by Lorraine Gibson.

Can’t put two and two together? Don’t know your fractions from your factors? You’re not alone. National Numeracy, a charity dedicated to improving the nation’s numeracy skills, says a shocking 49 per cent of the UK’s working-age population has the expected numeracy levels of a primary school child.

Maths affect so many aspects of our lives, so it pays to get number savvy. We can’t all be maths wizards but numeracy skills are more important than ever as we manage budgets in the face of double-digit inflation, the cost of heating a home up by 150 per cent and food prices up by 20 per cent.

Multiply, a government-funded programme is offering courses to people in Dorset aged 19+ who don’t have maths GCSE at grade C (or equivalent). It’s designed to help adults’ numeracy skills and participants learning can be in person or online via tutorials by friendly professional tutors.
The Get Number Confident courses include everyday maths, managing money and understanding data.

Get Maths Confident For Work is for people wishing to enhance their employability by building maths confidence and is good preparation for future maths qualifications.
Multiply programme manager Hannah Ball, said: “We are all faced with maths problems every day, from working out our weekly household budget, energy and fuel bills, to finding the best value phone contract, comparing mortgage rates and deciding whether that supermarket multibuy offer is good value.
“But for many of us maths evokes feelings of insecurity and anxiety – not surprising research shows that almost 50 per cent of us struggle with even basic maths.”
Add poor numeracy currently costing the UK economy £25 billion a year and you get the drift.
Kate Holmes, Multiply learning coordinator added: “With the cost of living so high, it has never been so important for us to feel able to navigate the cost-of-living crisis and feel more in control of our finances.
“Being more confident with numbers has a positive impact on our confidence and wellbeing; it can also make us feel able to support our children better and aim higher at work.”

Courses are flexible and can be used to improve maths skills or as a springboard to more advanced courses like GCSE.
Visit skillsandlearningace.com/subjects/multiply-free-maths-courses.