This course serves as good preparation for Level 1 Functional Skills in maths, and whilst it does not cover all aspects of the current 2019-20 curriculum, it is designed to inspire you to improve your current maths skills and help you to remember any areas that you may have forgotten.

Working through the examples and interactive activities in this course will help you to, among other things, run a household or make progress in your career. To complete the course you will need access to a calculator and a notepad and pen.

Enrolling on this course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. The badge is a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject. What you learn by completing the course will really help if you wish to enrol on a formal qualification.

Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from your OpenLearn Profile. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn Statement of participation – which also displays your badge.

This course has been produced as part of the Department for Education’s Flexible Learning Fund  and with the kind support of Dangoor Education, the educational arm of The Exilarch’s Foundation.

This course was written by Middlesbrough College in partnership with Bedford College Group, West Herts College and The Open University, in collaboration with Coleg Cambria, Adult Learning Wales, Coleg Gwent and the NPTC Group of Colleges.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Understand practical problems, some of which are non-routine
• Identify the maths skills you need to tackle a problem
• Use maths in an organised way to find the solution you’re looking for
• Use appropriate checking procedures at each stage
• Explain the process you used to get an answer and draw simple conclusions from it.