A recent report (Pozzi & Sutherland, 1995) has highlighted perceived shortcomings in
students arriving in the UK to study engineering. An exchange of letters in the English
national press has revealed serious concerns about “falling standards” related to changes in the English curriculum. For example, Sykes & Whittaker (1994) report that in 1994, only 50% of the entrants to their business studies course could multiply 1/2 by 2/3 and, whereas 66% could correctly calculate the square of 0.3 in 1987, by 1994 this had fallen to 16%. The general consensus amongst university mathematicians in England is that students arrive at university to study mathematics with less understanding of proof, less proficiency in handling arithmetic (particularly fractions and decimals) and less facility with algebraic manipulation.