Year 6 Maths Expectations

In mathematics by the end of Year 6 most children should be able to;

  • solve multi-step problems, including those that involve fractions, decimals and percentages,
  • develop and refine their strategies to solve increasingly complex problems, recognising that to simplify a problem is a helpful starting point,
  • work systematically and independently,
  • organise their work clearly, interpreting results and reflecting on the efficiency of their methods,
  • recognise that representing a problem may require a diagram, numbers or calculations, and that after solving the problem, the solution needs to be interpreted and checked in the original context,
  • describe, interpret and use patterns and relationships which they observe,
  • use words then letters as symbols to construct and use simple expressions or formulae,
  • make and test predictions and general statements,
  • make deductions from given statements or information,
  • explain their reasoning and justify their choices and conclusions,
  • manipulate a range of types of numbers,
  • order positive and negative whole numbers and decimal numbers with up to three decimal places and position these on number lines,
  • find the difference between positive and negative numbers in context,
  • partition whole and decimal numbers, using place value to compare and order them,
  • understand how to simplify fractions by cancelling, dividing the numerator and denominator by a common factor,
  • order a set of fractions by converting them to equivalent fractions with a common denominator,
  • express a larger whole number as a fraction of a smaller whole number and convert it to a mixed number,
  • find fractions and percentages of numbers and quantities,
  • solve problems involving direct proportion,
  • scale quantities up or down, such as the ingredients in a recipe,
  • consolidate their knowledge of number facts involving all four operations and use known facts to derive related facts,
  • use these facts to add and subtract mentally whole numbers and numbers with one decimal place,
  • apply their knowledge of multiplication and division facts to multiplication and division of two-digit numbers that include decimals,
  • use their knowledge of place value to multiply whole numbers by 1000, 100, 10, 0.1 and 0.01 and by multiples of these,
  • have a secure, reliable method of written calculation for each operation and recognise when one method may be more efficient than another, for both whole numbers and decimals,
  • recognise when mental methods are more appropriate and use a calculator to solve problems where sequences of addition and subtraction calculations are involved,
  • continue to approximate first and check their answers,
  • explain the method they use and the steps involved,
  • make and draw shapes with increasing accuracy,
  • recognise, describe and visualise solids with parallel and perpendicular edges or faces,
  • recognise how the nets of these solids are formed and how a solid can be made from a given net,
  • use their growing understanding of angles to classify and describe 2-D shapes,
  • measure the angles in shapes they draw to check estimates and to test statements,
  • know that a complete turn is four right angles or 360º and use this to calculate the size of angles around a point,
  • use the coordinate system to identify and plot points in the first quadrant,
  • draw shapes on grids of different types, determine and describe the positions of the shapes after a transformation, including a reflection, a translation or a rotation through a quarter or half turn about its centre or a vertex,
  • recognise that the shape remains identical after one of these transformations and use this knowledge to identify congruent shapes in patterns, pictures and diagrams,
  • read and interpret the scales on measuring instruments where the intervals are large, few or mostly unlabelled,
  • recognise that taking a measurement involves a comparison to agreed standard units and that the measurement made is approximate,
  • record their results using an appropriate unit and to a required degree of accuracy,
  • calculate the perimeter and area of a rectangle and compound shapes that can be split into squares, half squares or rectangles,
  • develop their understanding of the language of chance and likelihood by describing situations where outcomes are equally likely,
  • begin to place outcomes from observed events and from experiments onto a numbered probability scale to indicate the chances of occurrence, using 0 to represent ‘impossible’ and 1 to represent ‘certain’,
  • solve problems by collecting data, processing the data using tables or lists and presenting it to show findings and to draw conclusions,
  • use the mode, range, median and mean to represent and describe a set of data,
  • construct frequency tables with single and grouped data items and represent these as bar charts,
  • extend their use of line graphs to interpret graphs where intermediate points have meaning, for example on a conversion graph,
  • interpret tables, charts and databases they have generated using ICT or taken from a secondary source such as another subject area,
  • interpret pie charts and use their knowledge of fractions and percentages to estimate the size of sectors in a pie chart,
  • recognise that pie charts that look similar can represent different totals and that a small sector in one pie chart can represent more items than a big sector on another.