KS2 Mathematics: Number and Place Value

Before a Year 6 pupil can do much with a number, they have to be able to read it: to say what a particular digit is worth, where it sits, and what happens to it when the number is rounded or multiplied by a hundred. That is what these ten questions are about. They start with the value of one digit inside a seven-digit number and with rounding to the nearest thousand, move through negative numbers — both putting four of them in order and adding to one, which is where a rise of nine degrees from minus six lands on three rather than fifteen — and take in Roman numerals, where a smaller letter written in front of a larger one is subtracted from it. The last four are the vocabulary of number that Year 6 is expected to use fluently: a factor shared by two numbers, a prime, a square, and the smallest multiple that two numbers have in common. Every explanation works the answer out in short steps and names the mistake that produces each wrong option, whether that is counting the columns from the wrong end, rounding to the wrong place, or reading XL as though it were LX. Zestly is an independent study tool. It is not affiliated with any exam board and it is not an exam centre.

• Say what a digit is worth in a number up to seven digits, counting the columns from the right
• Round a five-digit number to the nearest thousand and see which digit decides it
• Order negative numbers and add to a negative number without losing the sign
• Read a Roman numeral, including the rule that a smaller letter in front of a larger one is subtracted
• Multiply a decimal by a power of ten
• Find a common factor of two numbers, recognise a prime and a square number, and work out the lowest common multiple

What is the value of the digit 7 in the number 4 738 251? — 700 000. Name the columns from the right-hand end: units, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands, millions. The 7 lands in the hundred thousands column.