National Numeracy

Last updated

National Numeracy
Founded2012 (2012)
Founded at Lewes, United Kingdom
Type Non-governmental organization
Focus Numeracy
Education
Adult numeracy
Area served
Nationwide
Chair
Perdita Fraser
CEO
Sam Sims
Website www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk

National Numeracy is an independent charity (registered no. 1145669 in England and Wales) based in Brighton, UK, that promotes the importance of numeracy and "everyday maths".

Contents

The charity was founded in 2012; its chair is Perdita Fraser and vice chair Andy Haldane. [1] Its current chief executive is Sam Sims, who replaced Mike Ellicock in 2020.

The charity aims to challenge negative attitudes towards maths and promotes effective approaches to improving functional numeracy skills. Chris Humphries, former chair of National Numeracy and a former chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: "It is simply inexcusable for anyone to say: 'I can't do maths.' It is a peculiarly British disease which we aim to eradicate." [2] The charity's Theory of Change [3] is detailed on their website.

National Numeracy has been critical of the UK mathematics curriculum, claiming that it is flawed and requires radical improvement to ensure that everyone leaves compulsory education with essential numeracy skills. [4]

National Numeracy is supported by a number of celebrities, including Rachel Riley, financial journalist Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert, author, television presenter and mathematics teacher Bobby Seagull, financial writer Iona Bain, Strictly Come Dancing's Katya Jones, Great British Bake Off 2020 winner Peter Sawkins, and the poet and comedian Harry Baker. [5] It is also supported by organisations, including TP ICAP, KPMG, Experian, Ufi VocTech Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and the Edge Foundation.

History of National Numeracy

A 2010 report commissioned by Lord Moser from New Philanthropy Capital recommended the creation of a national numeracy trust. [6] The report, which focused on low levels of numeracy in the UK, showed how charities and funders can help people to be confidently numerate. [7] These problems are a focus of National Numeracy's strategy. National Numeracy was legally registered as a charity in January 2012 with the press launch of the charity in March 2012.

Work and campaigns

On 30 October 2014 National Numeracy CEO Mike Ellicock was featured on an edition of ITV's Tonight documentary programme The Trouble With Numbers. [8] Mike Ellicock spoke about cultural and attitudinal problems preventing people from succeeding in maths. [9]

In 2014, National Numeracy launched the National Numeracy Challenge, a free online tool which allows users to assess their numeracy level and access resources to help them improve. By December 2020, 340,000 people had registered on the National Numeracy Challenge.

During the 2014-15 FA Cup season, BBC Sport and BBC Learning worked with National Numeracy on Maths of the Day, [10] a series of films shown across the BBC, as well as accompanying content on the BBC iWonder website, exploring maths in football. The films featured former footballer and commentator Robbie Savage and Countdown co-host Rachel Riley among others. In March 2015, there was also a Maths of the Day live event on BBC Radio 5 Live in which National Numeracy's Mike Ellicock and Rachel Riley talked about the importance of maths skills. It also included a feature from A Question of Sport in which team captains Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson took part in a sport-related maths quiz with the audience, which was also made available on the BBC Radio 5 Live website.

In February 2015, National Numeracy made a complaint on Twitter about a L'Oreal Paris print advertising campaign, featuring Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren, which included the tagline "Age is just a number and maths was never my thing". L'Oreal responded to the complaint, tweeting in reply "Thanks for raising this, we hadn't meant it to be interpreted this way. We're changing it right away and you'll see new ads soon." [11] Speaking to BBC News about the change, National Numeracy's Mike Ellicock said "Throwaway remarks about being 'no good at maths' are so easy to make and so damaging in the way they normalise negative attitudes. It's unusual for a company to recognise and remedy their error in the way that L'Oreal have, so we really appreciate their response."

In 2017, the National Numeracy Challenge incorporated a series of resources to help people build their confidence and a positive attitude towards numbers.

National Numeracy Day 2024 will take place on 22 May for the seventh year running. [12] This annual campaign celebrates numbers and how they are used in everyday life. The first National Numeracy Day launched 16 May 2018. The founding supporter was KPMG and the Day was covered widely in the media. [13]

In 2020 National Numeracy launched the first Number Confidence Week to focus on the role of attitudes and confidence as barriers to using numbers in daily life. This year Number Confidence Week takes place 4–8 November 2024.

Research

National Numeracy commissions and conducts research to inform its project work.

