Adult Numeracy, Functional Maths, and GCSE Resources

A quick but very useful match-up activity that makes a good starter activity for financial literacy or employment skills courses - and it's bound to prompt discussion.

Editor's note

Written for an Australian audience but I have added a UK version on page 2.  Learners can draw lines to match the items or, for a reusable resource, the page could be laminated and/or cut into 12 cards. 

Reading and related activities focusing on a simplified version of a BBC news article reporting the results of the 2021 Australian Census. Ideal for practising reading strategies including:  relating images to text, using headings, skimming, scanning and using context to predict. My (Australian) students found it challenging but were engaged in the content. Lots of possible ways it could lead into other written and oral activities. Numbers and a graph involved so can also be used to revise numeracy concepts such as percentages and extracting information from graphs.

A reading comprehension based on the BBC news website with related writing activities, one at E3 (informal letter) and one at L1-L2 (email).

Editor’s note
There is also some maths thrown in for good measure! A great resource for the start of (spring) term.

A set of robust questions covering plans / scale drawings, calculating area, finding the best prices, percentages, ratios and much more. Mapped to the L1 and L2 Functional Maths criteria. 12 questions spread across 4 tasks: Loft Conversion, Social Club, College Canteen and Living Room.

Updated 4/7/17 for the 2017 Championships – dates and other info changed.

A gigantic worksheet / assessment pack based on Facts & Stats from the official Wimbledon site in 2016. Covers almost all aspects of Functional Maths and is split into differentiated sections covering Entry Level 2 to Level 2.

Minor update 3/7/16 – extra line graph question and improved graph paper.

Based on three recent articles about sugar in food and drinks – with a special focus on high sugar drinks sold by popular High Street coffee shops.

The articles are followed by six pages of challenging differentiated questions for E3-L2 Functional Maths – all are based on the articles. Topics include large numbers; fraction, decimal & percentage equivalents, averages & range, extracting information from tables, and the four operations.

Also includes embedded Functional English.

Very topical and challenging set of tasks based on a news report about the new 5p charge for plastic carrier bags introduced in England on October 5 2015.

Questions range from Entry 3 to high Level 2 and cover dates, large numbers, bar charts, averages, interpreting data in tables, mean average and percentages. It also challenges learners’ reading and English comprehension skills. Bar chart question requires graph paper or Excel.

A challenging set of questions based on a short text about the stunning Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation at the Tower of London.
Questions cover number measures, time, money, area – many calculations involve working with very large numbers.

This maths investigation brings awareness about reusable energy and therefore, sustainability. Students are asked to analyse data and make decisions through connecting a few different topics of mathematics such as large numbers, rational numbers (including ratio and scale), handling data and elements of geometry. Moreover, the project can be continued by English language tutors.

This is a practical handling data task at L1 and L2 which uses the Internet to find the necesssary data in order to complete a Expenses claim form.

I work with Landbased students most of whom visit an exhibition at the Bath & West show ground. In this task they have to work out how much it will cost them to travel to the site and how much the entry fee is, then enter this information onto a expenses claim form as if they were submitting it to an employed to reclaim their costs.

For L2 students they need to find the actual cost of the fuel they use for the journey.