What is the issue?
Low levels of numeracy are a long-term problem for the UK.
1. Numeracy skills have got worse, not better
Proportion of working age adults in England with skills levels equivalent to GCSE "C" grade or above
![Literacy vs Number](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/litvsnum.jpg)
2. High numeracy is connected to better...
![Health wages](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/health_wages_1.jpg)
3. The UK risks becoming less competitive internationally
![International Average](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/int_average.jpg)
The scale and cost of the issue
![](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/comparison.jpg)
![](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/roughly.jpg)
![](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/costing.jpg)
The causal chain of poor numeracy
At school, children are often not prepared for using maths in everyday life
Of 15-16 year olds doing GCSE maths in the UK…
![Achieve](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/achieve_0.jpg)
24% of 16-24 year olds achieving A*-C grade at GCSE reach the equivalent level in the Skills for Life assessment.
1 in 4 adults in the UK believe school maths did not prepare them well for maths in everyday life.
![One in four adults](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/1in4adults.jpg)
Among those aged 24+ numeracy skills decline with age
![](/sites/default/files/images/Placeholder/decline.jpg)
But too few people take steps to improve their numeracy.
Data sources:
Skills for Life 2011; PIAAC 2014; National Numeracy YouGov Survey 2014
Note:
When we say “low numeracy” we usually mean those below Level 2 on the UK adult qualifications scale.
Image credits:
Created by Christian Wad and Jack Curry from the Noun Project.