What Should a Child Know in Year 3 Maths?

Year 3 marks the start of Key Stage 2 — a meaningful step up from KS1. Children aged 7–8 encounter larger numbers, new times tables, fractions with more complexity, and their first proper encounters with geometry and statistics. It can feel like a big jump, but with the right foundations from Years 1 and 2, most children adapt well.

Number and Place Value

In Year 3, the number system expands to numbers up to 1,000. Children are expected to:

• Count from 0 in multiples of 4, 8, 50, and 100
• Find 10 or 100 more or less than a given number
• Recognise the place value of each digit in a three-digit number (hundreds, tens, and ones)
• Compare and order numbers up to 1,000
• Read and write numbers up to 1,000 in numerals and in words
• Solve number and practical problems involving these ideas

Multiplication Tables: 3, 4, and 8

Year 3 introduces three new times tables: the 3, 4, and 8 times tables. Children also continue to consolidate their 2, 5, and 10 times tables from Year 2.

A useful pattern to point out: the 4 times table is double the 2 times table, and the 8 times table is double the 4 times table. Spotting these relationships helps children learn new tables more quickly rather than memorising each one in isolation.

• Write and calculate mathematical statements for multiplication and division
• Solve problems, including missing number problems, involving multiplication and division

Fractions

Fractions become more nuanced in Year 3. Children move from recognising simple fractions to working with them more flexibly:

• Count up and down in tenths
• Recognise that tenths arise from dividing an object into 10 equal parts
• Recognise and show equivalent fractions with small denominators (e.g. ½ = 2⁄4)
• Add and subtract fractions with the same denominator within one whole
• Compare and order unit fractions with the same denominator
• Solve problems involving fractions

Measurement

Year 3 pupils develop their measurement skills across several areas:

• Measure, compare, add, and subtract lengths (m, cm, mm), mass (kg, g), and volume and capacity (l, ml)
• Measure the perimeter of simple 2D shapes
• Add and subtract amounts of money to give change using both £ and p
• Tell and write the time from an analogue clock (including Roman numerals), 12-hour and 24-hour clocks

Geometry and Statistics

In geometry, Year 3 children begin to work with angles and more complex shapes:

• Recognise angles as a property of shape or a description of a turn
• Identify right angles, and whether angles are greater or less than a right angle
• Identify horizontal and vertical lines and pairs of perpendicular and parallel lines
• Draw and interpret bar charts, pictograms, and tables