
A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON MATHEMATICSTO INFORM UPPER SECONDARY REFORM IN ENGLAND Mathematics for Lifeand Work A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON MATHEMATICSTO INFORM UPPER SECONDARY REFORMIN ENGLAND This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed andarguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD. This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty overany territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use ofsuch data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements inthe West Bank under the terms of international law. Note by the Republic of Türkiye The information in this document with reference to “Cyprus” relates to the southern part of the Island. There is no singleauthority representing both Turkish and Greek Cypriot people on the Island. Türkiye recognises the Turkish Republic ofNorthern Cyprus (TRNC). Until a lasting and equitable solution is found within the context of the United Nations, Türkiyeshall preserve its position concerning the “Cyprus issue”. Note by all the European Union Member States of the OECD and the European UnionThe Republic of Cyprus is recognised by all members of the United Nations with the exception of Türkiye. Theinformation in this document relates to the area under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus. ISBN 978-92-64-40799-2 (print)ISBN 978-92-64-52366-1 (PDF)ISBN 978-92-64-83134-6 (HTML)ISBN 978-92-64-65519-5 (epub) Photo credits:Cover © Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com. Corrigenda to OECD publications may be found at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/support/corrigenda.html.© OECD 2024 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)This work is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. By using this work, you accept to be bound by the terms of this licence(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Attribution– you must cite the work.Translations– you must cite the original work, identify changes to the original and add the following text:In the event of any discrepancy between the original work and thetranslation, only the text of original work should be considered valid.Adaptations– you must cite the original work and add the following text:This is an adaptation of an original work by the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed inthis adaptation should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries.Third-party material– the licence does not apply to third-party material in the work. If using such material, you are responsible for obtaining permission from the third party and forany claims of infringement.You must not use the OECD logo, visual identity or cover image without express permission or suggest the OECD endorses your use of the work.Any dispute arising under this licence shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Arbitration Rules 2012. The seat of arbitration shallbe Paris (France). The number of arbitrators shall be one. Foreword This reportwasdeveloped by the OECD Above and Beyond: Transitions in UpperSecondary Educationproject at the request of the Department for Education (DfE) in England (United Kingdom). The reportprovidesguidance for enhancing participation in mathematics in upper secondary education in the country. The project team that developed this report would like to thank the Department for Educationin Englandfor their support and contributions.In particular,colleagues from the Priority Projects, former AdvancedBritish Standard and the Maths Curriculum teams. Notably, Ali Pareas, Christina Bolvillrose, Craig Thorley,Daniel Evans, Edward Hyde, Emma Davies,Fiona Enrol, Linh Hy and Melissa Still. From the peer countries who graciously elaboratedontheir systemswith us,we would like to thank PatriziaJankovic (Senior Adviser), DieterHebenstreit (Quality assurance standardised school-leaving examinationmathematics), as well as Christina Zauner, Gabriele Winkler-Rigler, Karoline Meschnigg, and KatharinaUngerfrom the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Researchfortheir contributionsfrom Austria. From British Columbia (Canada), we would like to thank Markus Baer (Director, Assessment Design andDevelopment), Nick Poeschek (Director of Curriculum, Classroom Assessment and Reporting) andJagdeep Brar (Research Officer) from theMinistry of Education and Childcare.From Denmark, we wouldlike to thankFlemming Kastbjerg (VET Curriculum Specialist)andJon Jespersen (Senior Advisor) fromthe National Agency for Education and Quality, Ministry of Children