What is Catch Up^® Numeracy?

Catch Up^® Numeracy is a structured one-to-one intervention for learners who find numeracy difficult. It enables learners who struggle with numeracy to achieve more than double the progress of typically developing learners.

Catch Up^® Numeracy involves 15-minute individual sessions delivered twice a week. It is grounded in academic research and addresses 10 key components of numeracy:

• Counting verbally
• Counting objects
• Reading and writing
• Hundreds, tens and ones
• Estimation
• Word problems
• Translation
• Remembered facts
• Derived facts
• Ordinal numbers

It is suitable for all struggling learners whose Number Age is significantly below their Chronological Age and is designed for use with struggling learners rather than beginner learners.

Find out more about how the interventions work and our training and support packages. Read more about Catch Up^® Numeracy evidence and success below.

Catch Up^® Numeracy - the evidence

Learners on Catch Up^® Numeracy achieve more than double the progress of typically developing learners.

Learners aged 6 - 11 who received Catch Up^® Numeracy support for an average period of 5 months achieved average Number/Maths Age gains of 11 months (a mean ratio gain* of 2.2).
(Data for 348 learners. Journal article awaiting publication - further information from Catch Up^®, on request.)

Learners in Years 7 - 10 who received Catch Up^® Numeracy support for an average period of 5 months achieved average Number/Maths Age gains of 15 months (a mean ratio gain of 3.0).
(Further information from Catch Up^®, on request.)

* A ratio gain of 2 or more is considered ‘good impact’ (Brooks, 2004)

Catch Up^® Numeracy has impact beyond numeracy skills

After only 3 months of Catch Up^® Numeracy, learners:

• became more self-confident and motivated in class


• felt more in control of their learning


• felt more confident to work independently


• displayed a much improved attitude towards numeracy

Catch Up^® Numeracy - success stories

Bradley, aged 10

Bradley started Catch Up^® Numeracy with a gap of 9 months between his Chronological Age and Number Age. His negative attitude – a case of ‘can’t do, won’t do!’ – was quite noticeable in class, and he was underachieving both in class-based activities and in test conditions.

After only 3 months of Catch Up^® Numeracy, Bradley made 6 months progress in his Number Age. His attitude also shifted – now he says that he likes number problems: “All of this is fun!”

His mother reports that the greatest impact for her is, "We don't have to fight over maths homework anymore!"

TIME ON INTERVENTION: 3 months
NUMBER AGE GAIN: 6 months

Lillias, aged 8

8-year-old Lillias had a Number/Maths Age of 7.0 years when she started taking part in Catch Up^® Numeracy. She was quiet and withdrawn in class and it did not take much for her to dissolve into tears. She was increasingly frustrated with herself and thought everybody else could 'just do it'.

After 11 months of Catch Up^® Numeracy support, Lillias had made 2 years progress in her Number/Maths Age.

TIME ON INTERVENTION: 11 months
NUMBER AGE GAIN: 24 months

Read more stories of success from our Catch Up^® Numeracy Award winners