Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill

I just intervene to tell the Minister—it is maths and further maths about which I assume the noble Lord is concerned—that there has been a significant increase in the number taking further maths over the last couple of years, partly as a result of the Further Mathematics Network initiative. It puts young people at state schools that have not had the facility to teach further maths in touch with people who have that capability. It is partly online but it also provides young people with face-to-face tuition through extra classes, twilight classes and weekend tuition. It is an example that has been extremely effective and could well be copied in one or two other areas. There is a question as to why, given that we have seen this increase in mathematics at A-level, the Government are now consulting on changing the A-level maths curriculum in 2011. The general feeling—and I was talking only last night to somebody representing the Mathematical Association—is that the formula is now good. People are flocking back to maths after the disaster of Curriculum 2000. If it ain’t broke—and it is working—why fix it?