More teenagers struggle with maths but exam results improve The proportion of 14-year-olds with an exceptionally good understanding of maths has decreased in the past three decades, while the number at the lowest level of attainment has grown over the same period. Average pupils are now performing slightly better than 30 years ago, but researchers said there was only a "slight" difference in overall standards which does not reflect the much larger shift in exam grades over the same period. In the mid 1980s just 22 per cent of pupils gained a C or above in their maths O-level at the age of 16, but by this year's GCSE exams the figure had risen to 58 per cent. Students still have a "relatively weak" understanding of algebra, ratio and fractions and perform worse on "non-routine" problems, experts from King's College London found. In contrast pupils today are better than their predecessors at routine problems, reflecting the fears of many parents that children are being taught to pass exams rather than understand the subject. During the summers of 2008 and 2009 the researchers tested 7,000 pupils aged 11 to 14 with a set of exam papers that were set in 1976 and 1977 for children of the same age. Prof Jeremy Hodgen, who led the study, said: "Our results highlight a serious problem in maths education. There are far fewer changes in mathematical attainment over the past 30 years than might be expected, or which have been claimed. There is little evidence for the sort of step-change in mathematical attainment which might be suggested by the substantial improvements in examination results.