To boost existing efforts to address low levels of adult numeracy, in 2022 the UK
government committed funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to the Multiply adult
numeracy programme. The aim of Multiply was to support adults with low levels of
numeracy to improve their maths skills. Multiply sought to build on and complement
existing provision by creating new offerings, with a focus on courses that met local needs
for flexibility, intensity and method of delivery. This led to a wide range of provision
including short courses to increase confidence with numbers, courses that embedded
numeracy in everyday tasks, and courses designed to address specific skills gaps related
to the workplace. The Multiply programme, in England, ran from April 2022 to March 2025,
was delivered by the Department for Education (DfE) and is the focus of this report.
The full programme evaluation is available here.
Authors
Christine Farquharson
Christine's research examines inequalities in children's education and health, especially in the early education and childcare sector.
Henry Faulkner-Ellis
Peter Matthews
Priya Menon
Fred Merttens
Luke Sibieta
Luke is a Research Fellow at the IFS and his general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality.
Imran Tahir
Imran joined the IFS in 2019 and works in the Education and Skills sector.
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