National Numeracy

National Numeracy is an independent charity (registered no. 1145669 in England and Wales) based in Brighton, UK, that promotes the importance of numeracy and "everyday maths".

The charity was founded in 2012; its chair is Perdita Fraser and vice chair Andy Haldane.^[1] Its current chief executive is Sam Sims, who replaced Mike Ellicock in 2020.

The charity aims to challenge negative attitudes towards maths and promotes effective approaches to improving functional numeracy skills. Chris Humphries, former chair of National Numeracy and a former chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, said: "It is simply inexcusable for anyone to say: 'I can't do maths.' It is a peculiarly British disease which we aim to eradicate."^[2] The charity's Theory of Change^[3] is detailed on their website.

National Numeracy has been critical of the UK mathematics curriculum, claiming that it is flawed and requires radical improvement to ensure that everyone leaves compulsory education with essential numeracy skills.^[4]

National Numeracy is supported by a number of celebrities, including Rachel Riley, financial journalist Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert, author, television presenter and mathematics teacher Bobby Seagull, financial writer Iona Bain, Strictly Come Dancing's Katya Jones, Great British Bake Off 2020 winner Peter Sawkins, and the poet and comedian Harry Baker.^[5] It is also supported by organisations, including TP ICAP, KPMG, Experian, Ufi VocTech Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation and the Edge Foundation.