Too much “high stakes” testing from the age of seven is damaging pupils’ enthusiasm for maths, a report claims.

The Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (Acme) says children in England should “not always be studying towards the next test”.

Otherwise, “important mathematical skills may be inadequately taught, or not taught at all”. But a government spokeswoman said testing helped every child “reach his or her potential”.

The report by Acme – a group made up of academics and maths teachers – found even A-level maths students were put off the subject by first-year AS-level exams.

The “poor results and high failure rates” stopped many continuing into the second year of the course, it adds. The number of entries for final A-level maths exams in England in 2001 – the last group not to sit AS-levels – was 47,959. By 2002, it had fallen to 38,512.

The number who had sat the AS-level in 2001 was 46,610. This represents a drop-out rate of 17.4%.

Link: BBC Education.