After the diagnostic test – what next ?

The decline in the level of mathematical skills displayed by many students on entry to university has been well-documented (see for example [1]-[3]). Universities have taken a range of steps in an attempt to address this problem. These include such things as:

• curriculum changes to include more ‘revision’ material in the first year
• the provision of extra support units to be studied alongside the traditional syllabus
• the introduction of bridging units to be studied intensively at the start of the course
• staff voluntarily making themselves more available to students outside scheduled classes
• provision of some kind of mathematics support centre.

This project has carried out an investigation of the last of these.