Maths for life & work

Maths for life & work
Courses online & in London

These courses help you develop your maths for life and work without the pressure of exams. You will focus on using maths to analyse and solve problems at all levels for everyday life and in the workplace. You will work on interpreting the world mathematically and begin to see that maths is everywhere!

Free Multiply courses

We offer Multiply courses which take place either in the City Lit building at Keeley Street or in your local community centre. Multiply courses are free to anyone living in London and does not hold a GCSE in Maths at grade C/4 or above.

Learn more: About Multiply courses at City Lit

What is the best course for me?

You need to do a pre-course assessment. You can also do it online, but a face-to-face assessment is best. 

  • Online assessment - click ‘Start Assessment’ on the course page
  • Or book a face-to-face assessment - call 0204 582 0423 or contact us by email at universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk for an appointment. You can also come without an appointment.

Times:

  • Every Monday 12- 2pm
  • Every Wednesday 6-8pm
  • Every Friday 11am-1pm (23rd August – 6th October)

For online courses, you will need a computer with a microphone, a camera and the internet.

10 Items

per page
Set Descending Direction
  1. Creative maths: sewing, craftwork and photography (entry 1-entry 2)
    Course start date:  Tue 3 Oct 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Do you love making things? Do you struggle with everyday numbers and maths? Then this course is for you. We will help you with the maths, numbers and shapes all around us and do this through crafting. We will take photographs around the college and London, hand sew, macramé, knit, use wood, and create objects and collages using recycled materials and objects. We will make things to give as presents, for times of the year and create presentations. At the same time, we will see how much maths is involved in making and creating things. We will look at whole numbers, adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying, decimals, percentages and fractions as well as solving problems involving time, money and measurement. You will keep a maths journal, where you will show what you have learned, and also show how you have used maths in your crafts.



    By the end of the course, you will be much more aware of how much maths there is in everyday life and how maths can help you when crafting and creating things. This course will be fun for everyone!



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page.



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  2. Creative Numbers
    Course start date:  Mon 9 Oct 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street





    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  3. Maths skills for life and work - getting ready for functional skills (pathway 1)
    Evening
    Course start date:  Tue 17 Oct 2023 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Do you need to improve your everyday maths so you become more confident when making calculations with money, interpreting figures, charts and graphs in newspapers or measuring rooms? Do you want to achieve a functional skills qualification but are not yet ready? This course will help you with the essential maths you need to participate fully in society, make progress at work and solve everyday problems. You will work on tasks commonly completed inside and outside the workplace, which require the use of whole numbers, decimals and fractions as well as solving problems involving time, money and measurement. You will discover the properties of 2D and 3D shapes, how to read, interpret and comment on information in tables and charts. By the end of the course, you will be much more aware of how much maths there is in everyday life and how maths can help you.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  4. Maths for life and work (level 1)
    Course start date:  Fri 20 Oct 2023 (and 3 other dates)

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Do you want to prepare for Functional Skills Level 2 maths? Do you need to improve your maths to become more confident in problem-solving, analysing and making decisions at work and in your personal life? This course will help you with all of the above and make maths come alive. You will see how mathematics is everywhere and you will develop the maths you need to participate, make progress and express yourself in today's society. You will work on tasks which require you to use whole numbers and decimals, fractions and percentages and recognise the relationships between them. You will work on solving problem involving time, money and measurements, as well learn how to measure confidently and convert between units of measurement. You will be able to state properties of shapes, both 2D and 3D and be better able to interpret, discuss and comment on the graphs, charts and tables you see in newspapers, on the internet and at work.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  5. Maths for business: the essential skills to run a company and make a profit (level 1-2)
    Evening
    Course start date:  Thu 2 Nov 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Are you working in business, self-employed or wishing to set up your business but confused by the differences between gross profit and net profit, simple and compound interest, mark-ups and mark-downs? This course will unpick the key features you need to know in order to run a profitable business and focus on the maths associated with these features. By the end of this course you will be confident you can appear on Dragons' Den, at ease with the numbers, calculations, and concepts you need to run a successful business.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  6. Bitesize maths: becoming confident with numbers and calculations (level 1-2)
    Course start date:  Thu 30 Nov 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    If you are told your council tax bill of £725 is increasing by 2% do you know the answer? Can you work it out in your head or do you need to write the calculation down? If you have to convert the size of your room from feet to metres to order carpet, do you know the maths for this? When you look at your shopping list, can you make a quick estimate of the total cost? If the answer to these questions is not a confident 'yes', then this is the course for you. You will develop your number skills so you can be confident in carrying out the most essential calculations involving multiplying, dividing, adding and subtracting, using fractions, percentages, ratios and conversions. You will focus on problem-solving with numbers as tools to help you and you will learn the language of maths to help you approach the everyday world with more confidence and skill.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / (telephone temporarily unavailable) or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name). Use Chrome if possible.