2012: According to the most recent Skills for Life survey, almost 78% of people in England have numeracy skills well below A*-C grade at GCSE. [14]

2013: OECD found England to be 21 out of 24 countries in numeracy, ages 16–24. The large study also showed that 8.5 million adults in England and Northern Ireland have the numeracy levels of a 10-year-old. [15]

2013: Employers report increasing difficulties in finding potential employees with the desired numeracy skills. In 2011, 24% reported applicants for new jobs had poor numeracy, in the past year it has risen to 26%. Employers also report numeracy skill gaps among their existing workforce. [16]

2014: Report on the causes and consequences of poor English and maths skills, including 55% of homeless people found to lack basic math skills (D-G at GCSE). [17]

2014: National Numeracy-commissioned research by Pro Bono Economics found that over the course of a year, the cost of low levels of numeracy is estimated to be around £20.2 billion which is roughly 1.3 per cent of GDP to the total UK economy. This cost is distributed between individuals (£8.8 billion), employers (£3.2 billion) and government (£8.2 billion). This does not include costs of the higher risk of unemployment and underemployment to individuals and firms, and excludes wider costs to health, well-being, public services. [18]

2016: The Mayor's Fund and National Numeracy published "The Parent Factor", which showed that parental engagement in school maths leads to higher attainment and better classroom participation among pupils. [19]

2018: National Numeracy was funded by the Money Advice Service's What Works Fund to conduct research about the connection between good numeracy and financial capability. The report found that the higher an adult’s level of numeracy, the better their financial capability mindset was likely to be. [20]

Since 2012, National Numeracy has commissioned an annual YouGov survey into British public attitudes to maths to find out why people are motivated to improve their numeracy. The 2015 survey found that most people wanted to improve their numeracy to enable better understanding of their personal finances. [21]

National Numeracy’s aim & projects

Aim

National Numeracy cites its aim as "to enable everyone across the UK to be confident and competent in using numbers and data, to be able to make good decisions in their daily life and at work.". [22] This is approached in three main ways:

Projects

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in England</span>

Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.

Education in Scotland is provided in state schools, private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. Mandatory education in Scotland begins for children in Primary 1 (P1) at primary school and ends in Fourth Year (S4) at secondary school. Overall accountability and control of state–education in Scotland rests with the Scottish Government, and is overseen by its executive agency, Education Scotland, with additional responsibility for nursery schools being the joint responsibility of both Education Scotland and the Care Inspectorate. Scotland's private schools are overseen by the Scottish Council of Independent Schools. Children in Scotland sit mandatory National Standardised Assessments in Primary 1 (P1), Primary 4 (P4), Primary 7 (P7) at the end of primary school, and Third Year (S3) in secondary school, which assist in monitoring children's progress and providing diagnostic data information to support teachers' professional judgement.

This article provides an overview of education in Wales from early childhood to university and adult skills. Largely state-funded and freely accessible at a primary and secondary level, education is compulsory for children in Wales between ages 5-16 years old. It differs to some extent in structure and content to other parts of the United Kingdom, in the later case particularly in relation to the teaching of the Welsh language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Numeracy</span> Ability to apply numerical concepts

Numeracy is the ability to understand, reason with, and apply simple numerical concepts. The charity National Numeracy states: "Numeracy means understanding how mathematics is used in the real world and being able to apply it to make the best possible decisions...It's as much about thinking and reasoning as about 'doing sums'". Basic numeracy skills consist of comprehending fundamental arithmetical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For example, if one can understand simple mathematical equations such as 2 + 2 = 4, then one would be considered to possess at least basic numeric knowledge. Substantial aspects of numeracy also include number sense, operation sense, computation, measurement, geometry, probability and statistics. A numerically literate person can manage and respond to the mathematical demands of life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's Trust</span> United Kingdom-based charity

The King's Trust is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by King Charles III to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are unemployed or struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. Many of the young people helped by the trust face issues such as homelessness, disability, mental health problems, or trouble with the law.

The Key Skills Qualification is a frequently required component of 14-20 education in England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The aim of Key Skills is to encourage learners to develop and demonstrate their skills as well as learn how to select and apply skills in ways that are appropriate to their particular context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy (English school)</span> Type of independent state school in England

An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. 80% of secondary schools, 40% of primary schools and 44% of special schools are academies.

Shaw Trust is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which supports people with complex needs into good work. It was founded in the village of Shaw in Wiltshire in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Educational Action Challenging Homophobia</span> LGBT charity in the UK

Educational Action Challenging Homophobia (EACH) is a charity based in the United Kingdom which "affirms the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBTQ) people and reduces discrimination experienced because of sexual orientation or gender identity." Since 2003, EACH has delivered training and consultancy services on sexuality and gender identity matters across the statutory, voluntary and private sectors. It also provides support to those affected by homophobic, biphobic or transphobic bullying through its nationwide, freephone helpline.

The National Numeracy Strategy was designed to facilitate a sound grounding in maths for all primary school pupils. It arose out of the National Numeracy Project in 1996, led by a Numeracy Task Force in England, and was launched in 1998 and implemented in schools in 1999. The strategy included an outline of expected teaching in mathematics for all pupils from Reception to Year 6.

Pratham is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India. It was co-founded by Madhav Chavan and Farida Lambay. It works towards the provision of quality education to the underprivileged children in India. Established in Mumbai in 1995 to provide pre-school education to children in slums, Pratham today has interventions spread across 23 states and union territories of India and has supporting chapters in the United States, UK, Germany, Sweden, and Australia.

