As the Scottish exam diet comes to an end, maths exams have now been sent off to be marked.
The anxious wait for results begins – but should pupils be getting their hopes up?
According to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), one in five pupils who took the National 5 mathematics exam last year received ‘No Award’.
Experts say ‘things going wrong’ within Scottish education
Similarly, pupils who progress from National 4 to National 5 in mathematics are shown to perform far worse compared to pupils who take English.
In 2023, almost half of these students (44%) received “No Award”. In comparison, pupils in the same situation for English only had a 15% “No Award” rate.
The analysis of the nation’s results were concluded by experts that “something, somewhere is going wrong in Scottish education”.
Elements such as the Covid pandemic significantly impacted education by preventing students from attending school in person, forcing them to adapt to virtual learning for the first time.
Taylor Truscott, a sixth year pupil from Moray, said she wasn’t at all surprised by the statistics.
She said: “A large majority of people taking National 5 maths had to be moved to only doing units in order for them to still get a qualification in the subject. This is compared to English students who could still carry on as normal after the prelims.
“Maths is a subject where it’s very straight to the point and an answer is either right or wrong which discourages students as if they keep getting the wrong answers they might just give up and develop a negative mindset.
“I was really nervous about failing maths. In fact, I failed the prelim which greatly knocked my confidence in the subject and only increased my anxiety.
“If you use the wrong formula, or miss a step of working, your whole answer could be wrong. It puts a lot of pressure on students and many times causes them to miss errors and make mistakes due to the immense pressure of the exam.”
Assessments show low attainment
The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests are compiled every three years and track standards of reading, maths and science among 15-year-olds.
Scotland’s performance has declined from high to average internationally in maths since 2006, and by 2018 it lost its place as the best-attaining UK nation in maths.
Pressure from society to do well
One teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she was ‘surprised’ at the low attainment rate.
“At our school we have very few no awards at National Five so is not representative of my experience. It is likely these kids should have been withdrawn before the exam or coursed differently.
“There is a huge pressure from society and parents to do well in Maths and English and I think this adds to the anxiety.
“Maths is also a subject that people tend to use to determine ‘intelligence’ which is not necessarily the case.
“My school has study support every lunch and after school. We run a ‘How to pass National Five’ course for parental engagement. We also run Easter school and targeted revision classes.
“All of this is free and accessible to students. We have online textbook links for students. Students that are care experienced, EAL or are from armed forces backgrounds also receive additional study materials.”
Exam anxiety causes struggle for pupils
The most recent Pisa report found that two-thirds of Scottish 15-year-olds worry about getting poor marks and feel anxious about failing the exam. Experts have said that exam pressure and too much teaching to the test could be responsible for this.
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was “very nervous” for the exam and felt that there was “a lot to memorise”.
He said: “I felt very nervous, partly due to the fact it took place in the hall, but also because it involved less structured answers and relied on my ability to remember key facts and details in a subject I had little interest in.
“I did not pass my exam and had to retake it, both times of taking it I found concentration and interest in the subject very low.”
Winning Scotland’s work
Charity Winning Scotland attempt to improve attitudes to mathematics through their work with educators. Their ‘Mathematical Mindsets in Scotland’ project, carried out in 2018, reported on a survey of 11,465 students regarding their attitudes towards maths.
One conclusion of the survey found that 61% of primary students agreed with the statement that you can be creative in maths compared to only 32% of secondary pupils.
Chief executive Zarah Hedges said: “Our aim is to create a culture change in Scotland where education is actually preparing our young people for the kinds of life they’re going to be living in future.
“We’ve got a lot of problems that we’re putting on our young people including climate change and the effects of the pandemic.
“They’re going to be doing jobs that haven’t been invented yet and using technology that hasn’t been invented yet.
“We need to prepare them for that future, and STEM subjects are crucial.”
An alternative qualification
Many schools in the country require pupils to study English and mathematics in their fourth year.
Both pupils believed it was right to encourage people to take some form of mathematics within their senior years, though they encouraged an alternative to the qualification.
The National 5 Applications of Mathematics qualification was introduced in 2017 as an alternative to Mathematics. It works to use topics like compound interest and probability to give pupils skills they can use in the outside world.
Taylor encouraged this qualification as she said it was much more relevant to the skills you need outside the classroom.
“Maths being compulsory makes it a chore, schools want their students to have the basic skills necessary for life but many aspects of the courses are not applicable to 99% of people who take the course,” she said.
“Compulsory mathematics would be far more effective and well received if it taught pupils the topics that are relevant to life after secondary school instead of making them learn a whole set of formulas for one exam that they’ll probably never use again.”
Entries for Applications of Mathematics have risen sharply from around 2,500 in 2018 to now over 19,000. However, this is predominately due to the fact that high-attaining students have been presented for both exams.
A spokesperson for the SQA commented: “We saw weaker performance in National 5 Maths in 2023, although Higher and Advanced Higher was strong overall. However, it is important to set the National 5 Maths results in context. The 2023 A-C attainment rates fall within the same range (low to mid 60s) that was normal between 2015 and 2019.
“There are a range of factors that may have influenced National 5 Maths results in 2023, including the strong growth of National 5 Applications of Maths which, for some, is an alternative qualification at National 5.
“The growth in dual entries – part of a wider trend that has seen learners being entered for both National 4 and National 5 – these have more than doubled since 2019. Some learners with dual entries tend to have lower pass rates at National 5.
“In March 2024, SQA published the findings of research into how almost 5,000 learners, teachers, lecturers and senior examiners found National Courses in the 2022-23 session.
“This included a report into the performance of National 5 Maths. These findings contributed to the Scottish Government’s plans for reviewing the Maths curriculum for which it has recently appointed a National Maths Specialist.”
Despite mathematics attainment being low and a clear cause for concern, many pupils still continue to struggle within the subject without receiving the right support. While charities and educators attempt to improve attitudes to mathematics, many say a ‘collective effort’ is instead what is needed.
Listen below to my interview with Alana, a sixth year pupil, who has taken mathematics at a National 5 and Higher level.
