• Question: what subjects that you learned in maths at school are you still using today in your work?

    Asked by AvaD on 13 Mar 2026.
    • Photo: Elysia Barker

      Elysia Barker answered on 13 Mar 2026:

      I use trigonometry, Pythagoras’ Theorem, integration, differentiation, matrices, sets, vectors, all sorts. I pretty much use everything I learned at school but I do have a job as a mathematician, do research into maths, and also teach it

    • Photo: Darren Shaw

      Darren Shaw answered on 13 Mar 2026:

      I use statistics (A-Level) and biology (O-Level (now GCSE) & A-Level) daily at work

    • Photo: Jessica Furber

      Jessica Furber answered on 14 Mar 2026:

      I use statistics and mathematics the most (I am a mathematical modeller, so it is quite important). But I also use English language when writing reports or papers.

    • Photo: Jenna Matthews

      Jenna Matthews answered on 15 Mar 2026:

      As a Product Owner, I still use quite a few things I learned in school maths—just in more practical, real‑world ways. Here are the main ones:

      1. Percentages & statistics
      I use these all the time when looking at product data, to read and interpret data.

      What percentage of customers use a feature?
      How big is the improvement from one process to another?
      How much of our backlog is high‑priority vs low‑priority?
      Understand trends (e.g., is usage really going up, or is it just a random spike?)

      2. Basic Algebra
      Not the complicated stuff—mostly simple formulas to help with:

      Estimating delivery timelines
      Calculating capacity for the team
      Working out how different variables (like team size or complexity of the project) affect delivery

      3. Graphs & Data Interpretation
      Graphs are a huge part of my day:

      Product dashboards
      Team productivity metrics
      Trend charts
      Being able to understand what graphs actually show—and what they don’t—is really important.

      5. Logical Thinking & Problem‑Solving
      Even though this isn’t a “maths topic,” maths trains you to:

      Break problems into smaller steps
      Look for patterns
      Think systematically
      All of that is essential in product work.

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