Analysis of item response patterns of primary pupils: OME Technical Report 2026/1

This technical report describes the analysis of primary school pupils’ responses to a survey measuring their attitudes towards mathematics. The survey form part of a seven-year longitudinal study of pupils in England conducted by the Observatory for Mathematical Education. It assesses pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics using two types of prompts (“how good are you at…?” and “how much do you like…?”) across six areas of mathematical experiences in primary education: easy maths, hard maths, writing numbers, mental maths, answering maths questions quickly, and teacher talk. The questions were adapted from a scale widely used in research on primary school pupils. This analysis draws on a large sample of pupils in the reception year (N = 5,781). Item response models were used to assess the pupils’ responses to the questions and the relationship between the responses and the intended latent variable being measured: the pupils’ attitudes towards mathematics. Subgroups of the pupils were also compared in terms of their response patterns. The results indicated that the pupils’ responses broadly reflected their attitudes towards mathematics, and that their levels of attitudes towards mathematics could be meaningfully compared based on their responses. However, when using the pupils’ responses as a proxy for their attitudes towards mathematics, it is worth noting that different subgroups displayed nuances of response patterns, and sensitivity analysis could be useful for triangulating the findings.