In 2001, a new programme in adult mathematics education was introduced in Denmark. The aim was that the students further developed their numeracy. The development of education and teacher education was research based and an operational model of Numeracy was the pivotal point in this work – and as such a kind of quality control in the process. Three years later, in 2004, the Danish Evaluation Institute evaluated this educational programme, Preparatory Adult Education (PAE) as it was named. In the light of her experience from the development and evaluation of this mathematics programme, the author questions whether the concept of Numeracy has been adopted in the teaching and learning practices of PAE-mathematics. Thus, the paper reports reflections provoked by the author’s observations during an evaluation process – not a study designed to answer this question.