COLLEGE CALL TO ENGAGE WITH MATHS ON NATIONAL NUMERACY DAY

North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) is inviting adults who need help with maths to get in touch on National Numeracy Day (19 May) and take advantage of its range of support to help them improve their skills.

The call comes in response to the charity, National Numeracy, which has seen evidence that the proportion of adults in the UK with a maths GCSE at grade 4 or above is declining. With better numeracy skills associated with securing employment, achieving higher wages, and enjoying better health and wellbeing, gaining skills in maths has never been more important.

The charity, which was set up to improve numeracy amongst adults and young people, predicts that the UK will become less competitive internationally if it does not improve maths skills amongst the working population. It is keen to disprove the perception of 30 per cent of individuals who wrongly assume that maths skills are innate and cannot be learned.

Karen Bailey, Learning and Skills Manager for Maths at NWSLC said, “The employment market is tough following the pandemic and maths skills are essential to attract the attention of potential employers. If a recruiter receives 100 CVs for a vacant post, they will immediately discard those that do not show evidence of English and maths qualifications.

 “The hardest part of improving their maths skills for most people is walking through the college door for the first time or simply picking up the phone. We have so many flexible options to enable people to fit their studies into busy lives, and our latest online interactive platform means that students don’t even need to come into college to study maths. National Numeracy Day is the perfect time to make a commitment to addressing your issues with maths and making a real difference to your career potential.”

NWSLC offers maths courses at all levels and begins with the basics, enabling students to progress to Level 1 and 2 Functional Skills in addition to the always oversubscribed GCSE qualification. Functional skills maths can be studied for three hours per week over a 12-week period or for one day a week over six weeks and is available at the college’s Nuneaton and Wigston Campuses. Every student starts at the level appropriate to them to ensure they build confidence and skills at a steady pace.

National Numeracy Day has been set up to encourage people to address their issues with numeracy and learn to improve their skills. A range of activities will be taking place on 19 May including the National Numeracy Challenge which takes just ten minutes and provides advice on next steps.

 Karen added, “Everyone can improve their everyday maths skills and numeracy can be learnt. It may be hard work and require resilience and determination but success in maths can make a world of difference to your career prospects. What is more, courses are free of charge if you don’t already have a Level 2 or GCSE grade 4 or C maths qualification.”

If you want to take the first step to improve your maths on National Numeracy Day, visit our website or call 0330 058 3000 for more information.