UK / Y51 / 01
11 Plus Maths Prep
For selective areas, started in Year 5.
Open the syllabusYear 5 content
What do children learn in Year 5 maths?
The Department for Education's programme of study lists what must be taught in Year 5. These are the statutory requirements, grouped by area and summarised from the document.
The curriculum describes the aim of upper Key Stage 2 like this: "The principal focus of mathematics teaching in upper key stage 2 is to ensure that pupils extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include larger integers." It also signals a new direction: "With this foundation in arithmetic, pupils are introduced to the language of algebra as a means for solving a variety of problems." The table shows what that means in Year 5 specifically.
| Area | What Year 5 adds |
|---|---|
| Place value | Numbers to at least 1 000 000; rounding to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10 000 and 100 000; negative numbers in context; Roman numerals to 1000 (M) |
| Properties of number | Factors, factor pairs and common factors; prime numbers, prime factors and composite numbers; primes up to 19 recalled; square and cube numbers |
| Calculation | Column addition and subtraction with more than 4 digits; long multiplication for two-digit numbers; short division with remainders interpreted in context |
| Fractions | Compare and order; equivalent fractions; mixed numbers and improper fractions; add and subtract with related denominators; multiply by whole numbers |
| Decimals and percentages | Thousandths; numbers with up to three decimal places; per cent as "number of parts per hundred"; percentage equivalents of halves, quarters, fifths and tenths |
| Measurement | Metric conversions; approximate imperial equivalents such as inches, pounds and pints; perimeter of composite shapes; area of rectangles; estimating volume |
| Geometry | Acute, obtuse and reflex angles, measured with a protractor; angles at a point (360°) and on a line (180°); regular and irregular polygons; reflection and translation |
| Statistics | Problems using line graphs; reading and interpreting tables, including timetables |
Two notes in the programme of study explain why Year 5 can feel hard. The first is about division: the curriculum wants children to express "non-integer answers to division" in more than one way, and gives an example in which 98 divided by 4 is written as 24 remainder 2, as 24 and a half, as 24.5, and rounded to 25. The second is about connections: "Pupils should be taught throughout that percentages, decimals and fractions are different ways of expressing proportions." A Year 5 child is no longer learning separate topics. They are learning that one quantity can wear several notations.
Taken from the Year 5 section of the DfE's primary mathematics curriculum, including its non-statutory notes, checked on 31 October 2026.
