The Department is investing to improve Mathematics education from early years through to age 18, so that young people have the right skills for employment, further education and everyday life.

In early years, the Department is investing £20 million in the Professional Development Programme. This will provide training on language, literacy and numeracy education for pre-reception early years staff in disadvantaged areas, including around 45 settings in Nottinghamshire.

Since 2014, the Department has funded a network of 35 Maths Hubs across England, including two lead schools in Nottinghamshire (George Spencer Academy and Minster School). The Hubs have sought to improve Mathematics teaching from early years through to post-16. Maths Hubs deliver the £76 million Teaching for Mastery programme, which adapts Mathematics pedagogy from top performing east-Asian jurisdictions to English schools. The programme is funded to reach a total of 11,000 primary and secondary schools across England by 2022. This includes establishing a Mastery Readiness Pogramme for schools in greatest need.

To further support the transition between primary and secondary school, schools in Nottinghamshire have also received approximately £1.1 million in additional funding to raise levels of literacy and numeracy of Year 7 pupils. Students on a 16 to 18 study programme who have yet to achieve a GCSE grade 4 or above in Mathematics are required to continue to study the subject.

The Department is funding the £16 million Advanced Mathematics Support Programme to improve and increase provision of, and participation in, AS and A level Mathematics, further Mathematics, and level 3 core Mathematics qualifications, through a range of support to help schools and colleges improve advanced Mathematics teaching.

In 2018, 77% of pupils in Nottinghamshire local authority met the expected standard for Mathematics at Key Stage 2, which is 1% higher than the England average and up from 70% in 2016 when new tests were introduced.

At GCSE level, 71.8% of Nottinghamshire local authority’s pupils achieved a grade 9 to 4 at GCSE Mathematics in 2018, which is slightly higher than the figure for 2017. 75.3% of 19 year olds held a GCSE 9 to 4 or other level 2 qualification in 2018, compared to the national average of 75.6%. 23% of academic students took Mathematics A level at the end of Key Stage 5.

The multiplication tables check (MTC) is developed and delivered by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), an executive agency of the Department for Education.

The STA’s planned expenditure for the MTC over the next five financial years is currently being considered, and will be dependent upon the outcome of the current (2019) national pilot; as a result, definitive final figures are not available at this time.

However, based on current project spend, service development and project costs to-date, and budget planning assumptions, it is estimated that the check will cost between £650,000 and £700,000 per annum to administer - this equates to around 1.2% of STA’s annual budget. Department officials will be able to confirm the actual figure(s) later in the year.

Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School in my constituency, where 100% of pupils met the expected standard of reading, writing and maths—up 23% on last year? Does that not show how school standards are rising?

I would of course be delighted to join my hon. Friend in congratulating the teachers and pupils at Eythorne Elvington Community Primary School on their exceptional performance in last summer’s standard assessment tests. Ensuring that 100% of its pupils are reaching expected standards in reading, writing and maths will help those pupils to be ready for the demands of secondary school. In addition, 56% of pupils at Eythorne Elvington qualified for free school meals at some point in the past six years, showing that high expectations and great teaching can deliver high standards for all pupils, regardless of background.

To help ensure that children can recall their times tables fluently by the time they leave primary school, a new national multiplication tables check will be introduced from the 2019/20 academic year onwards. This check will be delivered via a short, onscreen assessment and will be administered by schools to pupils at the end of year 4.

In order to implement the check, the Department is proposing to amend the Education (National Curriculum) (key stage 2 assessment arrangements) Order 2003. The Department will also consider making further consequential amendments to related statutory instruments before the check is first administered on a statutory basis in the summer of 2020.

We recognise that more needs to be done to ensure adults in England have the literacy and numeracy skills that they need for life and work. This is why this government provides full funding for adults in England to enable them to develop their literacy and numeracy skills and to secure qualifications from entry level up to GCSE level.

The Skills for Life Survey, which was published in 2011, estimated the literacy and numeracy knowledge of adults aged 16 to 65 in England. This includes estimates for regions and local authorities. The survey shows estimates of the percentage of the adult population with different levels for these components for England and each region. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/36520/region-2009-all_1_.xlsx.

According to the survey, adults who have the lowest proportion of literacy and numeracy skills (with a L2 qualification or above) are in London and the North East respectively. However, this does not take into account adults who have English as a second language.

We are working with a range of sector and research partners to improve the evidence base on the best ways to support adults to secure basic English and maths skills. This includes exploring innovative ways through the Career Learning Pilots.

We provide full funding for adult learners in England to secure English and mathematics qualifications from entry level to level 2.

To raise standards of adult literacy and numeracy, we are reforming English and mathematics Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will ensure that these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million to design and test ways of delivering learning to adults with low or intermediate skills more flexibly.

