The OU to receive funding for new programme of mathematics teaching

Posted on 24 June 2025 • Science, maths, computing and technology

The Maths Degrees for the Future scheme today names five universities who will share a £2.5 million fund to pilot new maths teaching and outreach, including The Open University (OU).

The new national programme, launched by the Campaign for Mathematical Sciences (CaMS), aims to create ‘next-gen’ degree designs that connect foundational mathematical sciences to their critical role in an increasingly AI and data driven world.

The five winning bids are from the OU, the University of Nottingham, Cardiff University, King’s College London and Imperial College London.

Maths graduate numbers are forecast to drop by a fifth between 2030 and 2035, raising concerns of a growing skills gap in the very areas the UK is relying on for growth: AI, climate science, fintech, and national security.

The Maths Degrees for the Future programme is a strategic push to ensure maths remains at the heart of the UK’s future. CaMS, a collaboration of learned societies and experts across the mathematical sciences, is leading this effort to reimagine what a maths degree can offer in a rapidly changing world.

The programme is fully funded by the leading algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets, a major donor to maths education in the UK.

The Maths Degrees for the Future programme was instituted in part to tackle out of date attitudes to mathematical sciences and demonstrate the pathway from a maths degree into a wide range of careers and applications.

The OU will create OpenMaths, a web resource with a physical presence at the University – promoting experiential and interactive learning in mathematics. This will aim to boost the number of students taking maths by 10% over three years, through drawing on the experience of students with diverse backgrounds and prior attainment.

The Wakeling report for the Campaign for Mathematical Sciences last year showed that there is a shortage of specialist maths teachers, with just 63% of maths teacher training spaces filled in 2023-24, a figure predicted to worsen on current trends.

Professor Rachel Hilliam, Head of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at The Open University, said:

“We’re delighted to receive this funding, which will enable us to create OpenMaths—an exciting new extension of our award-winning OpenSTEM Labs. OpenMaths will offer students dynamic and practical ways to engage with mathematics, including remote collaborative projects, gamified explorations of abstract concepts, and the analysis of environmental experiments.

“It will also showcase real-world applications through employer-created videos. Our external engagement team will work across all four UK nations to boost recruitment through open-access events and resources, highlighting how our interactive approach prepares students to use mathematics in authentic, real-life contexts.”

Professor Jens Marklof, Chair of the Campaign for Mathematical Sciences, said:

“Maths Degrees for the Future offers a vision and a pathway to providing the maths skills that the nation is going to need in the years and decades ahead. 

“The projected fall in the number of maths graduates and the ongoing shortfall of specialist maths teachers are punctures in the pipeline of maths talent.

“So we decided to take action and help create a new generation of mathematics degree programmes. The campaign has been delighted by the large number and high standard of the submitted proposals. Our expert panel faced a tough choice! The five institutions receiving funding have put forward transformative ideas and we are excited to see how the programmes bed in and develop and to share their successes with the wider mathematical sciences community.”