Lock in B, Eddie!

We say students should have Mathematics B as their default expectation, and aspire to it from
early on.

In Year 10, students choose which maths subjects to study in year 11 and 12 for their QCE. But
the road to Maths B starts years before then.

Keep options open.

Predicating the future is hard. Careers advisors and school maths teachers give good advice in
most cases, balancing student goals, career pathway, academic aptitude, workload, stress,
OP/ATAR score, university course prerequisites, school timetable… Here I’ll be speaking very
generally, as individual situations vary.

But we find that the mid-high-school ideas that students have about their future careers are not
often what they eventually decide to follow in adulthood. So, the best strategy is to keep
academic options as wide as possible for as long as possible.

We say “aim for the top”, academically, and then if you so choose, it’s easier to do anything
below that. Fact is, it’s easier for an engineer to become a gardener, than the other way around.
That’s not to judge how worthwhile or fulfilling these professions are for individuals; but one
requires a higher level of academics than the other.

The best time to get that academic knowledge under your belt is during schooling. Once you
enter the workforce, take on responsibilities, start a family, it’s harder to find the resources for
further study. That doesn’t mean it’s not happening – in fact, Australians are changing careers
more often than ever – but education is easier earlier, when you are given the time to focus on it.

Maths B opens more doors.

If you haven’t already, do read our overview of Maths A, B and C.

The default expectation at ELC is that our students are heading for Maths B. Wider career
choices, higher-level thinking skills, more focused peer group. We advocate that ELC students
be placed in higher maths groups all along until they choose for themselves in year 10 which
maths to study in year 11.
Some schools start ‘streaming’ students into higher- and lower-level maths groups way before
they start actively talking about career pathways – sometimes as early as year 8. This
presupposes that students in lower level maths streams will not study Maths B or C in years 11
and 12.