weaknesses persist in areas such as the assessment of pupil progress and the use and application of mathematics. Revisions made to the strategy in 2007 are intended to improve these areas. The Department is also piloting a programme Every Child Counts specifically designed to help lower attaining pupils. It is too early to assess the impact of these changes.

Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said today:

“Helping children to master basic mathematics is a central part of their primary education and in 2007 pupils in their final year achieved the best set of results so far in the national tests. In recent years, however, the rate of improvement in primary mathematics has slowed and almost a quarter of pupils are still not equipped with the understanding of mathematics they need to study the subject further, or to tackle subjects such as science once they start secondary school. The Department needs to improve how teachers assess pupils’ progress throughout the primary years, so that they can support every child to do their best in mathematics.”
 

Notes for Editors

1. Press notices and reports are available from the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
    
2. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Tim Burr, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used their resources.
    
3. The National Curriculum sets standards of achievement. At primary school, standards range between level 1 and 5, with pupils expected to achieve certain levels by the end of the Key Stages. Most 7 year olds (Key Stage 1) are expected to attain level 2; most 11 year olds (Key Stage 2) are expected to attain level 4. Levels of attainment, reported annually, are based on:
   • teachers’ assessments of pupils’ progress at age 7, underpinned by compulsory national tests;
   • the results of national tests for pupils at age 11.