A Response to the Royal Society paper: Science Higher Education in 2015 and beyond – call for evidence

This submission addresses directly the identified issue: “increasing employer and other requirements for subject specific knowledge, relevant experience in a workplace, and generic skill assimilation within first degree courses.” Graduate skills in mathematics need to reflect well-documented expectation from Government, employers and students that undergraduate and postgraduate courses should provide graduates with enhanced skills and attributes for future economic and other benefits. In particular, the Robert’s Report ‘SET for Success’, highlights serious implications for UK Science and Engineering: “graduates and postgraduates in these strongly numerical subjects are in increasing demand in the economy – to work in R&D, but also to work in other sectors (such as financial services or ICT) where there is a strong demand for their skills.”….