Year 6 Maths: What to Teach (England)

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils use the whole number system, including saying, reading and writing numbers accurately.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils practise addition, subtraction, multiplication and division for larger numbers, using the formal written methods of columnar addition and subtraction, short and long multiplication, and short and long division (see mathematics appendix 1 (PDF, 248KB)).
• They undertake mental calculations with increasingly large numbers and more complex calculations.
• Pupils continue to use all the multiplication tables to calculate mathematical statements in order to maintain their fluency.
• Pupils round answers to a specified degree of accuracy, for example, to the nearest 10, 20, 50, etc, but not to a specified number of significant figures.
• Pupils explore the order of operations using brackets; for example, 2 + 1 x 3 = 5 and (2 + 1) x 3 = 9.
• Common factors can be related to finding equivalent fractions.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils should practise, use and understand the addition and subtraction of fractions with different denominators by identifying equivalent fractions with the same denominator. They should start with fractions where the denominator of one fraction is a multiple of the other (for example, 1/2+1/8 = 5/8] and progress to varied and increasingly complex problems.
• Pupils should use a variety of images to support their understanding of multiplication with fractions. This follows earlier work about fractions as operators (fractions of), as numbers, and as equal parts of objects, for example as parts of a rectangle. Pupils use their understanding of the relationship between unit fractions and division to work backwards by multiplying a quantity that represents a unit fraction to find the whole quantity (for example, if quarter of a length is 36cm, then the whole length is 36 × 4 = 144cm).
• They practise calculations with simple fractions and decimal fraction equivalents to aid fluency, including listing equivalent fractions to identify fractions with common denominators.
• Pupils can explore and make conjectures about converting a simple fraction to a decimal fraction (for example, 3 ÷ 8 = 0.375). For simple fractions with recurring decimal equivalents, pupils learn about rounding the decimal to three decimal places, or other appropriate approximations depending on the context. Pupils multiply and divide numbers with up to 2 decimal places by one-digit and two-digit whole numbers. Pupils multiply decimals by whole numbers, starting with the simplest cases, such as 0.4 × 2 = 0.8, and in practical contexts, such as measures and money.
• Pupils are introduced to the division of decimal numbers by one-digit whole numbers, initially, in practical contexts involving measures and money. They recognise division calculations as the inverse of multiplication.
• Pupils also develop their skills of rounding and estimating as a means of predicting and checking the order of magnitude of their answers to decimal calculations. This includes rounding answers to a specified degree of accuracy and checking the reasonableness of their answers.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils recognise proportionality in contexts when the relations between quantities are in the same ratio (for example, similar shapes and recipes).
• Pupils link percentages or 360° to calculating angles of pie charts.
• Pupils should consolidate their understanding of ratio when comparing quantities, sizes and scale drawings by solving a variety of problems. They might use the notation a:b to record their work.
• Pupils solve problems involving unequal quantities, for example, ’for every egg you need 3 spoonfuls of flour’, ‘3/5 of the class are boys’. These problems are the foundation for later formal approaches to ratio and proportion.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils should be introduced to the use of symbols and letters to represent variables and unknowns in mathematical situations that they already understand, such as:
  • missing numbers, lengths, coordinates and angles
  • formulae in mathematics and science
  • equivalent expressions (for example, a + b = b + a)
  • generalisations of number patterns
  • number puzzles (for example, what 2 numbers can add up to)

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils connect conversion (for example, from kilometres to miles) to a graphical representation as preparation for understanding linear/proportional graphs.
• They know approximate conversions and are able to tell if an answer is sensible.
• Using the number line, pupils use, add and subtract positive and negative integers for measures such as temperature.
• They relate the area of rectangles to parallelograms and triangles, for example, by dissection, and calculate their areas, understanding and using the formulae (in words or symbols) to do this.
• Pupils could be introduced to compound units for speed, such as miles per hour, and apply their knowledge in science or other subjects as appropriate.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils draw shapes and nets accurately, using measuring tools and conventional markings and labels for lines and angles.
• Pupils describe the properties of shapes and explain how unknown angles and lengths can be derived from known measurements.
• These relationships might be expressed algebraically for example, d = 2 × r; a = 180 − (b + c).

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils draw and label a pair of axes in all 4 quadrants with equal scaling. This extends their knowledge of one quadrant to all 4 quadrants, including the use of negative numbers.
• Pupils draw and label rectangles (including squares), parallelograms and rhombuses, specified by coordinates in the four quadrants, predicting missing coordinates using the properties of shapes. These might be expressed algebraically for example, translating vertex (a, b) to (a − 2, b + 3); (a, b) and (a + d, b + d) being opposite vertices of a square of side d.

Non-statutory Notes and guidance – schools don't have to teach this

• Pupils connect their work on angles, fractions and percentages to the interpretation of pie charts.
• Pupils both encounter and draw graphs relating 2 variables, arising from their own enquiry and in other subjects.
• They should connect conversion from kilometres to miles in measurement to its graphical representation.
• Pupils know when it is appropriate to find the mean of a data set.