Numeracy

Count me in: Improving numeracy in England, a guide for charities and funders

Esther Paterson, Eleanor Stringer & Belinda Vernon

April 2010, 40 pages

A fifth of adults in England do not have the basic numeracy skills needed for everyday life. Not being able to add up or take away can leave people struggling to get a job, manage their money, or help their children with homework. It can also lead to low confidence and self-esteem.

Our latest report, Count me in, looks at approaches to dealing with poor numeracy among children and adults in England.The report finds:

 

• A fifth of children leave primary school without passing the maths test at the level expected of them. That means that in a typical class of 30, six children really struggle with numbers when starting secondary school.

• The picture is no better for adults—a fifth do not have the basic numeracy skills needed for everyday life, and they are twice as likely to be unemployed as those who are competent at maths.

• People are happy to admit that they dislike maths or struggle with it—in many ways, it is much more socially acceptable to admit to having problems with numbers than it is to having problems with reading or writing. It is this widespread negative attitude towards numbers that is a major barrier to improving skills.

Despite a growing policy focus on raising the numeracy standards of children and adults, there is no overarching strategy to improve teaching, attitudes and skills across all the different age groups, and few charities focus on numeracy.
A concerted, joined-up effort is needed if standards are to be raised across the whole population. To this end, Count me in calls for a new National Numeracy Trust, following in the footsteps of the National Literacy Trust 20 years ago. This new organisation could lobby government, hold government to account, and take on the challenge of changing attitudes towards numbers.

Read blog posts about NPC's numeracy report here and here.