There has been a great deal of justified outrage at the dropping of A-level art history and archeology, yet hardly any mention of the fact that at the same time the AQA has dropped A-level statistics (What a message to send to A-level students, 20 October). This subject, taken by some 800 students a year and taught by enthusiastic teachers, has just had a new curriculum approved following wide consultation. If AQA does not relent – and it is the only group offering A-level statistics – the result is that statistics will be confined to be part of A-level mathematics and certain subjects such as geography. Students from other subjects, especially social science ones, who are not prepared to take mathematics, will be unable to upgrade their quantitative skills at the same time as gaining an A-level qualification. This is particularly sad when we are seeing increasing public interest in data literacy and serious attempts to introduce more statistics and quantitative study into the undergraduate curriculum via schemes such as Q-step.
Harvey Goldstein
Professor of social statistics, University of Bristol
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