Poor maths costing London £523m

Nottingham is the city most reliant on calculators at work

People in London are losing £523m a year due to poor maths and English skills, a report has claimed.

The money is lost in not being able to check bills or get the best phone tariffs, a survey by learndirect shows.

The provider of numeracy and literacy skills looked at basic skills across 20 towns and cities in the UK.

Stoke-on-Trent was where people lost the most (£88 per head), Londoners were next (£74) and Leeds was the city to lose least (£11).

Learndirect claims £1.45bn was lost across Britain as a result of poor maths and English abilities.

Confidence hit

It has launched the ME-Q Index, the maths and English quotient, which shows how much money people are losing year on year.

It said almost 100,000 admitted to losing more than £1,000 last year due to basic skills issues like bill miscalculations, adding or taking away VAT, or the multiplication or division involved in working out foreign currency when abroad.

Sally Coady, from learndirect, said: "This research demonstrates the effects of the skills gap in the UK very clearly with the huge financial cost.

"A lack of maths and English skills can really hit you in the pocket but there is also a cost to people's confidence.

"Some people will go to great lengths to avoid using their maths and English and it can hold them back in many areas from advancing their careers or helping their kids with homework."

The survey also found:

• Reading is the town that finds everyday maths problems most confusing

• Cambridge has the least trouble with everyday maths

• Londoners have most difficulty working out scales on maps and plans

• Calculating percentages for tipping is trickiest for those from Coventry

• One in two Londoners use their fingers to add up

• People from Reading are most likely to rely on other people to do their calculations for them, with over a quarter relying on this

• Birmingham locals are most likely to need help with their spelling

• Nottingham is the city most reliant on calculators at work

• The South East was the region that found everyday maths to be most confusing

• Yorkshire & Humber was the canniest region when it came to money and lost by far the least money due to their maths skills