Sunak says limited UK maths teaching ‘causing us to fall behind rest of world’ amid shortage of teachers – UK politics

Key events

'Reasoned, principled compromise is essential,' George Mitchell tells Northern Ireland parties

George Mitchell, who chaired the talks leading up to the Good Friday agreement, has urged the political parties in Northern Ireland to compromise to resolve the current deadlock at Stormont.

Speaking at the conference at Queen’s University Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the agreement, Mitchell said:

I know that each of your parties – like all political parties in the world – have some of what I call the 100 percenters, they want everything their way all the time – to them, any compromise is a sign of weakness.

I say to you that reasoned, principled compromise is essential, especially in divided societies. It reflects a belief in democratic values that we all are in this together.

There is great depth in recognising that the only way to help us emerge from the rubble of conflict is that we must learn to understand one another. We don’t need to love one another. We don’t even need to like one another, although we hope we could. But we must learn to understand one another and to be able to say yes to one another, especially when the quicker and easier answer is no.

Because, like it or not, we are all in this together, facing the reality of the future, rather than clinging to the myths of the past, takes strength and courage, and vision.

Those we honour today showed those qualities a quarter of a century ago, they will be forever remembered.

Mitchell, who is being treated for leukaemia and who said that this was his first speech at a major public event in three years, received a standing ovation.

His comment about compromise seemed to be directed in particular at the DUP, which continues to boycott power-sharing at Stormont because it is unhappy with the new version of the Northern Ireland protocol negotiated by London and Brussels.

George Mitchell speaking at Queen’s University Belfast today. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

The full text of Rishi Sunak’s maths speech is now on the No 10 website.

Keegan rejects calls for Oftsed to stop issuing one-word assessments of schools

Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, dismissed suggestions that Ofsted should stop issuing one-word assessments of schools – ie, outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

As PA Media reports, there have been calls for Ofsted to drop the system since Ruth Perry, headteacher at Caversham primary school in Reading, Berkshire, killed herself in January while awaiting an Ofsted report which downgraded her school from the highest rating to the lowest.

Critics have argued that one-word summaries are unfair because simplify Ofsted reports, which typically provide a much more rounded assessment.

In interviews this morning Keegan described Perry’s death as “tragic” and said the Ofsted head, Amanda Speilman, was looking at whether the way the regulator works with schools can be improved.

But Keegan she insisted “undermining Ofsted” was “not the right approach”, describing the role it plays in upholding standards and safeguarding as “crucial”.

Asked if she supported Ofsted’s using single-word assessments, Keegan replied: “Yeah. They’re clear. They’re simple to understand.”

Gillian Keegan in Westminster this morning. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Sunak says limited extent of maths teaching 'causing us to fall behind rest of world'

In his speech Rishi Sunak explained why he was giving a speech on maths education at the London Screen Academy. He said:

What’s the biggest skills shortage holding our film industry back?

It’s a shortage of technical skills.

And so what have the London Screen Academy put on the curriculum for their 16-to-19 year olds?

Maths.

Why?

Because you can’t make movies without maths.

You can’t make visual effects without vectors and matrices.

You can’t design a set without some geometry.

You can’t run a production company without being financially literate.

And that’s not just true of our creative industries. It’s true of so many of our industries.

In healthcare, maths allows you to calculate dosages.

In retail, data skills allow you to analyse sales and calculate discounts.

And the same is true in all our daily lives …from managing household budgets to understanding mobile phone contracts or mortgages.

Sunak also said the UK was unusual among developed countries in not requiring pupils to keep learning maths until the age of 18. He said:

We also need to address a very specific problem that’s causing us to fall behind the rest of the world.

We are one of the few developed countries where young people don’t routinely study some form of maths up to the age of 18.

They do it in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway and America.

Why should we accept any less for our children?

Of course, we shouldn’t.

Rishi Sunak giving his speech at the London Screen Academy. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA

Sunak says NHS strikes have made keeping his promise to cut waiting lists 'more challenging'

Rishi Sunak has set out five pledges he wants to achieve before the general election, one of which is cutting NHS waiting lists. In his Q&A he admitted the ongoing NHS strikes would make this keeping this promise “more challenging”.

He said that the government wants to eliminate hospital waits of more than 18 months by this spring. “The industrial action obviously makes that more challenging, but we’re pushing hard to meet that target,” he said.

And he said that by next year he wants to ensure that no one has has been on the waiting list for more than a year, and that the overall waiting list is falling. He went on:

I do remain hopeful, but of course industrial action makes these things more challenging.

