Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, admitted Rishi Sunak's plan to boost the nation's numeracy will not happen "overnight" and it cannot be achieved in the "short term". 

She also said the Government is working on a new maths and physics teaching apprenticeship in a bid to increase specialist teacher numbers (see the post below at 08.11). 

She told Times Radio: "There is a lot we can do but there is no doubt, this is not a short term, overnight change, it is a change that we are going to make to our country that will take time but we have really got to set out the vision and start to put those things in place."

Ms Keegan said the Department for Education is working on a "maths and physics teaching apprenticeship which will be an undergraduate apprenticeship" to enable people to "earn and learn".

Rishi Sunak will today vow to change the nation's "anti-maths mindset" as he pledges to make poor numeracy culturally unacceptable. 

The Prime Minister will use a speech in central London this morning to announce an expert-led review into how to carry out his plan to ensure all pupils in England study some form of maths up to the age of 18, without making maths A-Level compulsory.

However, critics have pointed out that there are currently not enough specialist maths teachers to deliver the plan and Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, admitted as much this morning. 

Told that more than half of secondary schools rely on non-specialist maths teachers, Ms Keegan told Times Radio: "Well, we certainly need to do more to build up our maths teachers, that is why very recently we put in place a bursary for maths teachers and also physics and computer science as well of £27,000.

"We have also increased what we call levelling up payments of £3,000 in certain areas to attract more maths teachers."