Supporting over half a million users
As a charity, National Numeracy’s free provision and resources are primarily available to the public online. Because of this, a reliable and scalable platform for our online presence is critical. AWS provides this, including for our primary learning tool: the National Numeracy Challenge.
The National Numeracy Challenge is a free online tool designed to help people improve their everyday maths skills and build confidence, in their own time and at their own pace. It’s based on maths we all need in the real world – whether at home, at work, or when supporting children. And it adapts to each user’s skill level as they go, with a bank of over 300 questions, and learning resources providing tailored individual learning hubs.
With over 620,000 people registered on the Challenge a secure and dependable web platform is key. To deliver social impact, we need to provide a fast, mobile-friendly resource to as many people in the UK as possible.
AWS also provides a cloud solution for our user database. This allows us to keep data safe while we use it to understand users’ needs and improve our resources. This data is also how we can tell the story of our impact on people’s lives, by seeing them improve their confidence and skills with numbers.
Here's what some National Numeracy Challenge users have to say...
"It gave me so much more confidence, and I don’t feel the need to double check my figures on a calculator as I used to. I have so much more self belief than I have had in years."
"[The Challenge] inspired me to take a further course in maths."
"I feel more confident to help my children when they need support with homework."
"[The Challenge] increased my confidence in basic maths skills and allowed me to train as a teacher."
"My confidence has improved with maths, it no longer terrifies me."
Creating a consistent website experience
The National Numeracy website, Family Maths Toolkit website and National Numeracy Day campaign micro-site have now all joined the National Numeracy Challenge, with all our sites being combined on one domain (www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk) using AWS tools. This means we now have improved security, reliability and consistency across all of our content. It has also made it easier for internet users to find us via web searches and access our expert support.
Additionally, this strong structure means we are better able to help employers and educators with internal assessments of their staff and students’ numeracy. From this they can provide their own tailored programmes and interventions to support those in need.
And AWS’s scalable server solutions make it possible to handle sudden and large increases in user traffic on our website. During National Numeracy Day – the largest of our annual campaigns – we have seen hundreds of users accessing the National Numeracy Challenge application at the same time. Being able to handle these spikes has been vital for the growing success and reach of the campaign, which engages thousands of people across the UK every year. In 2024 alone National Numeracy Day inspired people to take over 600,000 actions to improve numeracy and saw a 48% increase in search traffic to our website.
Influencing UK-wide change on the National Numeracy Leadership Council
AWS also serve as a founding member of the National Numeracy Leadership Council (NNLC).
The NNLC began in September 2021, when National Numeracy joined forces with HM Treasury and leading businesses to grow a network of organisations and individuals. This network aims to actively address the issue of poor numeracy and elevate understanding of the issue at the national level. Members work to influence and effect positive, sustainable, systemic change as a group, within industries and in their own organisations.
Find out more about the National Numeracy Leadership Council here
Aanya Niaz, Global Leader for Education Equity at Amazon Web Services, said:
"Amazon Web Services is delighted to support National Numeracy and their work in elevating understanding and addressing the important issue of poor numeracy across the UK, which affects around half of the population. Through our digital support and security, we are proud to be having a tangible impact on improving number confidence across the country, and helping create brighter futures nationwide."
Sam Sims, National Numeracy Chief Executive, said:
"We are immensely grateful for the support AWS have given us since 2019. Their commitment to creating technology that is accessible to all allows us to reach many thousands more people to tackle the pervasive issue of poor numeracy. Together we are making powerful and measurable change."
Thank you to AWS for all of their support – we look forward to continuing to grow our impact together!
