Know what each digit is worth so you can read, write, compare and order whole numbers and decimals. It is a Foundation topic, aimed at grade 1. Free questions with answers are on this page. Worked examples show each line before you try the questions.
Every digit in a number has a job: its value depends on which column it sits in. In 4726 the 7 is not 'seven', it is seven hundreds, so it is worth 700. To the right of the decimal point the columns are tenths, hundredths, thousandths. The 4 in 0.34 is four hundredths, 0.04.
To order decimals, give every number the same number of decimal places by adding zeros, then compare from the left. 0.4 and 0.405 become 0.400 and 0.405, so 0.4 is smaller. Extra digits on the end do not make a decimal larger — they only matter if they are not zero.
Exam questions also ask you to build the largest or smallest number from digit cards. For 'largest even', the units digit must be even; sort the rest around that constraint.
Objectives
Name the column a digit sits in.
Give a digit its value, not just its face.
Build a number from column cards.
Key points
Say the value of any digit in a whole number or decimal (e.g. the 7 in 4726 is worth 700).
Write a number from its parts, e.g. 60 000 + 300 + 5 = 60 305.
Order decimals by comparing digits column by column from the left.
Use the digits you are given to build the largest or smallest number possible.
Worked examples
Example 1
What is the value of the 6 in 2 641?
2 marks
The columns from the right are ones, tens, hundreds.
The 6 is in the hundreds column.
6 × 100 = 600
Answer: 600
Common slips
Slip: The 6 is in the thousands column. Thousands is the fourth column from the right. 6 is the third.
Slip: The 6 is in the ones column. The ones digit of 2 641 is 1.
Slip: 6 × 10 = 60 Tens would be the second digit from the right, which is 4.
Example 2
Write 5 000 + 40 + 7 as one number.
2 marks
Thousands: 5. Hundreds: none.
Put 0 in the hundreds column.
The number is 5 047.
Answer: 5047
Common slips
Slip: Hundreds: 4 40 is tens, not hundreds.
Slip: Leave the hundreds column out. Leaving it out makes 547, which is not five thousand.
Slip: The number is 547. 547 has no thousands digit.
Example 3
A number has 3 thousands, 6 tens and 2 ones. What is 10 times that number?
3 marks
3 000 + 60 + 2 = 3 062
Multiply by 10 by shifting one column left.
3 062 × 10 = 30 620
Answer: 30620
Common slips
Slip: 3 000 + 600 + 2 6 tens is 60, not 600.
Slip: Add 10 to 3 062. Times 10 is a column shift, not adding 10.
Slip: 3 062 × 10 = 3 620 Every digit moves one column left and a 0 fills the ones column. Dropping the 0 in the tens column gives the wrong number.
Questions and answers
GCSE Maths place value questions and answers. Try each one, then open the answer. Easy questions come first.
Question 1 Easy2 marks
What is the value of the 4 in 4 815?
Show answer
Answer: 4000
4 is in the thousands column.
4 × 1 000 = 4 000.
M1 — 4 is in the thousands column.
A1 — Answer 4000
Question 2 Easy2 marks
What is the value of the 9 in 295?
Show answer
Answer: 90
9 is in the tens column.
9 × 10 = 90.
M1 — 9 is in the tens column.
A1 — Answer 90
Question 3 Medium2 marks
Write 8 000 + 500 + 6 as one number.
Show answer
Answer: 8506
Hundreds are 5, tens are 0, ones are 6.
The number is 8 506.
M1 — Hundreds are 5, tens are 0, ones are 6.
A1 — Answer 8506
Question 4 Medium2 marks
What is 6 400 ÷ 10?
Show answer
Answer: 640
Shift one column right.
6 400 ÷ 10 = 640.
M1 — Shift one column right.
A1 — Answer 640
Question 5 Hard2 marks
A digit 7 moves from the tens column to the thousands column. How many times greater is its value?
Show answer
Answer: 100
Tens value 70, thousands value 7 000.
7 000 ÷ 70 = 100, so it is 100 times greater.
M1 — Tens value 70, thousands value 7 000.
A1 — Answer 100
Question 6 Hard2 marks
Build the number with 4 hundreds, 0 tens and 9 ones, then add 30.
Show answer
Answer: 439
The number starts as 409.
409 + 30 = 439.
M1 — The number starts as 409.
A1 — Answer 439
Question 7 Exam-style3 marks
A code is made of 2 thousands, 8 hundreds and 4 ones. Write the number, then write the number that is 10 times larger.
Show answer
Answer: 28040
2 000 + 800 + 4 = 2 804.
2 804 × 10 = 28 040.
M1 — Builds 2 804
M1 — Multiplies by 10
A1 — Answer 28 040
Common mistakes
Most lost marks on this topic are one slip.
Reading the face of a digit as its value, so the 7 in 174 is called 7.
Multiply the face by the column. A 7 in the tens column is worth 70.
Dropping a zero when a column is empty, so 5 047 becomes 547.
An empty column still needs a 0 so the other digits stay in place.
Adding 10 instead of shifting columns when multiplying by 10.
× 10 moves every digit one column to the left.
Spot the slip
In 3 582, which digit is in the hundreds column?
5
3
8
Show the slip
5 From the right, the columns are ones, tens, hundreds. The third digit from the right is 5.
Exam tips
Be ready to do this without a calculator. Paper 1 is the non-calculator paper.
If the question says “show that”, the result is given. The marks are for the steps that reach it.
The method is the same on AQA-style and Edexcel-style papers.
Write the numbers in a column with the decimal points lined up before you order them; it is quick and stops slips.
Read the order asked for: 'smallest first' and 'largest first' both appear, and getting it backwards loses the mark.
Printable worksheet
The same questions are in a PDF you can print. Answers start on a later page.