GCSE maths should be split in two, offering deeper study for students with an aptitude for the subject while allowing other pupils to become fully numerate in a smaller area of the curriculum, according to a taskforce headed by the TV presenter Carol Vorderman.
In a report commissioned by the Conservatives, Vorderman proposes adopting the model of English language and literature to split maths into twin GCSEs, so that some candidates can achieve a higher standard of maths in an area which includes topics such as personal finance, rather than receiving a "trickled down" version of the subject for more advanced students.
Vorderman said: "In my view, it is pointless for most 14-year-olds starting their GCSE courses to be force-fed mathematical topics which they will never use, when what they desperately need is to become more comfortable with numbers including percentages and fractions used in the world of finance."
The report notes that while young people's employment prospects are highly dependent on their level of maths knowledge, nearly half of all students fail to get a C grade or higher at GCSE maths, effectively failing the subject. Only 15% take maths in some form beyond GCSE.
The report says: "Unless major alterations in our mathematics education are made and quickly, we are risking our future economic prosperity."
Roger Porkess, a former maths teacher and education specialist who is lead author of the report, said: "Future generations may well see this report as a turning point, the moment when it ceased to be acceptable for the education system to turn out large numbers of young people who are too frightened of maths to be able to use it at work and in everyday life."
Vorderman's team recommends that all students should study maths until they are 18. This would not mean a compulsory A-level but a range of options for different needs and abilities.
The report says maths should no longer be confined to a daily lesson but encouraged in other areas of pupils' daily routine so that like English it is practised throughout the school day.
The report warns that many primary school teachers are not adequately grounded in the subject to teach maths.
Almost all recently qualified primary school teachers gave up maths themselves at age 16 after taking GCSE. Around a quarter of children in secondary schools are not taught by specialist maths teachers.
It says that a child's mathematical destiny is fixed at 11. Nine-tenths of those who fail to achieve the Sat target at 11 will go on to get below a C grade at GCSE.
By contrast, 94% of those who surpass the Sat target will get a good GCSE pass. The report says almost all secondary schools ignore the results of the Sat and immediately retest children, even though around two school terms have been spent preparing for the Sat.
The independent report owas commissioned by David Cameron and Michael Gove, now the education secretary, in 2009 and carried out by a task force assembled and led by Vorderman.
Gove said: "As Carol and her team point out so powerfully, we are falling behind our competitors when it comes to mathematics education. British 15-year-olds' mathematics skills are now more than two whole academic years behind 15-year-olds in Shanghai and the last decade has seen us plummet down the international league tables in both maths and science.
"This comprehensive report, looking at all the important areas, will be of great help as the government continues its drive to equip our children with the skills that they need to compete with their global contemporaries and thrive in the 21st century."
In a speech to the Royal Society in June, Gove said he believed the "vast majority" of pupils should study maths to the age of 18. He said this should be a "new goal for the education system".
The education secretary suggested that calculus and statistics should play a part in the secondary curriculum. He said: "There are a vast array of issues that people are confronted with in daily life – from health scares to claims about the effect of drugs to financial news – which require statistical understanding. But studies have repeatedly shown how poor our collective understanding of such issues is."
Commenting on the report, Professor Dame Julia Higgins, chair of the independent Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, said: "Carol's work taps into one of the biggest concerns of not only the mathematics community but also of higher education and business, that too few people study mathematics up to the age of 18.
"We need a broad set of mathematics qualifications that are designed to meet everyone's needs – A-level mathematics alone can't provide this. We hope that the government will act on this recommendation, as it is a key step to ensuring that future generations are suitably prepared for the challenges of a highly competitive and technologically dependent world.
"At present, some students aren't even studying mathematics up to 16 – early entry to GCSE mathematics is increasing dramatically and, with league tables in mind, some schools interpret achieving a grade C at the age of 14 as permission to drop the subject and focus their attention elsewhere.
"The government needs to act now to clarify this situation and send the message that mathematics isn't something you can just 'get out of the way' if you want to compete in the modern world."