The eighth lecture in the Teaching Statistics Trust Lecture series is being hosted by the Royal Statistical Society South West and the Teaching Statistics Trust at the University of Plymouth.

A Data Literate Society Without the Fear Factor

Date: 26^th November 2025 at 17:00-18:00.

Location: University of Plymouth campus, Rolle 001 (and Zoom)

Light refreshments will be served. Please register your attendance as this will help with catering.

Please do forward on to anyone you believe will be interested.

Speaker: Professor Rachel Hilliam, The Open University 

Abstract: Data is everywhere and for everyone, but are we equipping our young people with the skills they need to extract meaning from vast datasets? Whilst data drives everything from the world’s economy, climate modelling, transport planning, predicting disease outbreaks through to individuals using fitness apps, watching recommendations from streaming services and GPS navigation, we still live in a society where there is poor statistical understanding amongst the public. Perhaps more concerning is the anxiety that many people exhibit when encountering statistics. Is our current school curriculum providing students with the correct skills to turn this around? In 2024 two reports were produced setting out recommendations for the statistics curriculum in schools. The report from the Royal Statistical Society, “Key recommendations for the statistics curriculum in the UK” (https://rss.org.uk/RSS/media/File-library/Policy/2024/Recommendations-for-statisticscurriculum-in-the-UK-full-paper-final.pdf), suggested teaching mathematics and statistics as separate disciplines at secondary school level or putting a greater emphasis on the problem-solving cycle in the current mathematics GCSE. The Royal Society report, “A new approach to mathematical and data education” (https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/maths-futures/mathematical-and-dataeducation-policy-report.pdf), recommended a mathematical and data education framework with a general literacy strand based on developing the existing Core Mathematics qualifications. Both of these reports emphasize the need to embed data literacy skills throughout many school subjects and the need for long-term investment in professional development for teachers. Whilst the aspirations in these reports equate to a marathon and not a sprint, there is plenty that we can all do to prepare for the race ahead. In this talk we will explore some aspects of statistical anxiety and how we can combat this in our teaching, statistical communication and outreach. I will highlight how statistics is used daily and in many school subjects without students realising and we will consider our role in shaping a future curriculum and what this could look like.

Professor Rachel Hilliam, The Open University 

Rachel Hilliam is Professor of Statistics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, where she is currently Head of School, having worked in a number of universities and as a medical statistician in the NHS before joining The Open University in 2011. In 2019 as Director of Teaching for Mathematics and Statistics at the OU, she introduced a new degree in Data Science which had over 400 students across the UK in its first year. She is an expert in teaching statistics at higher education level to adult students who do not necessarily have standard university entrance qualifications. Her learning and teaching interests include supporting students who are studying statistics as part of a non-mathematical qualification and exploring the different types of statistical anxieties which such students can exhibit. She has a strong interest in supporting colleagues’ teaching activities and has been involved in the national induction course organised by the IMA. Rachel is a founding member of the Teaching Statistics Section at the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and is a founding co-organiser of TALMO (Teaching and Learning Mathematics Online) along with Michael Grove (IMA and University of Birmingham) and Kevin Houston (LMS and University of Leeds). During 2021-2023 Rachel was Vice-President of the Royal Statistical Society leading on its Professional Affairs activities and the inaugural chair of the Alliance for Data Science Professionals of which she is now Chair Emeritus. In 2024 Rachel was awarded The Chambers Medal by the RSS, a prestigious commendation of her significant contribution to data science.