Few subjects are as important for understanding the world and solving everyday problems as maths. Yet growing evidence suggests Australian students’ performance and engagement in the subject are slipping.
The latest NAPLAN data shows roughly one in three Australian students are still falling short of expected numeracy standards, despite overall results holding steady. The gaps are widest for disadvantaged and regional students, who are significantly more likely to struggle with maths.
At the same time, experts warn the challenge is not just about students. Growing evidence suggests many teachers feel underprepared to teach mathematics confidently. Researchers and education leaders say lifting results will require stronger teacher training, practical classroom support and greater use of proven, evidence-based teaching methods to help students build solid maths foundations.
Clearer guidance for maths teachers
A June 2025 study by The Grattan Institute found that maths has “taken a backseat in Australian education” due to “procrastination” from governments to rule out “faddish but unproven maths teaching methods”.
The findings have put a stronger focus on what needs to change – not just in classrooms, but at the policy level, too. In response, education ministers have begun looking more closely at how the early years of maths education are structured and taught across the country.
Recently, federal, state and territory governments backed a targeted review of the Foundation to Year 2 maths curriculum after advice from ACARA highlighted ways to better support teachers.
The “iterative review, launched in March, aims to sharpen priorities, clarify what students should learn each year, improve sequencing of concepts, and add stronger foundations in financial and consumer maths to help lift national numeracy.
The outcome of the review, including advice on strengthening the curriculum, is expected to be handed to Ministers in the third quarter of 2026.
ACARA CEO, Stephen Gniel, said the proposed changes reflect a broader push to strengthen the foundations of maths learning in the early years of schooling.
“A strong grounding in mathematics and numeracy are crucial skills for our young people to develop to succeed in their education and later in life,” Gniel said.
“Given one in three students are not reaching challenging but achievable numeracy standards, it’s right for us to have a national focus on numeracy improvement, including with the Year 1 Numeracy Checks coming into effect this year.”
Gniel pointed out that while ACARA’s initial consultations with stakeholders highlighted “overall satisfaction” with the current Mathematics curriculum, several areas that could be improved were also identified.
“Ultimately, this will help support our teachers to be more confident in teaching this important learning area, as well as deliver improvements for Australian students.”
Putting early years maths back in the spotlight
Amy Haywood, Deputy Program Director and co-author of the Grattan Institute’s Maths Guarantee report, said it is encouraging to see policymakers are focused on early years maths, which has often been considered “the poor cousin” of literacy.
“We need to take primary maths teaching seriously as maths is very hierarchical and students need to master the foundational skills first to ensure long-term success,” Haywood told The Educator.
“The curriculum is a relatively high-level document, so it’s positive to see that the review will focus on giving teachers more detail about what content is most important and how to best sequence it.”
Haywood said while it’s encouraging to see governments commit to implementing an early years numeracy check, they need to pick the right one.
“The check needs to be both efficient for teachers to administer and rigorous so that it accurately identifies at-risk students for further support.”
Fixing maths takes more than curriculum tweaks
Haywood said the evidence is clear that primary maths works best when it’s taught step by step, with teachers clearly introducing new concepts and giving students plenty of practice to build fluency before moving on to more complex problems.
“Teachers need more help to put this evidence into practice in their classrooms though,” she said. “Governments should ensure that all schools have access to high-quality curriculum materials, catch-up learning programs, and quality assessment tools to monitor students’ progress.”
Governments should also get serious about building teachers’ professional expertise, said Haywood.
“We need to dial up the quality of maths-focused professional learning. Building on successful reforms in England, Australia’s governments should establish 50 ‘Maths Hubs’ across the country and create new primary maths micro-credentials.”
When asked how the Grattan Institute’s proposed Maths Guarantee might complement ACARA’s maths curriculum review and help translate policy changes into stronger classroom practice, Haywood said lasting improvements in maths outcomes will require more than curriculum tweaks alone.
“A curriculum review is a great first step, but to see real change in classrooms we need to take a system-wide approach to implementing the evidence,” she said.
“We’re calling on education ministers to commit to a 10-year maths guarantee strategy that puts Australia on the path to 90 per cent of children achieving maths proficiency.”
Haywood said Australia can learn a lot from high-performing education systems that treat primary maths as a national priority.
“We should follow the lead of other international systems that have taken primary maths seriously, setting ambitious targets for student learning, giving teachers the high-quality curriculum materials and assessments they need, investing in teacher expertise, and monitoring what’s happening on the ground in schools.”