Only half of UK adults can correctly answer three basic GCSE-level maths questions
The figures suggest that low numeracy skills are costing adults hundreds of pounds a year in lost earnings or poor financial decisions.
New polling reveals a significant gap in basic GCSE-level numeracy between adults who report losing money to poor maths skills each year and those who don't, underlining the case for greater investment in adult numeracy.
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Respondents to a survey were shown questions, taken from previous GCSE papers, which asked them to work out the smallest of a set of decimals, convert a duration from minutes into hours and minutes, and calculate journey time given a distance and average speed.
The research, released as 16-year-olds across the nation collect their GCSE results, highlighted a stark correlation between poor numeracy and personal financial loss.
Among adults who report no financial loss, 65% answered all three GCSE questions correctly.
That figure falls to 46% among those losing £1 - £99 a year, 42% among those losing £100 - £249, and 35% among those losing £250 - £499.
The figures suggest that low numeracy skills are costing adults hundreds of pounds a year in lost earnings or poor financial decisions.
Read more: Top GCSE grades rise but key pass rate returns to pre-pandemic levels
That cost rarely shows up as a single, obvious mistake, but builds up quietly, through everyday decisions most people make without ever feeling fully confident about the maths behind them.
Comparing mortgage offers or fixed-rate deals, working out whether a ‘buy now, pay later’ arrangement is actually cheaper than saving up, or simply spotting when a household bill has crept up without explanation all rely on the same basic numeracy the survey tested.
Lord Agnew, Chair of the Numeracy for Life Committee and former Treasury Minister, said: "Only just over half of UK adults can answer three questions that every 16-year-old is expected to get right, and the same research shows that the people who struggle with them are also the people losing the most money each year.
"That is not a criticism of the individuals concerned, most of whom passed maths at school and have simply had no reason or opportunity to keep it up in the decades since. It is a criticism of a system that treats numeracy as a box-ticking exercise which is settled at sixteen and never returned to.
"The cost falls on people throughout their adult lives, when they are comparing mortgage offers, working out what a fixed-rate deal will really cost over its term, or judging whether a payment plan is cheaper than saving up, and it amounts to a lifetime Innumeracy Tax paid by people who were never given a fair chance to avoid it.
"My Committee will set out recommendations later this year on how adult numeracy can be properly maintained beyond the classroom."
Bobby Seagull, teacher and National Numeracy Ambassador, said: "Results day is always a proud moment, and I have huge respect for every student opening their results this week. But this research points to a harder question and one we must answer: that for a lot of adults, GCSE Maths never really gave them the grounding it was supposed to.
"This has lifelong implications for millions of adults. If we want fewer paying the price, the fix has to start earlier with how numeracy is actually taught and tested, not just assumed once a pass is on a certificate."