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Addition and subtraction

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Addition and subtraction move from number bonds and mental strategies to the formal column methods, including exchanging across a zero, and then into multi-step word problems where the hard part is deciding which operation the situation needs. Estimation and inverse checking run alongside throughout. Phase 2 of MathsUK will cover Years 1 to 6; today the bank is GCSE, where the same methods are examined without a calculator on Paper 1.

📚 What you learn here
  • Number bonds and mental addition and subtraction strategies
  • Column addition and subtraction, including exchanging
  • Adding and subtracting decimals and amounts of money
  • Checking with the inverse operation and with estimation
  • Choosing the operation in one-step and multi-step word problems

Frequently asked questions

What is 'exchanging'?

Taking one from the next column up and adding ten to the current column so a subtraction can be completed — what older textbooks called borrowing.

Why check with the inverse?

Because adding the answer back to the number subtracted should return the original, which catches the errors a second run through the same method will not.

✍️ Written by the MathsUK teamChecked against the National Curriculum and GCSE specifications