UK Maths Exams ‘Have Become Easier’

Follow the link below to a PDF file showing higher-tier maths examination questions across many years ranging from 1951 to 2006. Surely this is evidence enough that GCSE exams (and their equivalents) are getting easier as time goes by?

Imperial College, London is piloting entrance exams because A-Levels do not do their job and I can testify that even in the almost-10-years since I started university, standards for starting the physics course in Cardiff have dropped. Why can’t we convince people that maths and science are interesting, exciting and fun? Worse still, why has it become a badge of honour to be bad at mathematics?

I sound like my mother! Which is a good thing because we need more people like her if we’re going to fix the mess we’ve slowly slid into. She currently lectures in maths education, teaching the teachers of the future.

This PDF is taken from a recent report on maths education in the UK, which claims that GCSEs have become ‘shallow’ in that they cover more topics but to less depth. BBC NEWS | Education | Maths exams ‘have become easier’