Five ways to join in with National Numeracy Day this year

National Numeracy Day is an annual nationwide event that celebrates the importance of numeracy and helps inspire people to get number confident. This year, the event focuses on three truly important themes: supporting children's numeracy, personal money management, and numeracy for work.

Numeracy plays a pivotal role in our daily lives – at school, at work, and in the home. Struggling with numbers can leave us more vulnerable to unemployment, fraud, debt, and poor health. In light of the pandemic, numeracy is vital for rebuilding livelihoods, skills, and businesses – shaping a brighter future for all.

At Amazon, numeracy is a crucial tool in the skillset of all of our employees, from marketing teams to software engineers. It is a fundamental part of the journey for every Amazon order, from product suggestions right through to our Fulfilment Centres and delivery to our customers’ door.

John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager for Amazon, said: “Every one of our employees, from brand experts to operations managers, uses numeracy skills every day to improve the experience we provide for our customers. In fact, numeracy is a critical foundation for nearly every career choice today, no matter what field or industry you work in. That’s why we’re delighted to support National Numeracy Day as a nationwide effort to celebrate numeracy and inspire everybody to get number confident.”

Here are five ways to join in with National Numeracy Day, grow your maths skills, and get excited about the power of numeracy.

The National Numeracy Challenge is a free online resource designed to make getting number confident feel easier and more manageable. It focuses on topics that are useful in daily life, such as money management and working out percentages.

The Challenge has a brand-new look in 2021, including a 'quick check' that only requires around ten minutes to assess and improve your everyday numeracy skills. You'll also find videos to show that you're not alone, however comfortable you are with numbers and maths.

So far, over 350,000 people have registered to measure and strengthen their numeracy skills through the National Numeracy Day Challenge – sign up today.

National Numeracy Day takes place on 19 May, featuring a brilliant line-up of experts, teachers, parents, and celebrity ambassadors, such as Rachel Riley, Martin Lewis, and Bobby Seagull.

There will be a variety of free online events exploring how we can cultivate great numeracy in children, plus money management skills and numeracy in the workplace.

Enjoy inspirational stories, tips, and talks on boosting number confidence, along with a range of free online resources and activities for children and adults on the National Numeracy Day website.

From Great British Bake Off winner Peter Sawkins' cupcake baking activity to spoken word poet and author Harry Baker's National Numeracy Day Rap, there's something to motivate everyone to start thinking differently about numbers.

To mark National Numeracy Day, Alexa users can discover handy information on numeracy and the event with a variety of commands such as:

• “Alexa, what is numeracy?”
• “Alexa, when is National Numeracy Day?”
• “Alexa, what is National Numeracy Day?”

You can ask “Alexa, what have you learnt?” for maths-related content and puns.

Ask Alexa today to find out more!

Want to help your school or community feel number confident again after months of remote learning and working? Consider signing up as a National Numeracy Day Champion!

Join in and receive free, fun materials on numeracy – everything you need to inspire your colleagues or students to get positive about maths and improving their numeracy skills.

You'll also be provided with details of the School Number Heroes competition, which offers schools the chance to win an incredible numeracy prize pack worth over £1,000 – plus a live virtual assembly from Bobby Seagull, the celebrity maths teacher.

Join over 2,500 organisations and become a National Numeracy Day Champion!

Take a look at the Amazon Maths4All storefront, created to help primary and secondary school children learn to love and excel at maths.

We worked with a host of experts, including academics at leading institutions to produce a collection of free online curriculum-linked resources that make developing numeracy skills enjoyable and accessible.

Choose from hundreds of stimulating apps and games such as NumBots and Times Tables Rock Stars along with worksheets, challenges, and Alexa skills tailored to suit a range of ages.

Research from National Numeracy has underscored the pressing need to reframe our approach to numeracy nationwide. The charity found that not getting on with numbers blights lives and livelihoods, contributing to pervasive problems from unemployment to poor health and debt - it costs the UK economy a staggering £20 billion a year.

This doesn't just pose a problem for employers and those in the workplace: it also impacts society at large. National Numeracy found that pupils starting secondary school with very low numeracy skills are more likely to face exclusion. Individuals with poor numeracy skills are twice as likely to be unemployed.

Amazon is committed to supporting the development of practical skillsets in young people so they can forge exciting futures. To put this into action, we have created various initiatives that are open to all, no matter their age or background.

Amazon Future Engineer is a comprehensive childhood-to-career programme that offers children and young adults the opportunity to get involved in STEM-related activities, training, and apprenticeships. The programme is designed to inspire, educate, and equip individuals with the tools they need to become the inventors, innovators, and engineers of tomorrow. The recently expanded Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme also helps to create more opportunities for women to study STEM subjects in higher education.

This year, we created 1,000 more full-time apprenticeships in areas such as automation engineering, robotics, and broadcast production. Participants earn as they learn, gearing up for the next stage of their career.

We're delighted to support National Numeracy Day again this year and can't wait to see the nation engaging with National Numeracy's excellent resources, videos, and virtual festival programme.

Find out more about National Numeracy Day.