A new practical maths course and the study of data analysis are among changes proposed in the biggest revamp of Years 11 and 12 mathematics in 25 years.

Students pursuing apprenticeships and traineeships are expected to benefit from the introduction of the Year 12 general mathematics 1 course.

The course is designed to provide students with skills in areas such as household finance, use of utilities, the human body and mathematics and design.

The manager of the curriculum directorate’s mathematics learning area, Peter Gould, said the new course would assist students’ understanding of “essential mathematics”.

Students would study topics including accommodation and household costs, electricity and energy efficient housing, measuring blood pressure and heart rates, and scale drawings.

“The [new course] is designed to suit the needs and interests of those students studying for trades based courses,” Mr Gould said. John Della Bosca, who announced the proposal as education minister last term, said the revised syllabuses would make mathematics more relevant to students studying to become carpenters and joiners, shopfitters, nurses, hairdressers, computer programmers and surveyors, among a host of jobs.

The changes to the Years 11 and 12 mathematics syllabuses included the addition of a data analysis (statistics) topic to the two-unit courses. Two-unit Year 12 students and those in extension classes would also apply their knowledge and skills to real-life scenarios, including investment decisions and environmental issues.

Mr Gould said the amendments, the first substantial changes to the two-unit courses in 25 years, were a “facelift” so that the courses appealed “to the current generation of students”.

They also catered for emerging areas of post-school study such as bioinformatics that did not exist when the old courses were written.

“We do tend to have a bit of a shortfall in many of these areas … currently Australia doesn’t produce enough statisticians for its own needs and there’s a similar need in relation to engineers and surveyors,” Mr Gould said.

Other changes include the introduction of focus studies in the Year 11 general mathematics course to cover areas such as mobile phone and internet access plans, vehicle purchase, running costs, blood alcohol limits and stopping distances.

Mr Gould said the new course and syllabus changes “may engage more students” to complete a maths course as part of their HSC.

Mathematics is the most popular elective subject with 82 per cent of 2007 HSC students finishing a Year 12 maths course.

The new Year 11 courses are expected to be introduced from 2010 with the new Year 12 courses beginning in 2011.