Skills for Life is a national lifelong learning strategy in England for improving adult skills, designed to help learners develop their reading, writing, maths, technical, and digital skills. It provides universal free education and training; including courses in digital, numeracy and transferable skills; traineeships; apprenticeships; and vocational qualifications for all adults in further education colleges and beyond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sutton Trust</span> Educational charity in the UK

The Sutton Trust is an educational charity in the United Kingdom which aims to improve social mobility and address educational disadvantage. The charity was set up by educational philanthropist, Sir Peter Lampl in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Train to Gain</span> UK government vocational training initiative

Train to Gain (T2G) was a UK government-funded initiative to deliver vocational training to employed adults. It was discontinued in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oasis Academy Coulsdon</span> Academy in Coulsdon, Greater London, England

Oasis Academy Coulsdon, formerly known as Coulsdon High School, is a school in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It is between the area of Coulsdon and Caterham. It is an academy run by the Christian charity Oasis Trust. The conversion to an academy in 2008 attracted a £20 million investment over five years by the government, via the Oasis Trust.

The Leitch Review of Skills was an independent review by Lord Sandy Leitch, the Chairman of the National Employment Panel, commissioned by the British Government in 2004, 'to identify the UK's optimal skills mix for 2020 to maximise economic growth, productivity and social justice, set out the balance of responsibility for achieving that skills profile and consider the policy framework required to support it.'

HM Prison Deerbolt is a male Category C Training Prison in Barnard Castle, County Durham, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service.

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. This concept is also termed as psychosocial competency. The subject varies greatly depending on social norms and community expectations but skills that function for well-being and aid individuals to develop into active and productive members of their communities are considered as life skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The ClementJames Centre</span> UK education charity

The ClementJames Centre is a UK education charity based in North Kensington, one of London's most disadvantaged areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education Endowment Foundation</span> British charitable organization

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) is a charity established in 2011 to improve the educational attainment of the poorest pupils in English schools. It aims to support teachers and senior leaders by providing evidence-based resources designed to improve practice and boost learning.

References

  1. ↑ "Meet the trustees | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "Poor numeracy 'blights the economy and ruins lives'". BBC News. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "About us | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Michael Gove's maths curriculum reforms flawed, says numeracy charity". the Guardian. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "Ambassadors | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  6. ↑ "NPC report calls for National Numeracy Trust | Philanthropy Impact". www.philanthropy-impact.org. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  7. ↑ Paterson, E.; Stringer, E.; Vernon, B. (2010) "Count Me In. Improving Numeracy in England." ‘’A Guide for Charities and Funders. The New Philanthropy Capital’’. London. pp 5.
  8. ↑ "Trouble With Numbers". ITV News. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "Damaging maths mindset holding pupils back". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Maths Of The Day - the maths behind the match!". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  11. ↑ reporter, Hannah Richardson BBC News education. "L'Oreal agrees to change 'bad at maths' boast advert". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "National Numeracy Day | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "National Numeracy Day hits the headlines - and inspires thousands to start their journey towards better numeracy | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  14. ↑ Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2012. Skills for Life Survey, BIS Research Papers. Improving the Quality of Further Education and Skills Training.
  15. ↑ "England's young people near bottom of global league table for basic skills". the Guardian. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  16. ↑ M. Winterbotham; D. Vivian; J. Shury. B. Davies; G. Kik. UKCES Employer Skills Survey 2013.
  17. ↑ St Mungo’s Broadway. Half of homeless people lack reading and writing skills, new study shows. 2014. http://www.mungosbroadway.org.uk/press_office/1928_half-of-homeless-people-lack-reading-and-writing-skills-new-study-shows. Retrieved: June 2014
  18. ↑ Pro Bono Economics. 2014. http://www.probonoeconomics.com/news/publications/high-cost-low-adult-numeracy. Accessed June 2014
  19. ↑ The Mayor's Fund for London. "The Parent Factor: A report on the impact of our Count on Us: Parental Engagement Programme". 2016. https://www.mayorsfundforlondon.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NN-MFL-Count-on-Us-PE-Report-FINALc.pdf
  20. ↑ Money Advice Service and National Numeracy. Improving Numeracy to Increase Financial Capability. 2018. https://fincap-two.cdn.prismic.io/fincap-two%2F752ecb87-4587-4e93-b2fe-3cd393f09af1_national+numeracy+wwf+report+-+improving+numeracy+to+increase+fincap.pdf
  21. ↑ "YouGov poll finds managing money is main driver for adults wanting to improve numeracy". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  22. ↑ "About us | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  23. ↑ "Can you pass the National Numeracy Challenge?". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  24. ↑ "National Numeracy Challenge down for maintenance until 26th October". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  25. ↑ "Numeracy Review". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  26. ↑ "Challenge champions". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  27. ↑ "Parental engagement". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  28. ↑ "Introducing the Family Maths Toolkit". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  29. ↑ "Passport Maths". National Numeracy. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  30. ↑ "National Numeracy to deliver new adult online learning project funded by the Department for Education | National Numeracy". www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.