Rishi Sunak speaking at the London Screen Academy this morning. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AFP/Getty Images

Rishi Sunak was speaking at the London Screen Academcy this morning, which teaches pupils who want a career in TV. My colleague Jessica Elgot, who was there, says the students in the audience were more excited to be in a room with Chris Mason and Beth Rigby than with Sunak himself.

Sunak says better maths education for pupils will be 'setting them up for success'

Sunak says the government wants to give teachers the confidence to teach maths at primary schools.

If teachers are confident, that will affect pupils.

He cites, as an example, teaching angles through looking at free kicks.

He says most of us have heard people joke about being bad at maths. But no one would say that about not being able to read.

It is not an either/or, he says. He goes on:

If we get this right, we will do something really special for our young people. It will be setting them up for success.

He says that applies, not just in work, but in day-to-day life too – in terms of being able to understand discounts, or manage credit cards.

And that’s it. He has finished taking questions.

Q: Why should people be allowed to join the army at 16, but still forced to keep studying maths?

Sunak says it is not a question of forcing people. He says it is a question of asking why most other countries do ensure people keep learning maths after 16. People lose out if they don’t. They people can earn an extra £1,600 a year just by having basic numerarcy skills.

He says the reaction to this idea, when he proposed it in January, illustrated the anti-maths mindset.

He says he would urge everyone to read the national numeracy website. There is powerful evidence about the need to change cultural attitudes.

Q: Do you think renaming the Brecon Beacons is just virtue signalling?

Sunak says he has not seen that story. It was not part of his prep for this speech, he says.

Q: Can you give any timescale for when pupils will have to start learning maths after 16?

Sunak says the expert group is due tor report by July. After that the government will come up with a plan. But “you can’t rush something like this”, he says. It is a “big reform”.

Q: Are you losing hope you can cut NHS waiting lists?

Sunak says this is really important to him.

They have already practically eliminated two-year waits. By spring this year he wanted to eliminate 18-month waits. The strikes have made that harder, but the government is pushing hard to meet it. And by next spring he wants to eliminate one-year waits.

Sunak says there are many initiatives that will help. He is very focused on this, he says.

Q: Are you going to have to offer more money to teachers?

Sunak says what is on offer is “a good and fair settlement”.

And it is not just about pay, he says. He says the government is trying to cut workload.

Beth Rigby from Sky News goes next.

Q: Isn’t the problem one of provision. Many schools do not have specialised maths teachers. Wouldn’t it be better if, as PM, you gave a commitment to ensure that kids can pass maths GCSE. Should you fix the basics before you talk about the next steps?

Sunak claims “the good news is, we’re doing both”.

He says the government is focusing on primary schools.

He says the government now has 40 maths hubs.

A new qualification for maths teachers at primary schools is being rolled out, he says.

Q: Has the government dropped the ball on this?

Sunak does not accept this. He says the government has moved up 10 points in international league tables on numeracy.

Chris Mason presses Sunak on NHS pay.

Sunak says Unison, the largest health union, voted to accept the NHS pay deal.

He says the deal was “fair and responsible”.

The RCN leadership advised members to accept, he says.

The result was narrow. It was only rejected by 54% to 46%.

Only a minority of the whole RCN membership voted to reject the deal (when you allow for turnout), he says.

Sunak claims 'door is always open' to further talks with unions on teachers' pay

The speech was very short, and it’s over.

Sunak is now taking questions – starting with non-journalists.

After the first question, the non-journalist questions dry up. So Sunak takes a question from the BBC’s Chris Mason.

Q: Schools are facing further disruption from strikes. And the NHS strikes are going on too. Should not sorting those out be your priority?

Sunak says teachers do “an incredible job”.

The quality of teaching is the most transformative thing for pupils, he says.

He says teachers were offered “a reasonable and fair settlement” on pay. Starting salaries would rise to £30,000.

But it is not just about pay. The government proposed measures that would cut the workload by about five hours a week.

He is disappointed the unions rejected the offer. But the government’s “door is always open” to further talks, he says.

Sunak says advisory committee will consider whether new maths qualification needed for 16 to 18-year-olds

Sunak stresses he is not saying every pupil should have to study maths to A-level standard.

And he confirms he is setting up an advisory committee to suggest how pupils should learn more maths.

No 10 says:

A new advisory group, comprising of mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives, will be established to advise government on the core maths content that students need to succeed in future. Taking evidence from countries which have high rates of numeracy and from employers across the country, the group will also advise on whether a new maths qualification is required for 16-18 year olds.

Sunak says it should not be socially acceptable to joke about being bad at maths

Rishi Sunak is delivering his maths speech.

He says maths is now the most popular subject at A-level.

But there is still a problem with pupils not learning enough, he says.

He says there is still an attitude problem. He says, when he told his daughters he wanted to make the case for more maths, there were not keen. And he says it should not be socially acceptable to say you are bad at maths.

