The ability of primary (elementary) pre-service teachers to engage effectively in mathematics units in a rigorous program is vital to producing citizens who are able to use mathematics effectively in their lives. Mathematics anxiety affects pre-service primary teachers' engagement with and future teaching of mathematics. The study measured the range of mathematics anxiety in two hundred and nineteen pre-service teachers starting a teacher education course in an Australian university. They completed the Revised Mathematics Anxiety Scale (RMARS) and a set of demographic questions. Age differences in anxiety were found to be significant, and this has implications for university retention of mature age pre-service primary teachers.