Rishi Sunak has conceded the country will need more teachers to deliver on his ambition to get more pupils to study maths until they are 18.

The prime minister made the admission at the launch of his key policy, which he originally announced in January.

Under the plans, a new review will be launched into how maths can be taught to make sure all pupils in England study some part of the subject, without the need to make it compulsory.

An advisory group made up of mathematicians, education leaders and business representatives will be set up to assist the government.

It comes just a week before teachers are set to stage their next strike on 27 April and 2 May in the ongoing dispute with the government over pay and working conditions.

There has been some support for Mr Sunak’s announcement across the education sector, but critics have warned that in order to deliver on the policy there needs to be more specialist teachers and more funding.

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Mr Sunak pointed to existing support for science, technology, engineering and maths [STEM] graduates – such as tax-free bursaries for teacher training – but admitted: “We need already, and we will need more maths teachers.”

In his speech, Mr Sunak criticised the “cultural sense that it’s okay to be bad at maths” – explaining that it puts children “at a disadvantage” for failing to equip them with skills needed in a workplace.

“We’ve got to change this anti-maths mindset. We’ve got to start prizing numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading,” Mr Sunak told the room of business leaders, students and teachers.

“I won’t sit back and allow this cultural sense that it’s okay to be bad at maths to put our children at a disadvantage.

“My campaign to transform our national approach to maths is not some nice-to-have. It’s about changing how we value maths in this country.”

He added: “We simply cannot allow poor numeracy to cost our economy tens of billions a year or to leave people twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy.

“We have to fundamentally change our education system, so it gives our young people the knowledge and skills they need – and that our businesses need – to compete with the best in the world.”

It has also emerged that the government held a review into post-16 mathematics six years ago which came up with a number of recommendations that have not been acted on.

The author of the review, Sir Adrian Smith, was asked to look at the possibility of encouraging students to study maths until the age of 18 but rejected the idea due to concerns about the lack of resources in the education system.

Rishi Sunak is clearly passionate about his cause, but critics question his priorities

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

Rishi Sunak’s speech on maths lasted all of 8 minutes and 33 seconds.

To continue the topic of the day; that’s 513 seconds or around 14% of an hour.

So this wasn’t a substantial intervention. And the content wasn’t terribly new either.

That said, the prime minister is clearly passionate about the cause, giving detailed and in-depth answers when questioned by journalists.

The specifics of his pledges around mandatory maths are decidedly woolly though. As it stands, this all seems to fall more into the “aspiration” policy box rather than anything more practical or immediate.

At a time when school strikes mean many pupils have days when they are taught nothing, some may question the wisdom of putting quite so much emphasis on a relatively niche announcement about the future curriculum.

The impact this will have on broader economic growth is also up for debate.

Yes, as we edge into an age shaped by artificial intelligence and automation, a knowledge of maths will be essential for many modern workers.

But MPs will point to planning, taxes and labour shortages as other more immediate factors holding back the economy.

It’s in those areas where Mr Sunak will really need to make sure his sums add up in the months ahead.

The UK is one of the least numerate countries among the 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) advanced economies, and is one of the few nations worldwide that does not require its students to learn maths up until they are 18.

Downing Street claims about a third of children fail to pass GCSE maths, and more than eight million adults have numeracy skills below those expected of a nine-year-old.

Asked by Sky News’ Beth Rigby why he wasn’t giving a commitment to tackle the issues in education and help students pass maths GCSE now, Mr Sunak replied: “We’re doing both.”

He said the government was starting at primary school level with a range of maths hubs, sharing best teaching practices across schools, as well as making curriculum changes.

“I made the point: we have made progress. We’ve moved up 10 points in the international rankings,” he said. “But we need to do more.

He denied suggestions that previous governments had “dropped the ball” on maths standards, saying: “Our track record on this stuff is great.”

However, he admitted that the changes wouldn’t happen “overnight” and that the government would wait until after July to announce how it will implement its “maths to 18” policy.

Ahead of Mr Sunak’s speech, Labour’s shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Once again, the prime minister needs to show his working: he cannot deliver this reheated, empty pledge without more maths teachers.

“But after 13 years of failing our children, the Tory government repeatedly misses their target for new maths teachers, with maths attainment gaps widening and existing teachers leaving in their droves.

“Labour does not need a new advisory group to make the right choices for our children. We will drive up standards in every corner of our country by investing in thousands more teachers, including maths teachers, by ending tax breaks for private schools.”

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Sam Sims, chief executive of the charity National Numeracy, said: “Addressing poor numeracy needs to start much earlier than 16. We need a cradle to career vision for numeracy in the UK.”

However, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said: “It seems like an attempt to divert attention away from the most pressing matter in education in England which is the industrial dispute triggered by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions and resulting crisis in recruiting and retaining enough staff.

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“These severe shortages directly undermine the prime minister’s ambition because it means there are not enough maths teachers to deliver even the existing requirements let alone extend maths to every pupil to the age of 18.”

The Liberal Democrats also criticised the announcement, arguing that it broke rules around purdah – the name used to describe the period immediately before elections or referendums when restrictions on communications are applied.

The party has written to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case to report the alleged rule breach ahead of the local elections on 4 May.