This article reports research findings from a 21-month empirical project called "Making Numeracy Teaching Meaningful to Adult Learners," which was funded by the National Research and Development Centre for Adult Literacy and Numeracy (NRDC). It looks at motivations behind adult learners returning to study numeracy in three FE colleges, and finds them to be complex and multiple, and inextricably linked to their identity. One of the project's main conclusions is that mathematics does not have to be "functional" to capture students' interest, involvement or imagination. Contrary to assertions that adults need to be "lured back" into learning mathematics/numeracy by making it relevant and applicable to their everyday lives, the research finds that one of the main reasons adults attend their numeracy classes is in order to prove to themselves that they have the ability to study and succeed in a high-status subject, which they perceive to be a signifier of intelligence. The other main reasons are for learners to help their children, and for understanding, engagement and enjoyment. (Contains 1 table and 12 notes.)