Making Maths matter to teens

When maths suddenly mattered…

How to engage disillusioned learners

When working with a Year 9 group who had written off maths. “When will we ever use this?” was the constant refrain.

So I flipped the script and created a Maths for Entrepreneurs project.

• We learned about turnover, profit, and margins.

• Estimated average order value and annual revenue.

• Looked at real businesses to analyse different product strategies

• Partnered up to study the numbers behind a selection of Etsy shops and present the findings

• Finally, each group pitched their own shop idea: what they’d sell and why ( backed up by a financial forecast).

The result? Students suddenly got it. Maths wasn’t abstract anymore—it was powerful, practical, and relevant. They were excited, creative, and even thinking like entrepreneurs.

If we want teens to engage with maths, we have to connect it to real life, creativity, and their aspirations. Once they see the “why,” the learning follows.