work out how much change i get from £1. i feel like i shouldn t have got involved in this, because i m outing myself as is a very bad maths person. £3.75? no, £3.65, or something like that. i wish you could have heard the response in the studio. we will discuss those questions later. joining us now is maths teacher and former university challenge contestant bobby seagull. good morning. good morning. we threw those questions good morning. good morning. we threw those questions that good morning. good morning. we threw those questions that people good morning. good morning. we threw those questions that people in those questions that people in manchester yesterday. it underlines the serious issue. basic maths that we need in everyday life, we may learn complex theories at school, but using maths in real life is sometimes a very different thing? absolutely. again, one of the things
the boss ofjohn lewis, dame sharon white, made headlines this week, when she said some new recruits have the maths level ofjust a ten or 11 year old. she says the company is now having to go back to basics and teach people how to add up properly. and she s not alone. the university admissions service ucas says a significant number of employers say that graduates lack the basic skills in numeracy and literacy. another report reckons more than half of the working age adult population in england has a numeracy level of a primary school child. the pandemic means a lot of students have missed out on weeks of school, which could make the problem worse. the government has promised a catch up programme. but the big question is whether the education system is too focused around academic qualifications, and doesn t prepare young people well enough to actually use their maths and language skills in everyday settings. i ll speak to maths teacher and numbers guru bobby seagull in a moment.