Overview
- Preliminary results report an early and widening confidence gap: 51% of boys aged 4–8 call maths easy versus 41% of girls, rising by ages 9–18 to 86% of boys confident versus 63% of girls.
- Women were nearly twice as likely as men to feel anxious handling numbers, and enjoyment of using numbers at work was lower among women at 43% compared with 61% for men.
- A broader assessment for the charity found 58% of Britons had low or very low numeracy, with higher rates among women (65%) than men (50%), including 27% of women scoring very low versus 16% of men.
- Parents’ self-reported confidence also differed, with 69% of mothers saying they feel able to help with maths homework compared with 83% of fathers, and many citing changes in teaching methods as a barrier.
- The research was conducted for The Richmond Project, founded by Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty, with the full report due next week and more than £500,000 in grants announced for Rethink Maths and Learning With Parents.