Children with dyscalculia are set up to fail, says Yorkshire mum

Thousands of children are being "set up to fail" because of a lack of understanding around dyscalculia - or "dyslexia of numbers", according to a North Yorkshire mum. Lucy McGill, from Bedale, has lived with dyscalculia all her life - and her 11-year-old daughter Ava was formally diagnosed last year. Dyscalculia, a learning difficulty that makes it confusing to work with numbers, affects about one in 20 people, according to the Dyscalculia Network. The Department for Education (DfE) said it aimed to deliver "the most ambitious SEND training programme ever seen in our schools and support staff to adapt teaching to meet a wide range of needs in the classroom". Ava had a private assessment costing hundreds of pounds as there is currently no government funding available. She has also been having some private tuition with a specialist teacher and expert in dyscalculia. Ava described finally having the diagnosis as "life-changing". She said that beforehand, she felt she was "not part of the clever team". "I really wanted someone to recognise this condition, it was like something smashed my confidence, that I couldn't deal with anything at all," she said. Her mum Lucy said: "It does form

Apr 15, 2026 → Apr 15, 2026