A-levels not equipping students with appropriate mathematical skills
Evidence provides clear role for professional bodies in science A-level design
New evidence shows that A-levels in a range of subjects fail to equip students with an appropriate level of mathematical skills.
This, and research revealing the differences in mathematical difficulty between different exam boards’ papers, has led leading learned societies and education experts to make recommendations for the upcoming A-level reform.
SCORE (Science Community Representing Education), a collaboration of leading science organisations, publishes a new report today, Friday 27 April, which analyses the type, extent and difficulty of mathematics within the 2010 A-level examination papers for the three sciences – Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Also published today, is the Nuffield Foundation’s analysis of the mathematical content in six other A-level subjects that require quantitative skills (Business Studies, Computing, Economics, Geography, Psychology and Sociology).
The reports consider whether the type of mathematics in the examinations was suitable for progression within the subject’s field (type), the proportion of the examination that depended on mathematical knowledge (extent), and the complexity of the mathematical questions (difficulty).