We make jokes about not being able to do maths. It’s socially acceptable. We say things like, ‘oh maths, I can’t do that, it’s not for me’ and everyone laughs. But we’d never make a joke like that about not being able to read.

So we’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset.

Here are tweets from three commentators on Rishi Sunak’s speech on maths.

From Ben Ansell, a politics professor

From Sunder Katwala, head of the British Future thinktank

From Sam Freedman, a columnist for Prospect

Talk of Sturgeon standing down soon as MSP because of SNP crisis is 'idle speculation', says Ian Blackford

This morning the Daily Telegraph has splashed on a story claiming there is a “growing expectation” in the SNP that Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister, will soon stand down as an MSP because of the turmoil in the party she has left behind. Opposition parties are even calling for her to be suspended from the party she led for more than eight years.

Ian Blackford, the former SNP leader at Westminster, told the BBC this morning that this report was “idle speculation”. He said:

I think what you’ve seen is idle speculation which is taking place. I speak to my colleague Nicola on a very regular basis and I can tell you that she’s focused on serving the interests of her constituents.

Asked if she was now a distraction for the SNP, Blackford said:

I think history will judge all of us and history, I think, will show a woman that’s led our country, that led us through the Covid pandemic, that has given inspiring leadership to all of us over the course of that period she’s been in leadership.

Blackford also said there was “no reason … at all” why Sturgeon should be suspended by the party.

In a statement on Rishi Sunak’s plan for maths teaching, the National Education Union makes the same point as the one conceded by Gillian Keegan – that there aren’t enough teachers.

Mary Bousted, the union’s joint general secretary, said:

After 13 years in government there are not enough teachers to deliver the prime minister’s vision. His government’s policies for teacher recruitment are not bringing in enough new teachers. There is also a crisis of teacher retention as a result of low pay and excessive workload. The government needs to urgently get a grip of this workforce crisis in education.

Of his proposals on maths education, the prime minister says ‘we’ll need to recruit and train the maths teachers’ but he does not explain how the government will do this. Let’s not forget that this is a government that has cut its recruitment target for maths teachers by 39% since 2020.

And this is from Daniel Kebede, recently elected as the union’s new general secretary.

Education secretary Gillian Keegan admits schools don’t have enough maths teachers to implement Sunak’s plans

Good morning. Rishi Sunak will give a speech this morning restating his desire to ensure that all pupils study maths up to the age of 18. You could argue he is Britain’s first geek prime minister (he loves data and spreadsheets etc), and he first set out this ambition in a speech in January. But today he is going a bit further.

It is normal for prime ministers to change policy. But Sunak is trying something more ambitious. He wants to change social attitudes. According to the No 10 overnight briefing, he will complain that being bad at maths is regarded as “socially acceptable” (in a way, perhaps, that being unable to read or write is not regarded as socially acceptable). He will say:

We’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset. We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading ….

I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s ok to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage …

My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice to have. It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.

Peter Walker has a write-up of the preview here.

But Sunak may struggle to change social attitudes towards numeracy when the government cannot even implement policy in this area. As Justin Webb pointed out on the Today programme this morning, when interviewing the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, the government published a review six years ago setting out proposals intended to improve “mathematics education for 16-18-year-olds in England with the aim of ensuring that the future workforce is appropriately skilled and competitive”. At the time the government said it would respond. Sunak’s speech today could be seen as an admission that it hasn’t.

And, in her Today programme interview, Keegan admitted that the government was failing to meet its target for recruiting maths teachers, even though that target has been cut. And she made the same point on Times Radio, saying:

We certainly need to do more to build up our maths teachers. That is why very recently we put in place a bursary for maths teachers and also physics and computer science as well of £27,000.

We have also increased what we call levelling up payments of £3,000 in certain areas to attract more maths teachers.

In an interview with LBC, Keegan said that the changes proposed by Sunak would not come into force before the general election. And, asked how many extra maths teachers were needed, she told Today:

It depends on what the expert panel say they’re actually going to be learning.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: Senator George Mitchell, who chaired the talks leading up to the Good Friday agreement, speaks at the opening of a three-day conference at Queen’s University Belfast on the 25th anniversary of the deal. Tony Blair and Bill Clinton are among the other prominent figures speaking today. The full schedule is here.

10am: Rishi Sunak gives his speech on maths.

10.30am: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, gives a speech in Glasgow arguing that “Labour is ready to deliver the change that Scotland needs”.

11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.

Morning: Keir Starmer is on a visit in the Midlands.

2.30pm: Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

4pm: Peter Stanyon, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, gives evidence to the Commons levelling up committee about electoral registration.

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