Maths and Numeracy Skills in England

Many of us look at numbers and our eyes glaze over. Some of us are so bad that we can’t even split a check when we eat out with friends. Americans aren’t alone here. The National Numeracy organization in England says theirs is largely an innumerate nation. Anchor Aaron Schachter speaks with the group’s chief executive, Mike Ellicock.

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Aaron Schachter: Many of us look at math and numbers and our eyes glaze over. Some of us have to use a phone app to split the check when we eat out with friends, but we Americans aren’t alone. The National Numeracy Organization in England says theirs is largely an innumerate nation. Mike Ellicock is Chief Executive Officer of National Numeracy. First, Mike Ellicock, I feel actually a bit illiterate. I didn’t even know the word ‘innumerate’ existed.

Mike Ellicock: Yeah, that’s an interesting, interesting one. I was over in the U.S. last year and went to your NCTM conferences, teachers of mathematics, and it was very interesting and it became aware to me then that numeracy isn’t a word in the U.S. You talk about mathematical literacy, and we’re really using the word “numeracy” to mean kind of everyday mathematics that helps people in their lives and in their job rather than doing some abstract maybe at university.

Schachter: Now just how bad are the British when it comes to math and how do they compare with the rest of the world?

Ellicock: Well, these statistics that I’ve highlighted are pretty bad, you know, so we’ve got 49 percent of our working age population working at the level of primary school, so that’s up to the age of 11 here in the U.K. Another thing that we’re doing pretty badly on is that very few 17 and 18 year olds continue with math and so in comparison with other OECD countries, we’re the lowest.

Schachter: Europe you mean?

Ellicock: No, OECD, the kind of wealthiest 25 countries…

Schachter: Oh, okay.

Ellicock: …and so the top 10 have 100 percent of their kids, 17 and 18, doing math, but in the U.K., it’s down to 15 percent; 15 percent.

Schachter: But Mike, I mean this is the quintessential question, who cares? What is it that we’re missing out in not doing Trigonometry and Calculus and so on?

Ellicock: That’s a good question and that’s part of the problem here in the U.K. that kind of it’s acceptable to say I can’t do math, but it is incredibly important. For individuals in the U.K., if you’ve got a low level of numeracy, you’re twice as likely to be unemployed. There’s a 26 percent wage premium for being numerous, so you know, that should start to focus people’s minds, and there’s been various calculations about the impact on the economy and it’s a big impact, it’s in billions of pounds a year on our economy of the level of innumeracy that we have here.

Schachter: What is it though that, in practical terms, people are missing day to day?

Ellicock: Math kind of came around because it’s the language of problem solving, so if we want to solve problems, then you kind of have to drift into math and the use of numbers, so it’s things like working out how long to put chicken in the oven for, it’s knowing when you’ve got paid correctly, knowing all kinds of elements of life rely on a level of numeric ability.

Schachter: Mike, is the problem then the way it’s taught in schools? Is the problem that it’s harder to learn math than other subjects, or are our brains wired a certain way depending upon the culture?

Ellicock: Yeah.

Schachter: I mean certainly there are stereotypes, right, that certain cultures do better at math than others?

Ellicock: For sure, yeah, for sure there are, but there’s absolutely nothing genetic about math’s ability. If you learn to speak, you can do the kind of math that we’re talking about, which is basic numeracy to help you with your everyday life.

Schachter: Mike Ellicock is with the British organization, National Numeracy. Mike, thanks for joining us.

Ellicock: Thanks Aaron.

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