MATHS will be the “central focus” of curriculum improvements, Scotland’s Education Secretary has said.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, Jenny Gilruth announced the curriculum improvement cycle plans will start with maths following the publication of data that showed the poverty-related attainment gap increased in some areas.
It comes as figures released by the Scottish Government showed that while attainment in literacy and numeracy generally improved, the gap between the richest and poorest pupils increased over the last five years.
For primary pupils, the attainment gap in maths jumped slightly from 16.8 percentage points to 17, while the figure rose from 13.5 points to 13.6 for S3 pupils, while there was a drop from 15 points in 2021-22.
The poverty gap in literacy meanwhile was 20.5 points, down from 21.3 in the previous year and 20.7 in the pre-pandemic year of 2018-19.
However, the percentage of primary pupils achieving the expected level in numeracy was 79.6% in 2022-23, up from 77.9% in the previous year and 79.1% from 2018-19.
Literacy attainment was far lower in both categories, with 72.7% in primary, up from 70.5% from the previous year and 72.3% before the pandemic; while S3 was 87.8% in 2022-23, up from 85.5% but down 0.1% on pre-pandemic levels.
Announcing the review plans on Tuesday, Gilruth said a maths specialist will lead on the curriculum plans in 2024, alongside the National Response to Improving Mathematics (NRIM) which will assess the transition between primary and secondary.
Gilruth told MSPs she recognised that maths needed to be a “central focus” of curriculum improvement following the data.
The review will also see a maths national thematic inspection carried out by the interim chief inspector.
Gilruth said: “Wider evidence from both the 2023 national qualification results and the most recent literacy and numeracy data for primary, show clear evidence of an ongoing recovery which we are determined to build on.
“My view is that maths education requires to be a central focus for government, councils and schools alike.
“I want this nationally to be led by a maths specialist working alongside the National Response to Improving Mathematics. They will also provide a key role in driving the improvements required to improve Scotland’s performance in maths.”
But commenting on the data, Scottish Lib Dems spokesman Willie Rennie said: “The poverty-related attainment gap may have now returned to 2018/19 levels but that leaves the Scottish Government miles away from closing it by 2026, either completely or substantially.
“The SNP seem to have no clue why the gap isn’t closing and why performance overall has slipped.
“Their reform agenda has stalled so they now seem to have no clue about how to improve the performance of Scottish education. The responsibility on the Education Secretary to fill this vacuum is huge.”
The Scottish Tory education spokesman, Liam Kerr, said: “Today’s figures also show that the poverty-related attainment gap – which the SNP vowed to eliminate years ago – remains stubbornly high.
“Teachers do a vital job, yet the SNP has left them overstretched and under-resourced. For the sake of our children’s education, it cannot continue.
“Teachers deserve respect and support, it’s about time the SNP gave them that.”
