Students shun maths as enrolments fall to all-time low

High school maths enrolments have collapsed to unprecedented low levels, sabotaging the shift to a ‘clever country’.

More students are shunning maths in high school. Photo: istock

High school maths enrolments have collapsed to unprecedented low levels, sabotaging Australia’s shift to a “clever country” of tech-savvy workers.

The proportion of year 12 students studying the highest level of mathematics has fallen below 10 per cent for the first time, a new analysis by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute reveals in a “wake-up call” for educators and industry.

AMSI director Tim Marchant warns that maths enrolments have dropped to an “alarming new low”.

“Action must be taken now – these students are our future workforce,” he said.

“Mathematics skills are essential across so many industry sectors and the severity of this situation will impact Australia’s innovation capabilities.

“This data should be taken as a wake-up call and chance to reform.”

Professor Marchant called for better quality teaching, noting that up to 40 per cent of maths teachers were not qualified to teach the subject.

“Particularly in junior high school, years seven to 10, many (maths) classes are being taught by teachers that aren’t trained in mathematics,” he said.

“Students need their teachers to be trained in the discipline.

“We need to be working with these teachers, increasing their training and professional development.”

Only 9.2 per cent of year 12 students enrolled in specialist maths in 2020, compared with 11.6 per cent in 2008, the AMSI report shows.

Just 17.6 per cent studied intermediate mathematics in 2020 – down significantly from 23.3 per cent of students in 2008.

Together, the proportion of year 12 students who studied intermediate or advanced mathematics has crashed from 34.9 per cent in 2008 to 26.8 per cent in 2020.

Boys were nearly twice as likely to enrol in the highest level of maths, with 6.7 per cent of girls and 11.9 per cent of boys studying the subject in 2020.

Higher maths subjects are essential for university study in medicine, science, engineering and technology courses.

Professor Marchant said the schoolteacher shortage was exacerbated by competition for maths graduates to work in other industries.

“Demand is increasing for maths grads and the supply isn‘t there,” he said.

“For masters grads in maths sciences the starting salaries jumped about 20 per cent in the last five years to over $100,000, which is much more than other disciplines.”

Professor Marchant said Australia must produce more maths graduates to build a modern economy.

“The Australian economy is really evolving to a much more services-based and hi-tech type economy, and a lot of the new jobs involve data science and analytics, AI (artificial intelligence), cyber security, logistics, financial services,” he said.

“They all need maths, stats and data science.”

Professor Marchant called for more girls to study advanced maths in high school.

He said only 38 per cent of advanced maths students were female, although girls made up 49 per cent of intermediate maths students.

“I think it’s really important that the states and territories and the federal government work on increasing that to 50:50,” Professor Marchant said.

“We want gender equity in the various kinds of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) occupations.”

The AMSI report states that the national decline “can be traced back to one state, which changed its examination system in 2020, and where year 12 maths enrolments collapsed”.

AMSI refused to name the state, but in 2020 Queensland joined the rest of the nation in using the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank system.

As a result, students had to sit external exams for half their marks in maths, compared with in-school assessments used previously.

Fresh data from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority shows the proportion of year 12 students studying specialist maths in Queensland has plunged from 10 per cent in 2019 to 5.9 per cent last year.

Enrolments in “mathematical methods”, the intermediate maths subject, collapsed from 37 per cent of year 12 students in 2019 to just 19 per cent last year.

In Victoria, 7.8 per cent of year 12 students completed specialist mathematics last year – down from 8.3 per cent in 2019 – while 31 per cent completed mathematical methods, similar to the rate in 2019.

In NSW, maths enrolments have remained stable, with 25 per cent of year 12s graduating with an advanced maths subject and about 17 per cent studying a maths extension subject last year.