We are also establishing 21 Centres for Excellence across the country, with at least one in every region of England, to improve the quality of mathematics teaching and basic mathematics knowledge and skills in post-16 institutions. The programme will spread best practice across the country through mathematics networks, which will benefit adult learners.

We have already taken significant steps to improve literacy and numeracy skills for male and female prisoners across the adult prison estate in England. Since 2014, it has been mandatory to test every prisoner’s maths and English skills on entry into prison and from August 2017, these assessments were extended to include prisoners transferring between prisons and on release.

We are taking further steps, which will come into full effect from April 2019 as new prison education providers commence delivery. The new education arrangements are focused on governor empowerment and accountability but, to raise standards and ensure consistency of education and training across the prison estate, we have put in place 12 requirements. These include the maths and English testing regime, but also the development of a personal learning plan, as part of the Sentence Plan, to address issues highlighted by these and other assessments.

Although governors will be empowered to determine their establishment’s curriculum and how it is organised and delivered, a core common curriculum of maths, English, Information and Communications Technology and English for Speakers of Other Languages must be delivered in every prison. The process for implementing this is underway now: the new education providers will deliver that core common curriculum from April 2019.

We have already taken significant steps to improve literacy and numeracy skills for male and female prisoners across the adult prison estate in England. Since 2014, it has been mandatory to test every prisoner’s maths and English skills on entry into prison and from August 2017, these assessments were extended to include prisoners transferring between prisons and on release.

We are taking further steps, which will come into full effect from April 2019 as new prison education providers commence delivery. The new education arrangements are focused on governor empowerment and accountability but, to raise standards and ensure consistency of education and training across the prison estate, we have put in place 12 requirements. These include the maths and English testing regime, but also the development of a personal learning plan, as part of the Sentence Plan, to address issues highlighted by these and other assessments.

Although governors will be empowered to determine their establishment’s curriculum and how it is organised and delivered, a core common curriculum of maths, English, Information and Communications Technology and English for Speakers of Other Languages must be delivered in every prison. The process for implementing this is underway now: the new education providers will deliver that core common curriculum from April 2019.

The Department has reformed the National Curriculum, to ensure pupils gain a firm foundation in literacy and mathematics, benchmarked against expectations in high performing jurisdictions.

The Department has already seen that literacy and numeracy have improved since 2010. 81% of pupils met the expected standard in the Phonics Screening Check in 2017 up from 58% in 2012. The results of the 2016 Pupils in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) saw England’s nine year old pupils achieving their highest average score since PIRLS began in 2001. These are the first pupils to take part in the PIRLS study since the Government’s education reforms in 2010. In addition, 61% of students reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2 in 2017, an increase from 53% in 2016.

To improve standards further, the Department is creating a national network of 35 English Hubs, and a Centre of Excellence for Literacy Teaching, backed by a £26.3 million investment. The hubs will focus on raising standards and sharing effective practice in early language and literacy in reception year and Key Stage 1. We have also established a network of 35 Maths Hubs across the country to lead transformational change in maths teaching from primary to age 18. They are delivering the £74 million Teaching for Mastery Programme which emphasises whole class teaching that builds mathematical knowledge systematically and in depth. Teaching for Mastery will reach over 11,000 primary and secondary schools by 2023.

The information requested is not held centrally.

Information on apprenticeships is collected via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR), based on information submitted by further education and training providers. However, the ILR does not hold data on people who were refused an apprenticeship.

The government provides full funding for adults in England to develop the literacy and numeracy skills they need for life and work, and to secure qualifications from entry level up to GCSE.

The Skills for Life Survey, 2011, estimated the literacy, numeracy and ICT knowledge of adults aged 16-64 in England. The estimates of the numbers and percentage of the adult population with different levels for these components for England are in the attached table.

The Department publishes the number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 who achieved the English and mathematics pillars of the English Baccalaureate. Using this we have derived the number and proportion of pupil who did not achieve the Ebacc English pillar and the EBacc mathematics pillar at various threshold levels including at grades 9-5, 9-4 (A*-C) and 9-1(A*-G). This is the closest information published that provides English and mathematics separately for 16 year olds.

The attached tables show the number and percentage of pupils who did not achieve Ebacc pillars for English and mathematics for each of the last 5 years.

This government recognises the importance of mathematics skills, both in work and everyday life. We provide full funding for adults who need these skills to undertake a range of courses including GCSEs, Functional Skills and stepping stone qualifications up to level 2.

Through the Flexible Learning Fund, we are investing over £11 million in a range of projects to design and test flexible and accessible ways of delivering learning to adults with low or intermediate skills. These projects include increasing the mathematics skills and confidence of adults already in work through online and blended learning techniques. We also fund Unionlearn to deliver projects develop the learning capacity, and skill and qualification amongst the workforce, with a particular focus on difficult to engage workers with low skills.

We are reforming English and mathematics Functional Skills qualifications, which are accessed primarily by adults. This will make sure these qualifications are more rigorous and better recognised by employers.