RoME 2025 - The current state of secondary mathematics

Jeremy Hodgen, Associate Director

Much concern has been expressed about mathematics as students move from primary to secondary education and the so-called Key Stage 3 ‘dip’ in students’ attainment and attitudes. Section 5 of the Observatory's Review of Mathematical Education 2025 (RoME 2025) addresses this issue, providing robust evidence on Year 7 students’ attitudes to mathematics. Alongside this, the report presents a wide variety of information on the maths curriculum offered to students, their teachers and how they learn maths outside school.

 

Students’ attitudes to mathematics

The good news is that students in Year 7 are broadly positive about mathematics (see the figure below). The vast majority consider maths to be important with nearly nine in every ten students reporting the subject to be of ‘high’ or ‘somewhat high’ value. A majority also report positive levels of confidence and enjoyment, with two in five reporting that they enjoy maths more than they did in Year 6. However, it is concerning that 40% of students reported ‘high’ or ‘somewhat high’ levels of anxiety about maths. Despite this, four in five students agree that they are ‘doing well in maths’ in Year 7.

The mathematics curriculum in Year 7

The Observatory collected evidence from nearly 700 teachers about their pedagogy. Teachers were asked to describe the main topic of their last Year 7 mathematics lesson. 578 teachers responded to this open response question. Almost half of all these lessons focused on number (51%), followed by algebra (24%), geometry and measures (17%) and statistics (4%). The National Curriculum introduces two ‘new’ content areas at Key Stage 3, but only a small proportion of lessons focused on either of these areas: 2% of lessons on ratio, proportion, and rates of change, and 1% on probability. Just 3% of all lessons were related to problem-solving, almost all of which were in the context of number. This is somewhat concerning given the emphasis placed on both proportional reasoning and problem solving in the ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review. The Observatory is currently conducting a follow up survey in Year 8, and it will be interesting to see whether more emphasis is placed on these important topics as students progress through Key Stage 3.

Teachers of mathematics in Key Stage 3

A major concern in recent years has been the proportion of non-specialist teachers who are teaching mathematics. The distribution of these out-of-field teachers and the relationship of this to school context is one of the issues that the Observatory’s longitudinal study is exploring. In fact, for our sample of secondary teachers of mathematics, just over half report that their highest mathematics qualification is a degree in mathematics, either at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Around one third have a school advanced level mathematics qualification at AS or A level. Hence, only a small proportion report that GCSE Mathematics is their highest subject level qualification. However, teachers of mathematics with these various levels of mathematics qualification are not evenly distributed through the school system, with more disadvantaged schools having greater proportions of teachers with lower mathematics qualifications. The Observatory will be exploring the implications of this as the research progresses.

The RoME Report

This is just a snapshot of the extensive set of evidence on secondary mathematics presented in RoME 2025. There is more information on the issue discussed here as well as evidence about mathematics pedagogy in Year 7, students’ experiences of mathematics outside school, and maths teachers’ working lives. Please do read the full report and get in touch if you have any comments or feedback.

Read RoME 2025

Author information

Jeremy Hodgen is an Associate Director at the Observatory for Mathematical Education and a Professor of Mathematics Education.

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