Twenty-nine per cent of candidates failed AS level mathematics in the summer of 2001. This failure rate is in contrast to a failure rate of 13% across all AS subjects. The immediate consequence is that the number taking A level mathematics in 2002 will be reduced significantly from last year’s figure.
The image of mathematics as a relatively difficult subject has been reinforced acting as a deterrent to would-be students in the future. Whatever action is taken in the short term it is hard to see that it can have a significant effect on the number taking A level mathematics in 2003. In the longer term there is likely to be a further reduction in the number of graduate mathematicians entering the teaching profession. Coming hard on the heels of this is the depressing news that the number of qualified mathematics teachers fell from 40 000 or so in 1983 to 25 000 in 1987 - the last year for which figures have been released; we must expect that the current figure is considerably lower.
