Maths for
Vocational Tutors
and Assessors
International view


PISA (Programme for International Student
Assessment) study shows how England’s 16–
24-year-olds are falling behind their Asian and
European counterparts
England is 24th for numeracy with the first
three being:
Shanghai – China
Singapore
Hong Kong
National view

Numeracy levels in the general population are in
decline.

65% of CBI employers see a pressing need to raise
standards for 16-19 year olds

58.2% of young people age 16 achieved 5 GCSEs
grade A*to C including English or mathematics in
2010-2011 (up from 50.7% in 2008-2009)

41.8% did not
Ofsted
In judging teaching, learning and assessment,
inspectors evaluate the extent to which
 “Teaching and learning develop English,
mathematics and functional skills, and support the
achievement of learning goals and career aims”
 Criteria for Good – They develop and apply a
good range of skills, including … mathematics…
 Criteria for Outstanding – They apply skills and
background knowledge to great effect, including
… mathematics…
Graph Stories
 Task
- to give examples for the story of the
graph.
 Choose a vocational area, then identify
what this graph could mean
 How many different interpretations can
you devise?
Maths is everywhere 1
 Task
- Choose a picture and identify
maths activities around that vocational
area
 Name
the vocational area, show the
picture, ask a question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2dhD9zR6hk
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/bomb-countdown/full-screen/
Quick question

Travel and Tourism.

The answer is 15:30

What’s the question?
Maths is everywhere 2
 Identify
a maths activity lasting10 mins
 Identify
a maths theme for an hour
 Devise
a maths project for 5-6 weeks
Using statistics
 World data
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
 National data
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/search/index.html?newquer
y=average+earnings
 Topical
- You are more likely to be bitten by Luis Suarez (1 in 2,000)
than a shark (1 in 3,700,000)
More longer term strategies






Staff training to ensure all staff have personal
maths skills (L2? L3?)
Identify maths champions within vocational
areas
Managers/Quality leads review SoW to ensure
maths is integrated
Have a maths topic of the week
Decimals - money, personal banking, costing a project,
planning to a budget
Measure – imperial metric conversions, tracking height, scale
drawings, plans
Finally
 Staff
may need support
 Maths can be integrated
 Maths is everywhere