“Struggling with Maths? It Might Be a Reading Problem”

By Leona Regan. (Managing Director of Piece of Pi Maths School) (www.pieceofpi.ie)

When students say they “hate Maths,” what do they really mean?

Some find the numbers intimidating. Others feel overwhelmed by formulas or anxious about making mistakes. But behind those frustrations lies a deeper—and often overlooked—truth: many students aren’t struggling with maths at all. They’re struggling with reading.

That’s right. In classrooms and exam centres across the country, students are losing marks in Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle Maths not because they can’t calculate, but because they can’t quite figure out what the question is asking. And in most cases, it’s not due to laziness or lack of preparation. It’s a literacy issue.

Maths as a Language

Mathematics is sometimes referred to as a universal language, but in the context of state exams, it's anything but straightforward. The Leaving Cert Maths paper is filled with wordy, multi-step questions that rely on a student’s ability to read, interpret, and respond to complex written prompts.

Phrases like “hence, solve…”, “verify your result”, or “comment on the suitability of your model” appear routinely on the papers. These aren’t just instructions—they’re linguistic hurdles. If a student misunderstands even a single term, they could misapply a method, omit essential steps, or skip the question entirely out of confusion.

Even simple-sounding questions like “Explain your reasoning” or “Interpret your answer in context” can throw students off if they haven’t been explicitly taught what those phrases mean in a mathematical setting.

Not a New Problem, But a Growing One

The shift toward more “real-world” and context-based problems on the Leaving Cert paper is well-intentioned. It encourages critical thinking and problem-solving—essential life skills. However, it also assumes a high level of reading comprehension, vocabulary knowledge, and decoding ability.

For students with weaker literacy skills, this creates a double disadvantage: they not only have to solve the maths problem, but first wade through unfamiliar wording, technical terms, and subtle cues embedded in the phrasing.

Consider this question from 2025 Leaving Cert Higher Level Maths Paper 1:

Source: www.examinations.ie

Before any calculations begin, the student must:

• Understand what a model is

• Know what “stage” implies

• Recognise that “write the values into the table” means they will lose marks if a) they don’t show their workings and b) don’t then write their answer into the physical table.

  
  

That’s a lot of linguistic work before any maths is even done. The actual maths of this question involves simple subtraction but a large volume of our 2025 cohort, consisting of over 20,000 leaving cert candidates, have said they were thrown off by the paragraph above the maths and likely didn’t attempt the question.

The Hidden Cost of Misreading

Misreading a question isn’t a minor issue. It can result in an entire part of a question being answered incorrectly, even if the student's mathematical ability is sound. Worse still, a student who has mastered a topic may come away thinking they “don’t get it,” simply because they couldn’t interpret the question in the way the examiner intended.

This can erode confidence over time and reinforce the harmful belief that they’re “bad at maths,” when the real issue lies in comprehension and interpretation.

In some ways, the Maths exam becomes a reading test with equations.

What Can Be Done?

To address this, educators are increasingly weaving language skills into their maths teaching. They’re teaching students how to break down questions into steps, paraphrase them in simpler terms, and identify common command words or keywords. This isn’t dumbing down the subject—it’s giving students the tools they need to succeed.

At home, parents can play a key role too. You don’t need to be a maths expert to help. When your child is revising, ask them questions like:

• “What is the question really asking you to do?”

• “Can you explain it in your own words?”

• “What maths topic does this relate to?”

Encouraging students to speak their thought process out loud can help bridge the gap between what they understand internally and what they express in writing.

A Call for Awareness

If we truly want to help students succeed in Maths, we need to shift the conversation. It’s not enough to drill formulas and practice papers. We must also support their reading skills, teach them how to interpret complex language, and give them the confidence to tackle long, wordy questions with a clear head.

Because sometimes, the biggest obstacle in a Maths exam isn’t the algebra or calculus. It’s the paragraph above it!!