National Numeracy Day 2026: Building confidence with numbers through community
Confidence with numbers can transform everyday life, work and future opportunities. This National Numeracy Day, City & Guilds is proud to support the 'Count on your Community’ campaign, helping to spark conversations, break down barriers and show that everyone can improve with the right support.
19 May 2026
Numbers shape our lives in ways we often don’t always realise – from the everyday decisions we make to the opportunities we pursue in work and life. Yet for many people, maths can feel intimidating or overwhelming. A lack of confidence with numbers can limit opportunity. National Numeracy Day exists to change that – transforming the way people experience numbers and help build confidence where it’s needed most. City & Guilds is proud to support this mission and to take part in the 2026 campaign.
Counting on Community with National Numeracy
National Numeracy’s mission is simple but powerful: to help people feel more comfortable and capable using numbers in everyday life. This year, City & Guilds are supporting National Numeracy with their new campaign, Count on your Community.
The campaign reflects an important truth – building numeracy confidence is not something people need to do alone. It grows through encouragement, shared experiences and support from the people around us. Through tools, resources and initiatives such as the National Numeracy Challenge, National Numeracy Day sparks conversations, breaks down barriers and shows that everyone can improve with the right support.
Their 2025 Impact Report shows the scale of this work: 3.3 million actions to improve numeracy taken since the campaign began in 2018, and 40% of those who used their resources feel more prepared to use numbers in daily life. At its heart, their work is about more than numbers – it’s about what becomes possible when people feel supported enough to try.
How numeracy shows up in everyday life
National Numeracy Day shines a light on just how important everyday maths is – and how often it shows up. It also shows that progress is possible for everyone. Following the 2025 campaign, 49% of the people involved think more positively about numbers.
But beyond the statistics, it’s the real-life moments that matter most.
On a construction site, it might mean calculating the right amount of materials to complete a job safely and efficiently. In hospitality, it could involve adjusting quantities during a busy service. In healthcare, it may be ensuring that medication dosages are precise and safe.
These are everyday situations where numeracy quietly plays a vital role. For many, confidence in these moments doesn’t come naturally – which is why support, understanding and community are so important.
Why City & Guilds supports numeracy confidence
At City & Guilds, we’ve been supporting skills development for almost 150 years, helping people build capability for work and life. We know that confidence with numbers underpins wellbeing, financial security and opportunity. Strong numeracy is a key part of that journey. That’s why we’re proud to support National Numeracy Day once again this year and to stand alongside a campaign that demonstrates how much stronger learning becomes when it happens within a community.
Functional maths skills for work and life
At City & Guilds, our Functional Skills Maths qualifications are designed to support this journey. They help learners develop practical, real-world numeracy skills and apply them with confidence in everyday situations and in the workplace.
Covering areas such as using numbers, measures, shapes and space, and handling data, these qualifications focus on what maths looks like in practice. By connecting numbers to real life, learners don’t just build essential skills – they also gain the confidence to use them independently in work, study and daily life.
Building confidence through conversation
To support National Numeracy Day this year, City & Guilds will be bringing colleagues together across the organisation to champion numeracy confidence.
We will be hosting internal Big Number Natters, creating space for people to share experiences and talk more openly about numbers in everyday life – not by picking up a calculator, but simply through conversation. We will also explore the themes of National Numeracy Day through our social channels to highlight the role of numeracy and community in building confidence.
Take part and make a difference
Getting involved is a simple way to make a real difference. Whether it’s supporting someone on their journey to build confidence with numbers, raising awareness, or learning more about how you can help others – every action matters. However you choose to take part, we encourage you to get involved. Every conversation helps show that numeracy is something we build together – and that confidence with numbers can open up real opportunities in everyday life.