Science students
‘lacking 
in maths’

Around seven in 10 biology undergraduates, almost two-fifths of those taking chemistry at university and a fifth of those on engineering courses have not studied maths past GCSE level, it found.

Lord Willis of Knaresborough, chairman of the House of Lords sub-committee which published the report, said he was “absolutely gobsmacked” by the figures.

The report suggests that the level of maths required by universities to study science-based courses is not demanding enough, and allowing people to skip the subject at A-level.

It calls for all teenagers to continue studying maths past the age of 16, and for all students who want to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) at university to study the subject to A-level standard.

Lord Willis said: “If we are talking about a world-class STEM base, where mathematics is the cornerstone of virtually every science programme, then it is really quite amazing that we have so few students who have studied maths, literally, beyond GCSE and often, not even with a grade A.”

The report, which investigated STEM subjects in higher education, says that universities must toughen up their maths entry requirements.

Professor Sir William Wakeham, international secretary and senior vice-president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, who was the specialist adviser for the committee said they had spoken to pharmaceutical industries who have “enormous demand” for statistical analysis but many of their graduates have studied biological science and “not studied maths from the age of 16 with a minimal level of statistics”, he said.