Math // Measurement

Money Addition & Subtraction

Solve simple money problems involving addition and subtraction, including giving change

Ages
6 to 7
Type
Method
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
2 topics
Standards
1 code

Quick check

If the learner buys a snack for 45p and pays with a £1 coin, can they work out how much change they should get — and count it back?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Calculate the total cost of two items priced in pence
  • Work out change from 50p after buying an item costing 35p
  • Solve 'How much more money do I need?' problems

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

2 topics

You are here

Money Addition & Subtraction

Ages 6 to 7 // Method

Leads to

2 topics
  • Giving ChangeRequired

    Measurement // Ages 7 to 8

    Giving change in £ and p extends Y2 simple money problems

  • Making ChangeHelpful

    Life Skills // Money & Finance // Ages 7 to 9

    Curriculum money problem-solving (Maths Y2) provides arithmetic foundation for making change

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

Year 2 (age 6–7) money problems stay within a single unit (pence): totalling the cost of items, and the more demanding work of finding change and answering 'how much more do I need?'. The core idea is that change is a DIFFERENCE, most easily reached by COUNTING UP from the price to the amount paid (the 'shopkeeper's method') with real coins, rather than by counting back or written take-away. Change should be a practical, coin-in-hand act before it becomes an abstract subtraction.

Common misconceptions

  • 'More coins = more money' — thinks a fistful of small coins is worth more, so gives too many or judges having-enough by count not value.
  • Adds the two numbers (price + amount paid) instead of finding the difference, because early teaching over-emphasises 'take away' and difference is not recognised as subtraction.
  • Loses the running total or miscounts when bridging through a multiple of ten while counting up.
  • Counts single pennies one-by-one inaccurately instead of using coin values.

Useful representations

  • Real/realistic coins counted into the hand (coins as a record of the steps)
  • Empty number line showing change as jumps from price up to amount paid
  • Part–whole (bar) model: amount paid = cost + change
  • A shop/role-play till context

Teaching practices

  • Build change by counting UP from the price to the amount paid, using real or realistic coins so the coins themselves record each step (e.g. 35p → +5p = 40p → +10p = 50p; change 15p) — the DfE mental-calculation guidance calls this the shopkeeper's method and notes many children find counting up easier than counting back.
  • Model the same jumps on an empty number line so the change is seen as the TOTAL DISTANCE travelled (the sum of the jumps), not a point on the line.
  • Connect 'how much more do I need?' to the identical counting-up structure — it is the same gap read the other way — so children see missing-addend and change as one idea.
  • Keep amounts to manageable, 'friendly' values first (bridging one multiple of ten), then extend; use role-play shops so the procedure is rehearsed in a real context.
  • Press children to CHECK reasonableness — count the change back onto the price to confirm it rebuilds the amount paid.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Give change at a role-play market stall (count up with coins)

    Why it works: Change is the DISTANCE travelled from the price up to the amount paid — it is the total of the jumps you make when counting up (here 5p + 10p = 15p), not a take-away you have to work out on paper. The coins themselves record how the change was reached.

    1. Set up a shop: a toy priced 35p, a 50p coin to pay with, and a pot of mixed coins.
    2. Count UP aloud from the price to the amount paid, placing a coin into a change tray at each step: '35… (put in a 5p) 40… (put in a 10p) 50'.
    3. State the change as the coins you built: 'The change is 15p — a 10p and a 5p.'
    4. Check by counting the change back onto the price to confirm it rebuilds the amount paid (35p + 15p = 50p).
    5. Repeat with other friendly prices (e.g. 45p paid with 50p gives 5p), then extend to the source worked example 27p paid with 50p, counting 27→30→50 to give 3p + 20p = 23p.
  2. 2

    'How much more do I need?' — the same gap read the other way

    Why it works: Finding change and finding 'how much more I need' (missing addend) are one idea: closing the gap by counting up between two amounts.

    1. Set a toy priced 20p and give the child 15p.
    2. Ask: 'How much MORE do you need to buy this?'
    3. Count UP from what you have to the price: '15… (add a 5p) 20' and name the shortfall as 5p.
    4. Line this up against a change task: notice that finding the shortfall and finding change are the same counting-up move, just started from a different amount.
  3. 3

    Value, not number of coins

    Why it works: Money is judged by total value, not by how many coins there are; many small coins can be worth less than one larger coin.

    1. Lay the child's handful of small coins beside a single 10p and 5p.
    2. Count the total VALUE of each set and compare, e.g. show that ten 1p coins are worth less than one 20p.
    3. Make the SAME value (e.g. 15p) with different coin combinations (10p + 5p; 5p + 5p + 5p; 10p + 2p + 2p + 1p).

Topic // Standards

Curriculum standards

Codes for the curriculum statements this topic maps to. Each publisher owns its standard text.
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document
Maths/Y2/M/5

Math // Measurement

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