Commons Sense

House of Commons · Westminster Hall

National Numeracy Day — [Dame Maria Miller in the Chair]

18 May 2023 · 2 other contributors · 7,719 words

Opened by Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

Responding minister: Nick Gibb

Education

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Bob Blackman raised concerns about national numeracy day — [dame maria miller in the chair] in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.

Key points

  • Concerns raised about the impact of low numeracy skills on debt, fraud, financial exclusion, unemployment, and a widening skills gap, costing the UK economy up to 25 billion annually.
  • Urges the Government to continue supporting initiatives like the Multiply programme, which invests 560 million in maths qualifications for adults and improving their skills through a digital platform.
  • Calls for greater emphasis on teaching basic mathematics until the age of 18, as announced by the Prime Minister.

Key requests to Government

I urge the Government to continue supporting initiatives like the Multiply programme, which invests £560 million in giving adults employer-valued maths qualifications and improving their skills through an accessible digital platform. I also call for greater emphasis on teaching basic mathematics until the age of 18, as announced by the Prime Minister.

How the debate unfolded

MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said.

Opened the debate

Bob Blackman Con Harrow East

I am concerned about the number of people who leave school without basic numeracy capabilities and how low numeracy skills contribute to debt, fraud, financial exclusion, unemployment, and a widening skills gap. Research shows that more than two thirds of unemployed adults have extremely low numeracy skills, costing the UK economy up to £25 billion annually in lost earnings. There is also a gender gap with women significantly less confident in their numeracy skills compared to men, which can affect career opportunities.

Other contributors (2)
  • Peter Grant SNP Gordon

    Emphasised the importance of numeracy skills, noting how essential they are for understanding financial offers and avoiding scams. Highlighted issues with misleading use of statistics in politics and stressed the need for better financial education to prevent people from being conned.

  • Stephen Morgan Lab Portsmouth South

    Pays tribute to maths teachers, tutors and numeracy charities; highlights the importance of improving numeracy skills in schools. Raises concerns over poor numeracy impacting personal finances and contributing to sluggish productivity, costing the economy up to £20 billion per year. Criticizes the Government's failure to recruit and retain maths teachers, with a shortfall of more than 5,000 teachers. Points out that teacher vacancies have risen by 246% under the Conservatives. Expresses worry over plans for a digital aspect of Multiply being shelved.

Government Response

Nick Gibb

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Maria. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East on his opening speech celebrating National Numeracy Day and pay tribute to the hon. Member for Glenrothes for his excellent contribution. Maths is crucial for daily life and career prospects; adults with poor numeracy are more than twice as likely to be unemployed at age 30. Since 2010, we have transformed maths teaching based on international evidence, adopting mastery-based pedagogy from south-east Asia in over half of primary schools. We introduced challenging assessments like the multiplication tables check and new key stage 2 maths tests. The UK improved significantly in PISA rankings, moving from 28th to 18th place for 15-year-olds. By 2025, we aim to expand teaching for mastery to 75% of primary schools and 65% of secondary schools through the maths hubs programme, reaching over 8,000 schools by 2024. We support GCSE resit students taught by teachers in full mastery intervention, who make additional progress compared with other students. The advanced mathematics support programme has reached 86% of state-funded schools and colleges. A fully funded national professional qualification for primary school maths leaders will be available from February next year to improve pupil outcomes further. We established a maths to 18 expert advisory group to guide future thinking on post-16 maths provision, aiming to enhance young people's maths knowledge before they start work and make Britain more globally competitive.

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