Ages 10–11 · England · Parent guide
Year 6 maths: ratio, reasoning and preparing for secondary school
By Mathsonaut Team · Reviewed
Year 6 brings several familiar ideas together. A word problem may combine multiplication, fractions, ratio and measures, so identifying what each number represents becomes especially useful. Let your child draw a model and say what they know before choosing a calculation. A clear explanation gives you something specific to build on, even when the final answer is wrong.
What children explore in Year 6
- Calculate with larger numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages.
- Use ratio and proportion to compare quantities and scale simple relationships.
- Solve problems involving missing values and simple algebraic expressions.
- Reason about area, volume, coordinates and data, explaining and checking multi-step answers.
Selected topics from the mathematics programme of study for England. This is an overview, not the full curriculum or a test of readiness. Your school may teach topics in a different order.
Scale a ratio together
A pattern uses 2 blue blocks for every 3 green blocks. How many green blocks go with 4 blue blocks?
- Build one unit of the pattern: two blue blocks and three green blocks.
- Four blue blocks is twice as many as two. To keep the same ratio, double the number of green blocks too.
- Two copies contain four blue and six green blocks. The ratio 4 : 6 is equivalent to 2 : 3.
A common mix-up: adding the same amount to both sides
Adding two to both numbers gives 4 : 5, which changes the relationship. Ratio scales by multiplication: double both quantities to get 4 : 6. Lay out two complete copies of the original pattern so your child can see why adding two green blocks is not enough.
Away from the screen
Design a repeating border
Draw a border made of repeated units containing two blue squares and three green squares. Build two units, then three. Record the blue and green totals in a table. Ask your child to predict the counts for five units, then check: ten blue squares and fifteen green squares.
Ask together: “What stays the same as the border grows? Is the ratio of blue to all squares also 2 : 3?”
Choose the next small step
The ratio of blue to all squares is 2 : 5, because each complete unit has five squares. Use this to distinguish part-to-part from part-to-whole comparisons. For SATs preparation, ask the teacher which topics need attention and review the method behind an error before adding more questions.