Data skills are life skills: why we need stats in the classroom
29 May 2025
Sophie Carr, Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy at the Royal Statistical Society
We live in a data-driven era. In the UK, the “average” person spends nearly four hours a day on their phone. Each time we scroll social media (which many of us do within minutes of waking), use GPS navigation (which guides billions of trips across the globe daily), or make purchasing decisions influenced by algorithmic recommendations, we're not just using technology – we’re swimming in an invisible ocean of statistics that shapes virtually every aspect of modern life. Simply put, statistics are hiding everywhere in plain sight.
But despite our everyday lives being dominated by statistics and data, the taught maths curriculum doesn’t reflect the rich, exciting, interesting ways they are used in the real world. Crucially, the curriculum doesn’t equip students with the skills they need to navigate daily life.
At the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), we want that to change, so everyone leaves school with the statistical and data skills needed to thrive in our data-driven world.
Data literacy is essential to navigate life
The RSS has a core focus on supporting public understanding and engagement around statistics and data. We want to ensure that everyone in society can understand and are empowered to meaningfully engage with the data and statistics across every aspect of their lives.
It is an essential life skill to be able to question, interpret and evaluate claims, numbers, percentages and graphs that are seen in the media (for example, in adverts, health information, climate news and political statements) as well as to identify misinformation and fake news. Data skills are essential across a range of scenarios. From managing personal finances and budgeting through to the endless array of data within the world of work. There are countless other examples: minimising cloth wastage when cutting out patterns, predicting weather, deciding what to stock on shop shelves and assessing employee well-being. It is also essential when writing large language models and detecting deep-fake images. Statistics and data are everywhere and our ability to work with them starts with what we learn at school.
How can we create a curriculum that excites young people about data and statistics as well as equipping them with the skills they need for the 21st century world of work?
Curriculum reform is needed
The curriculum is currently a ‘hot topic’, with the government’s curriculum and assessment review ongoing. There has been interest in the maths curriculum specifically, with work from the Royal Society and Maths Horizons as well as OCR pointing towards the need for more data skills in this data era.
However, despite all the interest, change for the maths curriculum is not a given. A range of subjects will be vying for recommendations, resources and impetus for change. The case for maths curriculum improvement, and the positive impact that improvements could bring, are not yet widely recognised.
We at the RSS agree with many of OCR’s recent recommendations for change, as detailed in the Striking the balance review of curriculum and assessment and further proposals. As we set out in our response, we welcome the call to review the maths curriculum. The statistics and data currently included are often outdated and dry, and do not make best use of interesting real-world contexts.
We also welcome the call to explore whether there is potential to use non-exam assessment – as a form of assessment that can better allow students to develop and demonstrate practical statistical and data skills. Non-exam assessment can also better prepare students for the ‘real world’, where work is more similar to projects than artificially time-bound examinations.
In line with OCR’s work and the interim findings of the curriculum and assessment review, we also agree on the need for an alternative to continuous retakes for students who do not pass GCSE maths. This alternative should be relevant and engaging and should equip students with the skills they need for daily life and work.
Our recommendations
Our recommendations for the teaching of statistics in the UK include:
- Strengthening statistical and data content within the maths curriculum, and ensuring these are relevant and equip students with the skills they need
- Striving to make statistical and data content engaging and interesting, with real-world data and examples in interesting areas, so that students can enjoy these subjects, see their utility and not disengage
- Exploring non-exam assessment so that students can develop and demonstrate practical statistical and data skills
- Developing statistical and data subject identity, so that students can recognise what they are studying and use this to inform future choices on career pathways.
So what can you do now?
We hope that maths curriculum reform will be upon us soon, with recommendations from the government’s curriculum and assessment review to increase the statistics and data in the curriculum. We want to see exciting and relevant contexts used in exam questions, as well as support for teachers to boost confidence in inspiring students about these subjects.
We know that the curriculum is crowded and there can be little time to develop and explore engaging contexts. In the meantime, we have curated a range of ready-made, easy-to-use and engaging resources that can be used in the classroom. These include our school speaker series (RSS William Guy Lectureships), where appointed speakers deliver talks to inspire students on the importance and relevance of statistics and data, on topics from climate change to AI. Take a look and spread the word.
We would love to hear from you if you have any thoughts on this blog or our work. We welcome comments or emails to policy@rss.org.uk. If you would like to stay up to date with our work, take a look at our latest news.
Stay connected
OCR is looking for teachers, leaders, parents and young people to join the conversation on the future of maths curriculum and assessment. We have our wonderful Maths Subject Advisors who would be delighted to hear from you about how GCSE (9-1) Mathematics could be improved for your students.
Sign up to our maths teacher advisory panel to be included in upcoming round tables, maths forums and surveys.
You can also reach out to us on social media at @OCRexams or LinkedIn and sign up for our subject updates.
To address the needs of students and society, enhance educational standards, and prepare the future workforce, it is essential that we make targeted changes to GCSE (9-1) Mathematics – and OCR is excited to take you on this journey to make maths add up for our students.
About the author
Sophie Carr is Vice President for Education and Statistical Literacy at the RSS. She is founder and chief executive of Bays Consulting, a company that specialises in data science and statistical analysis. Sophie has a background as an aeronautical engineer. She enjoys taking part in STEM outreach through activities such as writing and delivering Royal Institution Masterclasses on a range of statistics topics to help enthuse and engage the next generation in developing a love of data and statistics.
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