Two of the regions with the lowest outcomes for post-16 maths could be left without maths schools, under a government review.
Tes understands that University of Nottingham Maths School and Durham Maths School have both been told by the Department for Education that they will be reviewed as part of the department’s review of whether 44 mainstream free schools should go ahead.
The schools are in the free school pipeline and, if they open, will make their regions - North East and East Midlands - the last two to gain a 16-19 maths school with a confirmed opening date.
The East Midlands and North East had the in the latest round of results - at 71.1 per cent and 71 per cent.
A trust leader has raised concerns that, even if the maths schools are okayed to go ahead after the review, pupils in the region will face further delays in their opening.
The third worst-performing region was the West Midlands, where 71.6 per cent of pupils achieved an A* to C grade in maths last year.
Should be doing all possible ‘to close gaps’
Aston University Maths School, which is currently slated to open in September 2025, told Tes it is not in scope for review.
“We should be doing everything possible to close disadvantage gaps,” said David Thomas, CEO of Axiom Maths and former DfE special adviser. “I hope we’re able to give certainty to pupils in these areas about the opportunities that will be open to them as soon as possible.”
Other regions all see more than 73 per cent of A-level students achieving grades A* to C, with London coming top at 75.8 per cent.
In 2019, the Conservative government committed to opening 11 specialist maths schools across the country so each region would have a university-backed school acting as a regional centre for excellence for maths teaching and to encourage pupils into science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) degrees.
As of January 2025, eight are open - one in Yorkshire, two in the North West, one in the South West, two in London, one in the South East, and one in the East of England.
Tes revealed last year that at least six of the 11 schools had either had to push back their opening dates or open on temporary sites.
Both Aston and Nottingham had originally listed September 2024 as their proposed opening dates in their business cases, but had to delay to September 2025. This will now no longer happen for Nottingham.
Shows ‘lack of ambition’ to raise outcomes
Rob McDonough, chief executive officer of East Midlands Education Trust, which is set to run the Nottingham School, said he had expected the maths schools to have sat outside the review because they were originally a DfE initiative.
“We found ourselves in the odd position of having to justify to the DfE a DfE initiative,” he told Tes.
“The East Midlands and the North East could be the only regions left without a maths school and these regions should be included in the initiative.
“It shows a lack of ambition to raise outcomes in this area, particularly in Stem.”
Dan Abramson, CEO at U-Maths, said the North East and East Midlands are “desperately in need of mathematics investment”.
“The review of schools in the free school pipeline was announced in October last year and was supposed to be completed in the autumn. Why the delay? To leave so many students and schools in the dark is unreasonable and wastes precious resources and opportunities,” he added.
Wider free school delay concerns
These concerns go beyond the maths schools - of the 44 free school pipeline projects being reviewed, several others have concerns about the impact of delays.
The ones under review were asked to justify to the DfE the case for why the project should continue.
Another 16-19 school in the pipeline, New College Keighley, is under review. Brendon Fletcher, executive principal at New College Doncaster, which is part of The New Collaborative Learning Trust that applied to run the school, said it had originally been expecting an outcome of the review by the end of November, but this was then pushed back to the end of January at the earliest.
The trust had spent much of 2024 scouting out potential sites for New College Keighley, which Bradford Council approached the trust to set up to address a “need for high-quality A-level and BTEC provision in Keighley”, Mr Fletcher said.
“We need some certainty,” he toldTes.
Mr Fletcher added that due to the delays, the free school is already looking at a later date than originally hoped.
Delays make it ‘difficult to complete construction’ in time
Saracens Primary School, to be run by Saracens Multi-Academy Trust, had been due to open in 2019 originally, but faced delays from problems accessing the site and then from the pandemic.
The trust said the school was reviewed by the DfE in 2023 and given the go-ahead to open in September 2026. It added that the geography of the local area makes it difficult for children to travel elsewhere safely.
“Any further delay will make it very difficult to complete construction of Saracens Primary School for opening in September 2026, so Saracens Multi-Academy Trust would welcome an early decision to proceed with Saracens Primary School,” a trust spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Derby Diocesan Academy Trust has two schools under review. CEO Sarah Clark said the trust is optimistic they will move forward “given the clear and pressing need created by significant new housing developments in the area.”
Schools removed from pipeline
However, at least one school listed as in “pre-opening” at the end of 2024 has already been removed from the pipeline.
Waterside Primary Academy was set to be run by Greenwood Academies Trust, but has now been axed following discussions between the trust, the DfE and Nottingham City Council. It had been in pre-opening since 2019.
“In recent conversations, it has become apparent that, with surplus primary places in the area there is not sufficient demand for this school to fulfil the rigorous criteria for meeting place planning needs and that the DfE would not, therefore, put in place a funding agreement to open the school,” a trust spokesperson said.
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