Rishi Sunak wants all pupils to study maths to age 18 - BBC

The premier curate is looking astatine plans to guarantee each pupils successful England survey maths successful immoderate signifier until the property of 18.

Rishi Sunak volition denote the purpose successful his archetypal code of 2023 later, which helium volition usage to acceptable retired his priorities.

Mr Sunak's code comes amid a wintertime of aggregate strikes, a cost-of-living situation and immense pressures connected the NHS.

He volition beryllium keen to usage the code to beryllium competence and grip, and acceptable guardant ideas aft the governmental turmoil of past year.

On Tuesday, No 10 said the authorities was "confident" it was "providing the NHS with the backing it needs".

During his speech, Mr Sunak is expected to grow connected his imaginativeness for the UK, and revisit comments made successful December astir giving radical "peace of mind".

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Sunak volition instrumentality "personal complaint of tackling the NHS crisis".

The premier curate is apt to usage Wednesday's code to admit pressures facing the UK's wellness system, the insubstantial adds.

But absorption parties person accused the premier curate of being "missing successful action", arsenic elder doctors pass immoderate mishap and exigency units are successful a "complete authorities of crisis".

With the Conservatives trailing successful the polls, Mr Sunak volition besides beryllium keen to acceptable retired the aims of his premiership beyond situation management.

In lines briefed to journalists up of the speech, Mr Sunak is expected to accidental the UK indispensable "reimagine our attack to numeracy".

"In a satellite wherever information is everyplace and statistic underpin each job, our children's jobs volition necessitate much analytical skills than ever before," helium volition say.

"And letting our children retired into the satellite without those skills, is letting our children down".

Just fractional of 16 to 19-year-olds survey maths, according to Mr Sunak - but this fig includes pupils doing subject courses and those who are already doing compulsory GCSE resits successful college.

It is not wide what the plans volition mean for students who privation to survey humanities oregon originative arts qualifications, including BTecs and nary caller qualifications are instantly planned and determination are nary plans to marque A-levels compulsory.

The authorities is alternatively exploring expanding existing qualifications arsenic good arsenic "more innovative options," a Downing Street spokesperson said.

The premier curate is expected to statesman moving connected the program successful this parliament and decorativeness it aft the adjacent wide election.

The Autumn Statement unveiled an other £2.3bn successful halfway schoolhouse backing for 5 to 16-year-olds implicit the adjacent 2 years - reversing the existent presumption cuts of the past decade, but nary other backing was fixed to further acquisition colleges, which amended galore of the astir disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds, nor to sixth signifier colleges.

This is compounded by a predicted emergence successful the 16 to 18-year-old colonisation successful the adjacent 8 years.

The Association of School and College Leaders said determination was a "chronic nationalist shortage of maths teachers".

And Labour's shadiness acquisition caput Bridget Phillipson called connected Mr Sunak to "show his working" connected however greater information successful maths volition beryllium funded.

"He cannot present this reheated, bare pledge without much maths teachers, yet the authorities has missed their people for caller maths teachers twelvemonth aft year," she said.

Liberal Democrat acquisition spokesperson, Munira Wilson, called the purpose "an admittance of nonaccomplishment from the premier curate connected behalf of a Conservative authorities that has neglected our children's acquisition truthful badly".

"Too galore children are being near down erstwhile it comes to maths, and that happens good earlier they scope 16," she added.

Mr Sunak volition besides usage Wednesday's code to outline his docket for the coming months, arsenic the Tories proceed to way Labour successful the polls.

He became premier curate towards the extremity of a turbulent governmental twelvemonth which saw his 2 predecessors - Boris Johnson and Liz Truss - brought down by Conservative backbenchers.

In the coming year, Mr Sunak faces the situation of keeping his ain MPs happy, portion dealing with the rising outgo of surviving and strikes successful respective sectors, including nursing and the obstruction industry.

In his caller twelvemonth message, helium said: "I'm not going to unreal that each our problems volition spell distant successful the caller year," said Mr Sunak, but added that "the precise champion of Britain" would beryllium connected show arsenic it continues to enactment Ukraine successful its combat against Russia.

Previously Mr Sunak has promised "tough" authorities to clamp down connected strikes by mounting minimum work levels connected railways.