NRICH highlighted in UK Parliament Numeracy for Life committee

We were delighted that Hannah Fry, Professor of the Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, highlighted NRICH's work with schools and potential to support parents in her evidence to the UK Parliamentary committee on Numeracy for Life in March 2026.

The Numeracy for Life committee is a cross-party group of House of Lords members appointed to investigate how numeracy skills can be improved in England, focusing on both school-age education and lifelong learning. Hannah Fry was invited to give input to the committee alongside Bobby Seagull MBE, discussing topics including the cultural approach to numeracy in the UK, what the main barriers are to people trying to improve their numeracy skills, and how those might be addressed.

As part of the discussion, Professor Hannah Fry highlighted NRICH, emphasising both its work with schools and the potential it offers to support parents, who are a key group of stakeholders in raising national engagement with mathematics and numeracy. 

"At Cambridge University we have a project called NRICH, which supports maths teachers around the country in providing materials for students ... their stuff is absolutely amazing," Hannah Fry explained. "On the basis of that they have this incredibly rich understanding of what works, what helps students, what helps people at different levels of numeracy."

NRICH provides a unique - and huge - selection of free, curriculum-linked mathematics resources, focusing on developing problem-solving, for every stage of school education. NRICH's resources are used by primary and secondary schools throughout the UK. However, beyond school, research evidence shows that parental engagement in their children's learning boosts attainment and confidence, with lifelong results.

"I think there is this great big gap," Hannah Fry commented about the key need for extending support for parents. "I've actually spoken with [NRICH] about the potential to ... help parents support their children through that process, based on all the knowledge and information that they have."

Watch the recording of the committee session here, and discover some of NRICH's existing pilot resources encouraging parental engagement with mathematics in our Solving Together package.