Andy Brown, the Scottish government’s specialist adviser for mathematics, has no plans for “vast, sweeping content removal” from the maths curriculum, as he takes forward the ongoing review of what pupils need to learn and when.
Maths is a “dynamic, evolving and living” subject, he says, and “new mathematics is created constantly around the world”. But adding new content to the curriculum means giving thought to what must be removed - and he doesn’t want to be remembered as “the guy who removed fractions from the maths curriculum in Scotland”.
“I think we need to take account of society and modernisation, but I also think we need to retain the subject integrity,” says Brown, speaking exclusively to Tes Scotland. “The fundamental mathematics doesn’t really change.”
What will change as a result of the review, says the former maths teacher, who took on his role in May 2024, is clarity for teachers about what pupils need to know, and when they need to know it.
Maths curriculum: the ‘vagueness’ of Es and Os
Brown says: “I’m hoping, with the work that we do, that we address the issue around clarity and vagueness of the experiences and outcomes [often referred to as Es and Os]. I’m looking for precise statements that are not open to interpretation and that people are very clear about the level that we are expecting.”
This perceived need for greater prescription in the Scottish curriculum is not just an issue for maths.
Education Scotland’s own research, as it takes forward the first “curriculum improvement cycle” (CIC), identifies that, generally, teachers are critical of Curriculum for Excellence’s (CfE) “vague and woolly” statements and want greater clarity.
The wider CIC - the maths review is just one aspect - is therefore looking to strike a balance between prescription and professional freedom for teachers.
The stakes are high. Brown, previously interim headteacher of two Highland secondary schools, was appointed specialist adviser for maths in the wake of Scotland’s disappointing performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).
The December 2023 results showed Scottish students’ performance was worse across the board than in the previous round of Pisa results in 2019, with the country’s score for maths falling by 18 points.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which runs Pisa, says 20 points is roughly equivalent to a year of learning. While there was a decline in scores internationally, the OECD says that Scotland’s decline in maths was steeper than elsewhere.
In response, education secretary Jenny Gilruth appointed Brown, promised a review of the curriculum and commissioned the inspectorate to undertake a thematic review of maths and numeracy, followed by English and literacy.
The inspectorate published its findings on maths in November. It said that “many children” in upper primary and secondary find maths “repetitive, lacking in challenge and disconnected from real-life applications”.
And there was “a significant drop in enthusiasm for mathematics” as children progress through school, with secondary particularly problematic.
‘A culture of collaboration’
Brown says that, while he does not believe there was anything surprising in the report, improvement will require “the collective wisdom of the entire system”; he is not “some kind of white knight that’s coming through the mist to solve every problem”.
The maths curriculum review, similar to other subject area reviews, involves a core group of 15 to 30 participants - mostly teachers - that will test ideas with a “collaboration group” of up to 100.
Brown says: “We have teachers and practitioners who are very keen to improve and collaborate and make a difference. That level of direct interest from the grassroots...is really positive. That culture of improvement and collaboration is really important.”
In December some of the review’s early work was shared for the first time, when Education Scotland published its .
As well as advocating greater clarity about what pupils need to know and when, Brown says he believes “mathematics is a story”; instead of different topics being taught discretely, interconnectedness should be made explicit in order to improve understanding.
Summing up a good maths curriculum, Brown wrote in that: “It must be rigorous, clear on the underpinning knowledge required to be successful, and should be anchored on key mathematical concepts, which are revisited throughout the curriculum in different engaging contexts.”
The importance of getting the curriculum right was stressed by Pisa boss Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s education and skills director, when he spoke to Tes Scotland in January 2024.
There had been “a clear slide in outcomes” in Scotland, he said, suggesting that perhaps there was “a little bit more prescription needed in the curriculum to better support struggling teachers and struggling schools”.
Earlier this week a paper from the Reform Scotland think tank argued that improving the clarity of the curriculum can lead to “significant improvements” in pedagogy, assessment and attainment.
Bruce Robertson, who wrote the paper with academic Professor Lindsay Paterson, said this was his experience at Berwickshire High School in the Borders, where, as headteacher from 2020 to 2024, he guided the introduction of a “knowledge-based and content-rich” curriculum in S1-3 and saw attainment improve.
Subject-specific professional learning ‘vital’
However, Brown says that “a strong mathematics curriculum is just one piece of the improvement jigsaw”. Coherent, subject-specific professional learning is also vital.
He acknowledges that the shortage of specialist maths teachers in secondary - also flagged by the inspectorate - is a problem.
As to when the changes to the revised maths curriculum will land in classrooms, there is, as yet, no firm date. Tes Scotland understands that timelines for the CIC will be published in the summer term.
One complicating factor is that the revised maths framework will have to align with other curriculum areas - in particular, science and technologies - to avoid repeating ongoing issues of duplication, overcrowding and coherent progression. There will also need to be alignment with qualifications and skills reform.
Meanwhile, a steady-as-she-goes approach has also been advocated by the likes of curriculum expert Professor Mark Priestley, who has warned against “innovation overload in an already overstretched and under-resourced system”.
Yet, no matter how complex the process, for maths - like other areas of the curriculum - the pressure is on to get this next iteration of CfE right.
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