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A Vox Eu column shows remedial maths courses don't have much impact on overall student ability, meaning students who aren't good at this subject already don't have a prayer of doing really well. I must say I hope these guys are wrong, because if they aren't it means as student numbers increase and weaker students are allowed into college, the level of mathematical exposition (and hence progress to higher levels in economics education) will have to go down. From the article:
University-level economics makes extensive use of basic mathematics. As many economics professors can testify, this makes the subject difficult for less technically able students. Moreover, expanding participation in higher education (as has been targeted by the UK government) may further worsen the problem. The students who enter higher education due to the expansion are likely to be, on average, less technically able than current students, and thus it is likely that the number of students who struggle with their economics studies due to lack of basic math knowledge will increase over time.
