Numeracy in the News: misleading numbers

Can you spot when numbers in the news are misleading? From forced connections to biased conclusions, explore real-life examples to help students understand how people can be misled by numbers in the news and identify ways to avoid this.

Published 16 June 2023

This lesson is more than a year old. Please check the facts before teaching to ensure they are up-to-date and still correct.

Use this one-hour lesson to help your students:

  • Explore the problem of misleading news
  • Explain why it's important to find reliable news sources
  • Generate solutions to avoid being misled by numbers in the news

These teaching resources are supported by KPMG. The Economist Educational Foundation maintained full editorial control.

Download (Zip)

Want more on this topic? This week's Headline uses activities from our recent Special Edition, which includes six hours of free teaching materials about numeracy in the news

Available downloads

Create an account or log in to access resources for this

Create account Login

Related resources

View all resources