Year 3 Maths — What Your Child Will Learn
Year 3 is the start of Key Stage 2 and the point where maths gets noticeably more formal. Children move to numbers up to 1,000, begin column addition and subtraction, and start the 3, 4 and 8 times tables. This is also the year where a strong foundation in written methods becomes essential — skills that will be used every year through to Year 6 SATs.
What Your Child Will Learn in Year 3 Maths
What Children Often Find Difficult
What children struggle with
Common mistakes to watch for
How You Can Help at Home
Year 4 brings the MTC — start now
The national Multiplication Tables Check sits in Year 4. Year 3 is the ideal time to lock in the 3, 4 and 8 times tables before Year 4 pressure adds 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 to the mix.
Always ask your child to show their working
The process matters as much as the answer from Year 3 onwards. Showing working reveals where errors happen and is directly rewarded in KS2 SATs reasoning papers.
Fractions and decimals start here
Fractions, decimals and percentages account for around 30% of 2025 KS2 SATs marks. Year 3 is when fractions are introduced properly — the foundations built now are tested heavily in Year 6.
Year 3 & KS2 SATs Relevance
There are no SATs in Year 3. But the column methods, times table fluency and fraction understanding built this year are directly tested in Year 6 KS2 SATs. Analysis of the 2025 SATs papers showed fractions, decimals and percentages accounted for 30% of all marks.
Example Homework Questions
Question
346 + 278 = ?
Expected Answer
624
Skill Tested
Column addition with carrying
Question
What is 7 divided by 10 as a decimal?
Expected Answer
0.7
Skill Tested
Tenths and decimals
Question
A rectangle is 8cm long and 5cm wide. What is its perimeter?
Expected Answer
26cm
Skill Tested
Perimeter calculation
Spot Year 3 Gaps Before They Become Year 6 Problems
The skills built in Year 3 — column methods, times tables, fractions — are the same ones tested in Year 6 SATs. Out of School lets you see which topics your child has mastered and which need more practice, three years before it matters most.
Topic-by-topic tracking
See which curriculum areas are strong and which need work — broken down by individual topic, not just a single percentage.
Homework visibility
Every piece of homework set is visible to parents in real time — questions, answers, and accuracy — as soon as the session ends.
Tutor reports
After every session, parents receive a progress update covering what was covered, what went well, and what to focus on next.