Making Change
Calculating change from a purchase; working confidently with pounds and pence together; solving practical money problems involving addition and subtraction
What a learner can do afterwards
- Calculate the change from £5 when buying items costing pounds and pence
- Add two or three prices together to find a total cost
- Check whether they have been given the correct change in a role-play scenario
1 · Read
When you buy something and pay with more money than it costs, the shop gives some money back. That money is called change. You already know how to add and subtract money. Making change uses that same skill, in pounds and pence together.
Priya buys a pencil case for £2.40. She pays with a £5 note. First she counts up to £3.00: that is 60p. Then she counts up from £3.00 to £5.00: that is £2 more. So her change is 60p plus £2, which makes £2.60.
A good way to check your change: add the price and the change together. If it equals the money you paid, the change is right. £2.40 plus £2.60 equals £5.00, so Priya's change is correct.
Sometimes you buy two or three things at once. Add all the prices together first to find the total cost. Then work out the change from what you paid, the same way you did for one item.
To find change, count up from the price to the money you paid, and check it by adding the price and change back together.
More to read
3 Ways to Improve Your Mathematical Calculation Skills
Adding and subtracting quickly is a superpower when you go shopping. Here are friendly ways to practice.
Play snap sums. Ask a grown-up to call out small sums like 8 plus 7, and call back the answer as fast as you can. Start easy and go faster as you improve. You can do the same with subtraction, like 15 take away 6.
Practice with real money. Count the coins in a piggy bank and add them up. Then play shop: put prices on your toys, add two prices together, and work out the change from a pound. The more you play, the easier money sums feel.
Break big sums into small steps. To add 25p and 48p, first add the tens: 20 and 40 make 60. Then add the ones: 5 and 8 make 13. Then add those answers: 60 and 13 make 73p.
Check your answer a second way. If you worked out that 35p plus 20p is 55p, count back to check. 55p take away 20p should bring you right back to 35p.
2 · Watch
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