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The start of MEI may be traced to the early 1960s when a group of heads of mathematics used to meet once a term for a drink and a chat in The Wrestlers in Highgate. In 1962 one of their number, B. T. Bellis, then head of mathematics at Highgate School, carried out an investigation into the mathematics used in industry during a schoolmaster fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford. On his return to the classroom, meetings focused on finding ways to incorporate what he had learnt into everyday teaching. After careful thought those involved came to the conclusion that this could only happen effectively if associated with new syllabuses, and so the North London Schools' Project was set up. A few months later the project received a grant from the Schools & Industry Committee of the Mathematical Association, funded by BP, and was renamed The Mathematics in Education and Industry Schools Project, or MEI. The first MEI examination, in Additional Mathematics, took place in 1965; A Level followed two years later with 8 schools participating. At much the same time the Mathematics department of St. Dunstan's College in South London had developed their own O Level examination and the two groups amalgamated, giving a complete suite of examinations; for several years the O Level papers carried the heading "MEI (St. Dunstan's)". The examinations for the new project were provided by the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board and candidate numbers grew steadily if not dramatically. By the early 1980s there were about 100 member schools taking some or all of the MEI examinations; there were approaching 2000 candidates at A Level and about 5000 at O Level. The early syllabuses were highly innovative. They were, for example, the first to include probability at A Level. This tradition continued, often based on ideas from working teachers. One such was the suggestion, made by Peter Bossom, now head of mathematics at Monkton Combe School, that we should develop a modular A Level. This led to the introduction in 1990 of MEI Structured Mathematics. The committee that developed this syllabus was chaired by Roger Porkess (until then head of mathematics at Denstone College) who then started working full time for MEI overseeing its implementation. This syllabus altered the scale and scope of MEI. Candidate numbers increased by a factor of about 10 and this necessitated a permanent office and full time staff. For the first time textbooks, a series published by Hodder and Stoughton, were published to support an MEI course. INSET was provided on a regular basis. The introduction of Structured Mathematics also brought about a change in the membership. Until then most of the schools in MEI had been independent; these were now joined by large numbers of maintained schools and colleges of Further Education. These new institutions brought with them a greater variety of students and this led to broadening of MEI's work, for example providing materials for Key Skills and addressing the needs of students on GNVQ courses. Two major new initiative programmes are currently running:
The pre-16 MEI course changed from O Level to a joint O Level/CSE course in 1986, and then to GCSE (serviced by MEG) in 1988, to be adjusted a few years later to take account of the National Curriculum. The present GCSE syllabus is built on ideas developed in Structured Mathematics and is designed to meet the needs of the full range of students through a modular structure. Chairpersons of MEI:
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About us > History