Giving Change
Add and subtract amounts of money to give change, using both £ and p in practical contexts
What a learner can do afterwards
- Calculate the total cost of two or three items priced in pounds and pence
- Work out the change from £5 or £10
- Record money calculations using £ and p notation correctly (e.g. £3.47)
1 · Read
You already know how to add and subtract money written with £ and p. Giving change uses those same skills in a real shop. First, add up the price of everything you are buying. Then subtract that total from the money you hand over. Whatever is left over is your change. Eight pence needs two digits after the dot. Write a zero first, like 08 in £4.08.
Tom buys a toy car for £2.40 and a comic for £1.10. Add the prices: £2.40 + £1.10 = £3.50. Tom pays with a £5 note, so £5.00 - £3.50 = £1.50. Tom gets £1.50 change.
Priya buys a notebook for £2.30, a sticker pack for £0.45, and an eraser for £0.90. Add all three: £2.30 + £0.45 + £0.90 = £3.65. She pays with a £10 note. £10.00 - £3.65 = £6.35. Priya gets £6.35 change.
Check your change by adding it back to what you paid for the item. You should get back exactly the money you handed over. If the numbers do not match, add again carefully.
Add up the cost, subtract it from the money you give, and what is left is the change.
More to read
9.2 Solve Money Applications
Shops ask two money questions: what is the total, and what is the change. Add the prices to find the total of two or three items. Then subtract the total from the note you pay with. Paying £5 for £3.20 of shopping leaves £1.80 change.
Key ideas: represent the composition of larger units of money by using multiplicative comparison
Pounds are built from pence: £1 holds 100p, £5 holds 500p and £10 holds 1000p. Turn every price into pence before calculating, then turn the answer back at the end. Recording answers as £3.47 keeps pounds and pence clear. Pence maths with whole numbers is far easier than decimal juggling.
Money and time: FAQ
Money answers must say whether they are a total or change. A total is everything the shopping costs together. Change is what comes back from the note you paid with. Writing £ and p correctly, like £3.47, proves which coins and notes you mean. Clear notation stops pounds turning into pence by mistake.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
This opens up
Where this leads
17 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.