Are you numerate? These are some questions designed to test everyday math skills - 20% of people got 4 or 5 right

[cakeorwine]

This came up in another thread. I am a bit sceptical about the quality of this test to assess numeracy and everyday maths skills from these 5 questions and to use this to say how good people are at maths, but there you go.

www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Our_year_in_numbers/national_numeracy_day_2019.pdf

The questions (you can use a calculator)

1. If a scarf costs £11.70 after a 10% reduction, what was the original price? (L1)
   • £12.50
   • £13.25
   • £13.99
   • £13.00
   • I don’t know

2. Mike’s lunch contains 640 calories of energy. What percentage is this of his target daily intake of 2000 calories? (L1)
   • 45%
   • 62%
   • 65%
   • 32%
   • I don’t know

3. Rail tickets increased by 2% in year 1, and 5% in year 2. What was the overall increase over the two years? (L2)
   • 7%
   • 7.1%
   • 10.0%
   • 10.7%
   • I don’t know

4. . These are three offers on the same ketchup. Which is the best value for money? (L2)
   • 275g for £1.05
   • 454g for £1.99
   • 650g for £2.20
   • 425g: buy two for £3.10
   • I don’t know

5. You buy a laptop that costs £899, including VAT at 20%. How much of the purchase price is VAT? (L2)
   • £179.80
   • £89.80
   • £125.00
   • None of these
   • I don’t know

Based on the results from a five-question multiple-choice test of people’s everyday maths skills, 56% of the population scored less than 3. The questions are everyday maths questions from the National Numeracy Challenge and are all roughly equivalent to those within a GCSE maths paper.

Based on results from a multiple-choice test of people’s everyday maths skills, 20% of the population scored 4 or 5, roughly equivalent to a GCSE pass (Grade 4 / C). This is in line with the last Government-commissioned Skills for Life survey.

So have a go and see where you fit in. Answers are at the bottom of the link

5/5 but I did get an A in maths GCSE without much effort.

5/5 but I did Maths and FM at A level and am an accountant. But I know a lot of people who would have struggled with all of these. A lot of basic numeracy you either get or you don't. If you do, it's very hard to see how someone can't get it but it works the same both ways.

I got three and am stuck on the VAT question and the percentage increases over two years. If anyone can help me I would love that.

5/5 but I have an A level in Maths

5/5 but I have a masters degree in a maths related discipline.

I got them right - only have an ancient GCSE in maths.

With the percentage increases over time, the trick is to imagine it's £100.
Then add 2%% to get £102

Then do 5% of that.

Look at how it's increased.

It's the basis of compound interest (and debt).

5/5 no calculator

I am shamefully poor at maths, I got 3/5.

My dses are both maths whizzes and got A* at Maths A level, no idea where they got it from, certainly not me. I am a child of the 70’s and no one cared at the time that I failed maths and English gcse!

I feel like I’m too old to go back and try and do maths GCSE now. I have a tough job and it’s hard to find the motivation to do this in my limited downtime.

I got them all right, without a calculator. No maths degree just a B grade GCSE 25 years ago.

With the percentage increases over time, the trick is to imagine it's £100.
Then add 2%% to get £102

That is exactly what I did😃

I am confident I could get 5/5, but am not getting a pen and paper to keep track! I did maths and further maths A levels, and then a physics degree. Was a while ago though!

I wonder why there's such a fixation on percentages. Even question 4 which isn't overtly about percentages involves the same kind of maths skills.

Haven’t done maths since gcse but have always been quite good at mental maths, everyday stuff.

I got them all right, but as an ex-maths teacher would have been ashamed to get one wrong!

This is why I don't like it. They have taken 5 questions - which are somewhat similar - and used this to make a claim about maths skills.

1, 2 and 5 were easy - with mental arithmetic I could work out which option was correct without much effort.

3 was easy with a calculator.

4 I needed a calculator for and got wrong because I couldn't hold the different outcomes in my head.

Can I use a calculator for the 2 I can't do in my head (ketchup and train ticket)

Absolutely

VAT is not 20% of the total price. The amount it is sold for has 20% added on, so the total you see on the price label (or in this question) is 120%. So divide by 6 to find what the 20% added on was (as 120/6=20)

i don’t think I explained that very well. I’m a (primary) maths teacher but rely on diagrams to explain stuff like this!

I've done A Level maths too.
So can work them all out

@cakeorwine can you find my calculator too? I know I've got the one I used for GCSE maths in 1988 somewhere...

5/5 without a calculator, and I only have a very old o level in maths.

I have seen companies get the VAT wrong when they try to 'take the VAT off".

5/5 with no calculator, but only because it was multiple choice. I’d need a calculator to get full marks without that!

I’m a physics teacher, though, so I’m expected to have decent numeracy skills.