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

I got 5/5
I would be pretty disappointed in myself if I had not done so. I did maths A level (quite badly) about 33 years ago.

4/5 - first three without a calculator, did the fifth with a calculator, and couldn’t be bothered with the ketchup one (but knew it was option 3 or 4). Those price per 100g or kg in shops have made me lazy!

I have maths A level but that’s not terribly relevant - this stuff is about being numerate enough to know when things look wrong, and understanding some practical concepts like compound interest, and some of the detail of how percentages work. It’s what IMO we need to ensure young people leave education with, not try over and over again to stuff a maths GCSE into them.

5/5 I really struggled with maths in school. It only made sense to me when I left and the pressure lifted. The VAT question would have thrown me as a youngster because I’d have assumed it couldn’t be the answer

2 right. I'm not embarrassed. I can do the maths I need to get through life and can always ask for help if I need it.

5/5 (but I home educated the DC, so I bloody well ought to have got full marks!).

5 - did a level maths. Needed a calc.

These are the kind of questions people need to be able to answer to function in the world. They could have thrown in something spatial, like calculating paving stones or a fence perimeter, but people could argue that not everyone has to deal with that kind of math. The exchange of money is universal.

5/5

I am pretty good at maths, although fucked my GCSE up (got a C) as I was off school for months before and during exams with glandular fever.

I got 5/5 with no calculator and a C grade in maths O level 40 years ago.

Anyone got real life experience as to whether maths exams are easier than they used to be or have I just picked up life skills along the way?

I don't think they are helpful questions to make comments on the numeracy of a nation.

You would need more, at a range of levels, and covering a wider range of numeracy skills.

Placemarking

5/5 but last one was a guess. Was only enrolled for maths GCSE paper that could obtain a C. Got the C. My maths has improved due to my engineer DH and primary school/11+ tuition that DS has done so I would say I’m numerate but not great, enough to get by in life.

I’m exposed to quite a lot of statistics in my job but that’s not really about being numerate IMO, more about understanding what p values, confidence intervals etc mean and I have statisticians available to explain it in a very simple way.

My DH ‘s theory on maths skills is that it’s down to the quality of the teaching.

I got 7/5. These were easy!

Then again, my IQ is 34-25-36

5/5. Finally my B grade at O level in 1977 comes into its own! (I will admit to also having been an accountant, but a long time ago now.)

The price comparison one is the kind of thing I do a lot when shopping. So irritating when everything is a different size and then a 3 for the price of 2 offer is lobbed in as well!

I have maths A level but that’s not terribly relevant - this stuff is about being numerate enough to know when things look wrong, and understanding some practical concepts like compound interest, and some of the detail of how percentages work. It’s what IMO we need to ensure young people leave education with, not try over and over again to stuff a maths GCSE into them.

To achieve that you could perhaps argue that Functional Skills should be an accepted replacement for GCSE in schools for Maths and maybe English — but then, you'd still want an academic route open to those who wanted to go on to A level in those subjects, or related degrees. It would in some sense reintroduce the 2-tier CSE/O Level system, where you're preparing some kids for life, and other kids for academia/the professions, from an early age.

But it's similar to my own feelings about English Literature — I enjoyed the subject at school and studied it at university, but I don't think it should necessarily be a common addition to English at GCSE. If anything, IMO Media Studies would be a better GCSE to augment English with, with Eng. Lit. being an extra one for those with special interest, because we all need to interpret mass media messages all our lives but we don't all need to be able to write about villanelle structure and why Lennie likes soft things.

5/5 without a calculator

Couldn't show you my workings, but my brain works like that. I dont think its a good representation of questions.

To me its like asking 5 questions on where a full stop goes in a sentence

GCSE too many years ago to count

Would anyone mind explaining how they calculated the last 3 questions?

Dyscalculia means that I struggle with all of these questions lol

I got the VAT one wrong, why is it not the £179.80?

I also think they are much easier than what I remember from my maths gcse classes

Just realised my mistake on the VAT one, you can't just subtract 20#

No idea for any of them! I went to a dodgy school (not in the UK) and this sort of thing wasn't covered. I manage to muddle along, but I wish I had been taught percentages!

5/5

I think they’re looking at the basic maths that most people come across in day to day life, so percentages come up fairly often. It’s also the kind of stuff you’d expect year 6 to know.

I do think % & comping interest in more useful than algebra & trigonometry though

Me too

They think a 20% discount is the same as taking the VAT off.