---
title: "UK Math Education — BODMAS, GCSE, A-Level, Why British Say 'Maths'"
description: "How the UK teaches mathematics: BODMAS/BIDMAS order of operations, the GCSE (9-1) and A-Level pathway, National Curriculum stages, and British mathematical conventions including 'maths' vs 'math'."
url: "https://worldcalculators.org/learning/math/uk-math-education/"
canonical: "https://worldcalculators.org/learning/math/uk-math-education/"
---

# UK Maths Education

How the UK teaches mathematics: BODMAS/BIDMAS order of operations, the GCSE (9-1) and A-Level pathway, National Curriculum stages, and British mathematical conventions including 'maths' vs 'math'.

## Quick answer

UK students use BODMAS (Brackets, Orders, Division, Multiplication, Addition, Subtraction) — the British equivalent of PEMDAS. At 16, students take GCSE Maths (graded 9-1). Those continuing to A-Level study calculus, statistics, and mechanics. UK says "maths" (plural); the US says "math." Since 2014, England's National Curriculum has adopted a mastery approach influenced by Shanghai — fewer topics per year, taught more deeply.

## BODMAS — UK Order of Operations

BODMAS: B rackets → O rders (powers/roots) → D ivision → M ultiplication → A ddition → S ubtraction. BIDMAS replaces "Orders" with "Indices" — same rule. Division and Multiplication have equal priority (work left to right), as do Addition and Subtraction.

## The Mastery Shift — England Imports Shanghai

Since 2014, England's Department for Education has invested £41 million in the "Maths Hubs" programme — importing the Shanghai mastery model. English teachers have visited Shanghai; Shanghai teachers have taught in England. Key changes brought from Shanghai:
Results have been encouraging: England's PISA 2022 score (489) is above the OECD average (472) for the first time, up from 493 in 2018 and 493 in 2015.

## Why British English Says "Maths" Not "Math"

"Maths" is an abbreviation of "mathematics" — a plural noun in British English. The plural ending is kept: "physics," "economics," "maths." American English simplified it to the singular "math" in the 20th century. Australian, Indian, South African, and most Commonwealth varieties follow British "maths."

Source: https://worldcalculators.org/learning/math/uk-math-education/
Markdown mirror of the HTML page. Prefer this URL for RAG; the interactive calculator still lives on the HTML page.