Yesterday was the seventh National Numeracy Day in the UK. You can
take the numeracy challenge (email sign-up, throw-away should work).
Research in 2019 reported that 56% of adults in the UK have numeracy levels which are those expected of a primary-school child (Entry Level 3 or lower).
National Numeracy (Wikipedia article), which organises the day, has reported on the
role of confidence and the
gender divide in maths. A
Parliamentary Research Briefing describes government initiatives to improve numeracy, including the delayed Multiply programme for adults, maths hubs and an advisory committee. The
Impact Report for National Numeracy Day 2023 says that "103,280 people took action on the National Numeracy Challenge" last year.
The
quote is from the former chair of National Numeracy:
A YouGov poll for the charity suggests that while four out of five people would be embarrassed to confess to poor literacy skills, just over half would feel the same about admitting poor maths skills. "It is simply inexcusable for anyone to say: 'I can't do maths.' It is a peculiarly British disease which we aim to eradicate. "It doesn't happen in other parts of the world. With encouragement and good teaching, everyone can improve their numeracy." Mr Humphries said just 15% of Britons studied maths after the age of 16, compared with 50-100% in most developed nations.
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