Abstract
There has, for some years, been a growing concern about participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England and across the developed world. Extensive statistical analyses present the decline but offer little to help us understand the causes. In this paper we explore a concern which cannot be explored through national data-sets, namely the retention of mathematics students on Advanced level (A-level) mathematics courses. Drawing on survey data from 15 secondary schools in the Midlands of England, we examine subject differences in decisions to study, withdraw from, and continue in a range of A-level subjects. Not only is the rate of attrition from mathematics higher than most other subjects, but there are substantial differences between schools. In order to explore this high rate of attrition further we consider one school (Queensbury Park) in which a large proportion of students decided not to continue with their study of mathematics from Year 12 to Year 13. Drawing on performance data and focus group interviews we explore some of the reasons for the students’ decisions.
Highlights
Concerns about participation in Advanced level school mathematics have been growing in recent years following a gradual decline in take up from the late 1980s (Matthews & Pepper, 2007; Smith, 2004, p. 2)
Our survey data from Year 12 students indicates that at the time of the surveys more students had withdrawn from their Advanced Supplementary (AS) mathematics course than from any other subject
The percentage is higher from IT subjects this high figure for mathematics is striking
Summary
There has for some years been a growing concern about participation in university-entrance level mathematics in England and across the developed world. Drawing on survey data from fifteen secondary schools in the Midlands of England, we examine subject differences in decisions to study, withdraw from, and continue in a range of A level subjects. Is the rate of attrition from mathematics higher than most other subjects, but there are substantial differences between schools. In order to explore this high rate of attrition further we consider one school – Queensbury Park - in which a large proportion of students decided not to continue with their study of mathematics from year 12 to 13. Drawing on performance data and focus group interviews we explore some of the reasons for the students’ decisions
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