8 million adults in England can’t do maths at a nine-year-old’s level
Around 16 million adults have low numeracy skills, and eight million of them can’t do maths at the level expected of a nine year old. This was a key finding in a House of Lords Numeracy for Life Committee report published on Tuesday (3 November)
On a positive note, the data show the proportion of adults with low numeracy fell from 25% to 14% between 2012 and 2023 That means there are roughly 1 million to 1.5 million fewer adults with very low skills now, compared to a decade ago.
Internationally, adults in England perform above the OECD average. In the OECD’s 2023v Survey of Adult Skills, adults aged 16 to 65 in England achieved an average numeracy score of 268, compared with an OECD average of 263. England was outperformed among participating G7 countries only by Japan and Germany.
This has been driven by the improved skills of younger adults. Low numeracy fell substantially among 16–24 year-olds during this period, while comparable countries saw no improvement at all. The evidence of a substantial improvement in attainment at school is confirmed by the PISA student surveys, where England rose from 27th in 2009 to 10th in the world in their report published this year.
However, although the number of low achievers has fallen, the skills of those who remain the lowest achievers have not improved at all.
The report specifically raised concerns about the number of young people are leaving school without the skills they need to succeed in life.
Many of those who fail to get a grade 4 in their maths GCSE – the gateway requirement for many higher education, training and job opportunities – become caught in a spiral of resits, with only a fifth of those who retake the exam passing.
“Low numeracy skills have a personal cost. People struggle to understand the financial decisions they are faced with – their loans, mortgages and pensions – and to manage their daily lives, including their health and medications. Without numeracy skills, they cannot get the jobs or training they want, or progress in the jobs they already have. Put simply, it makes it harder to lead a fulfilling life,” the report states.
“Low numeracy also has wider economic costs. It restricts access to work, training and progression, contributes to skills shortages and reduces earnings and productivity. One estimate suggested that workers with low numeracy earned around 6.5% less than they might with basic numeracy skills, an income difference of up to £25 billion a year across the UK.”