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  7. Student newsletter: social issues, news and maths. (entry 3-level 1)
    Course start date:  Thu 18 Jan 2024 (and 1 other date)

    Location on this date:  Online

    Do you want to organise, write, edit, layout the student newsletter for the Universal Skills department? In this class you will develop all your communication skills and other essential work and life skills such as problem-solving, organisation, decision-making, analysing, paying attention to detail, and digital and computer skills. You will also improve your maths skills when you layout the newsletter, calculate how many to produce, the length and number of articles, word count and so on. You will write and edit articles for the newsletter on issues such as the environment, cost of living and life stories. You will also work on articles from other students and edit and proof-read them, decide which articles to include and so on. And you will also edit a maths section to help other learners improve their number and maths skills.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment to make this is the right course for you. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.



    This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  8. Bitesize maths: becoming confident with algebra, problem-solving and equations (level 1-2)
    Course start date:  Thu 15 Feb 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    What is algebra? Why is it useful? Is it something you did at school, didn't understand or see the point of? We actually all use algebra in our everyday lives without realising because we need it to solve problems. Problems such as how much money we need to buy groceries, how many bags we need to carry the groceries and how much space we need to put the groceries in at home!



    This course will help you see the value and usefulness of algebra and how you can use it in your personal and work life to make calculations easier and to see patterns. It will also be useful if you are doing functional skills or GCSE. You will start with easier calculations and problems so you understand how algebra works before moving on to more complex uses.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  9. Bitesize maths: becoming confident with shapes, space and measuring (level 1-2)
    Course start date:  Thu 25 Apr 2024

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    We measure so much we forget how important it is. Time is a measurement - how many seconds does it take to read this? We measure how much data we use on our phone. We measure our success in maths by counting how many marks we get in a test. There is all the measuring we do when cooking, decorating, making things, weighing things and people, using liquids. And think of all the different shapes in the world, 2D and 3D. And how we use these shapes in sewing, baking, gardening so on. This course will provide you with all the skills and understanding you need to be confident you can measure accurately and make the calculations you need.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page.



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
  10. Discover the maths in the world around you: from nature to buildings (entry 3-level 1)
    Course start date:  Wed 20 Sep 2023

    Location on this date:  Keeley Street

    Have you got 'maths eyes'? Come and discover how maths is all around you. On this course, you will use your camera, eyes, even your ears and nose to discover how maths is everywhere. You will use the natural world, buildings, vehicles, food, objects to realise how much maths there is in the world. You will also look at certain jobs and the maths used in these. You will discover how angles, numbers, shapes, calculations, measurements make up the world and by doing this you will improve your maths skills and learn how to ask mathematical questions about the world.



    You need to do a pre-course assessment. Contact universal.skills@citylit.ac.uk / 020 8078 0489 for a face-to-face assessment or click the Start Assessment button on this page. Log on with your email address (not name).



    Free course: This is a Multiply course. Multiply is a new government programme to help adults improve their numeracy skills. This course is free for Londoners aged 19 or over if you don’t have a GCSE in maths at grade 4/C or equivalent.
    Full fee £0.00 Senior fee £0.00 Concession £0.00
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