- New £560 million Multiply programme to be launched providing personalised maths coaching for up to half a million people across the UK.
- Transformational numeracy scheme will transform the lives of some of the 8 million adults in England who have numeracy skills lower than those expected of a 9-year-old.
- Funding to be channelled through the new £1.5bn UK Shared Prosperity Fund – which replaces a pot of money previously divvied up and distributed by the EU and means the government can target funding where it is needed most.
A TRANSFORMATIONAL £560 million scheme to improve the maths skills of hundreds of thousands of adults across the UK is set to unveiled by the Chancellor next week.
At Wednesday’s Budget and Spending Review, Rishi Sunak will announce that up to 500,000 people will benefit from Multiply with improved basic numeracy skills through free personal tutoring, digital training, and flexible courses.
More than 8 million adults in England have numeracy skills lower than those expected of a 9-year-old with the North East, West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber worst affected. And by the age of 30, people with poor numeracy skills are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as their peers.
According to research, improving numeracy skills can increase your pay cheque by 14%, and reduce joblessness by half – boosting the economy and changing lives.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said: “Better maths can mean a better job and a bigger pay packet. Multiply will help people develop new skills and create opportunities.”
Sam Sims, Chief Executive of National Numeracy said: “Low numeracy blights lives, holding millions of people back from fulfilling their potential and it comes at a huge cost to the economy.
“We need solutions that reach and engage people with low numeracy to build confidence with numbers as well as skills, as a steppingstone to further learning and opportunity.
“National Numeracy is delighted with the announcement of the government’s new ‘Multiply’ scheme, which promises to help improve the numeracy of hundreds of thousands of people.”
Launching in the Spring, Multiply will give people who don’t have at least a GCSE grade C/4 or equivalent in maths access to free new flexible courses to improve their maths.
It will also include a new website with bitesize training and free one-to-one online tutorials to help hundreds of thousands of people improve their maths in every part of the United Kingdom.
The programme will be funded through the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which replaces the EU’s Structural Funds, which were previously divvied up and distributed by the EU.
Funding for the UKSPF will increase to £1.5bn per year, meeting the Government’s commitment to level up all parts of the UK. The Multiply scheme is the first step of the new Fund, with further investment provided for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Rather than the EU’s scatter gun approach, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will ensure the UK Government can target funding where it is needed most – through schemes like Multiply which will help level-up the UK.
Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack said: “The UK Govt made a clear commitment to maintain Scotland’s level of funding following the vote to leave the EU and we have delivered on that promise.
“This is good news for communities across Scotland who will continue to benefit from a range of important projects. Going forward, new arrangements will allow us to deal directly with communities ensuring money is spent on projects that matter most to the people of Scotland.”