Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve (a) numeracy skills and (b) AI skills.

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

School-aged pupils should learn foundational knowledge that underpins artificial intelligence (AI) literacy and numeracy through computing and mathematics curricula. Work is underway on a new curriculum and assessment system that is ambitious for every child, rich in knowledge and strong on skills. The new curriculum will be subject to consultation.

The department also funds direct support to teachers. Our 40 Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence maths hubs deliver free, local support to teachers from over half of primary and secondary schools in England every year, covering from reception up to GCSE in post-16 institutions. To support the teaching of AI, the National Centre for Computing Education, funded by the department, delivers a range of free and flexible online courses to equip teachers with the knowledge to embed age-appropriate teaching of AI into computing lessons.

In addition, post-16 institutions are required to support students aged 16 to 19 who have not yet achieved a GCSE mathematics grade 4 to make progress towards Level 2.