Universities 'forced to give remedial maths lessons'

The Royal Society of Chemistry claimed that teachers want 16-year-olds to drop maths and take easier A-levels purely to boost their school's place in Government league tables.

The society's chief executive Richard Pike said the trend threatened to undermine Britain's future economic prosperity amid competition from scientists in China.

Students taking chemistry and physics at university must have a good grasp of maths, Dr Pike said.

But he went on: "Increasingly, universities are mounting remedial sessions for incoming science undergraduates because their maths skills are so limited, with many having stopped formal lessons in mathematics two years earlier at the GCSE level.

"This contrasts starkly with countries like China, in which mathematics is seen as integral to the sciences and to the nation's economy, and is taught to all up to the age of 18.

"There, the concept of remedial courses at university would be inconceivable.

"UK chemistry departments are often world-renowned for their creativity.

"However, mathematics tests set in England by many universities for undergraduate chemistry students in their first term to diagnose remedial requirements are disconcertingly simple.

"They encapsulate the challenge facing this country."

Dr Pike called for a national investigation into how to tackle the issue.

"Our future depends upon it," he said.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is offering a £500 prize to anyone who can answer a sample maths question from a Chinese university entrance test.