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Maths practice that feels like play

Mathtastic

Quick-fire sums, times tables, fractions and number puzzles. Every right answer earns XP, so you can watch yourself climb from Counter all the way to Mathtastic Legend.

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Tutor's tip: ten minutes a day beats an hour once a week.

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    Tricks of the trade

    Six tips worth knowing

    Years 3–4

    The 9s finger trick

    Hold up ten fingers. For 9 × 4, fold down your 4th finger. Fingers to the left of the fold are tens, fingers to the right are ones.

    9 × 4 → 3 left | 6 right → 36
    Years 5–6

    Times by 11

    For a two-digit number, add its digits and put the total in the middle. If the total is 10 or more, carry the 1.

    11 × 43 → 4 (4+3) 3 → 473 11 × 75 → 7 (12) 5 → 825
    Years 5–6

    Equivalent fractions

    Multiply or divide the top and bottom by the same number. The size of the fraction stays the same.

    2/3 = 4/6 = 8/12 15/20 ÷ 5 → 3/4
    Years 5–6

    Percentages in your head

    Find 10% by dividing by 10. Then build up: halve it for 5%, double it for 20%.

    35% of 80 10% = 8 → 30% = 24 5% = 4 → 35% = 28
    Years 7–9

    BIDMAS

    Brackets, Indices, Division and Multiplication (left to right), then Addition and Subtraction (left to right).

    3 + 4 × 2² = 3 + 4 × 4 = 3 + 16 = 19
    GCSE

    Solving for x

    Whatever you do to one side of the equation, do to the other. Undo the operations in reverse order.

    3x + 5 = 20 3x = 15 (−5 both sides) x = 5 (÷3 both sides)

    Maths magic

    Numbers that always come back

    Try your own numbers. Can you work out why they always land in the same place?

    The 1089 trick

    Pick a 3-digit number where the first and last digits differ by 2 or more. Reverse it and take the smaller from the bigger. Then add that answer to its own reverse.

      Kaprekar's 6174

      Pick a 4-digit number that uses at least two different digits. Arrange its digits biggest-first and smallest-first, then subtract. Repeat with the answer.