British Colleges Offering Remedial Math

The Royal Society of Chemistry says most British universities are offering remedial math classes because students aren’t ready for college science.

The society says many science undergraduates haven’t opened a math textbook in two years because they were taking other classes to get into college, The Guardian newspaper said Wednesday.

This contrasts starkly with countries like China, in which mathematics is seen as integral to the sciences and to the nation’s economy, and is taught to all up to the age of 18, Richard Pike, the chemistry society’s chief executive, told the newspaper.

He said the math tests at many British universities are disconcertingly simple because tougher questions would lead to fewer applications and fines for universities which could not fill places.