Numeracy Skills for Employability and the Workplace

In our highly technical world numeracy skills, particularly the ability to interpret data, are becoming increasingly important and are highly sought after by employers.

A lack of mathematical confidence and poor numeracy skills are barriers to employment as numeracy tests are increasingly part of the recruitment process, often early on.

Many people feel that they just simply “cannot do maths” yet the need to process numbers is a skill that we all need not just for employment but in our everyday lives.

Improve or revise your knowledge of mathematics

This free online course from the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University will help you improve or revise your knowledge of mathematics. You will gain the numeracy skills needed to succeed in both employers’ numeracy tests and the workplace. It is designed to build your confidence.

Over three weeks, we will look at where numbers occur in everyday life and what numeracy means in this context. We will look at the rationale behind employers’ numeracy testing and the skills you will need to be successful.

In addition to refreshing your understanding of specific numeracy skills (such as percentages, ratios, averages and currency conversions), you will develop essential skills for interpreting numerical data and understanding statistics.

Build your mathematical confidence

The course will develop your skills through a carefully paced, step-by-step introduction to relevant topics with opportunities to check your understanding through quizzes. There will be feedback at every stage.

Completing this course will help you build your mathematical confidence and prepare you for both employers’ numeracy testing and using numeracy in the workplace.

We hope you will join us.

Note: This course includes video content and other visual teaching methods. Some information is displayed in tables and graphs. Blind and visually impaired students may need a helper.

This course is open to anyone with a basic understanding of mathematics. It is suitable if you are:

• applying for work placements or internships
• applying for employment
• applying for a course that requires you to pass numeracy skills tests
• in employment seeking promotion or wishing to upskill
• anyone who wishes to refresh their knowledge of numeracy
• anyone who wishes to improve their mathematical confidence for everyday life.

If it has been some time since you last used any numeracy skills you may need to spend longer working through the materials. The course is particularly suitable for those who have not had the opportunity to practise quantitative skills since school.