Money
In Year 3, children count amounts of money in pounds and pence, add amounts together, and work out how much change they should get.
Practise Money
Have a guess, even if you're not sure. Get one wrong and we'll show you why, so every miss is a chance to learn.
Timed practice
The same practice, just with a gentle clock. Pick a length and see how many you can answer.
Good to know
These are the coins and notes you will really see, lined up from smallest to biggest, with a reminder that 100p makes £1.
For grown-ups
Questions show real coins to count and simple shopping situations to solve, the everyday maths children meet in a shop or when saving their pocket money. Each answer comes with a hint that nudges them towards adding up what every coin is worth.
What is in this topic
- Counting a set of coins
- Adding amounts in pounds and pence
- Working out change from an amount
How to help at home
Real coins beat any worksheet for this topic, so raid the change jar and let them touch the money.
- Tip out a handful of real coins and play shop: put a price on a snack and have them pay for it, then work out the change by counting on from the price.
- Practise swapping between pounds and pence often, as this catches a lot of children out. Ask 'how many pence is £1.30?' (130p) and 'what is 250p in pounds?' (£2 and 50p).
- Make the same amount in different ways. Ask them to make 77p, then make it again with different coins, so they learn that 50p+20p+5p+2p and 20p+20p+20p+10p+5p+2p both work.
- When you are out, give them a real coin to pay with and ask them to predict the change before the till shows it.
Where children get stuck
The biggest trip-up is mixing pounds and pence in the same sum without lining them up, so a child adds £1.45 and 30p and writes 175 or £1.75 muddled together. Anchor it on 100p = £1: convert everything to pence first (145p + 30p = 175p), then change back to £1 and 75p at the end. Keeping one unit until the final step removes most of the errors.
Giving change is the other sticky point, because children try to subtract in their heads and lose track of the borrowing. Teach 'shopkeeper's counting' instead: start at the price and count up to the money paid. For something costing 65p paid with £1, count on from 65 to 70, then 70 to 100, which is 5p then 30p, so 35p change. Counting up feels easier and matches how a real shop hands money back.