Practice numeracy tasks for work

Use the resources in this section to help you practise the learning outcomes for this module. We have offered some suggestions after each one below:

If you are not working at the moment, then think about contexts you have worked in previously, or find out about the contexts you would like to work in in future.

Facilitate monetary and resource transactions in different contexts
  • Think about the way that money and resources are exchanged in your professional context. For example, how goods are bought and sold? Is cash involved or is money exchanged digitally? What tools and technologies are used? What about other stock and assets? How do things come in and go out, and how is everything counted, calculated and monitored?
  • Look for opportunities to practise your numeracy skills. Here are some examples from different contexts:
    • Pick and pack items for a customer order and check the price is correct.
    • Check a delivery of goods against an order or delivery note. If items are missing or damaged, calculate the number as a percentage of the total.
    • Facilitate cash transactions without a calculator e.g. on a stall, selling tickets, or even in a pretend “shop” when playing with children in your family.
Interpret numerical information to calculate the flow of money and resources in and out of a business
  • Investigate the types of numerical documentation used in your context. Look for examples of the following: receipts, invoices, purchase orders, delivery notes, stock take records, productivity or sales reports.
  • What numerical operations can you identify in different work documents? Look closely at invoices and receipts; how many operations and calculation types do they contain? For example, an invoice might be a good example of long addition and then, if VAT (value added tax) is added, then a percentage needs to be calculated and added. Check the accuracy of the documents using your own manual calculations.
Measure and quantify assets and resources to determine value and business needs
  • Take part in a stock take or asset audit. This may be done as part of regular checks in a shop, pub, or restaurant for example. In other types of business, such as an office, an audit of assets like IT equipment and furniture may be done occasionally for insurance purposes. If this is not possible, try counting items in your home.
  • Look for opportunities to work out the quantities of items that can be described using fractions and decimals. For example, if you are counting boxes of a product, but some boxes are only partially full, how will you describe the total?
Interpret payroll, pension and numerical employment information to calculate personal income and leave entitlements
  • Look at your payslip and identify the different components, including gross pay, tax, national insurance, pension, and net pay.
  • Work out how much of your pay goes towards your pension (if applicable).
  • If your gross pay is broken down into different parts, such as basic salary and overtime, try to work out the hourly rate applied to each part.

When you have practised numeracy skills from each of these areas, you can try taking the quiz in the Activity Zone. This will help you find out if you’re ready to take on the challenges in the Mathemap activity.

Last modified: Saturday, 28 September 2024, 5:44 PM