Maths Year 3 Number & place value

Year 3 place value: six questions and the common mistakes

Under each answer are the wrong answers a child often gives to it, four different mistakes on this page, and what Remelia tells the child who gives one.

Questions written by Remelia for the objectives of the national curriculum for England; not taken from any test paper.

Six questions

Maya says: In 983, the hundreds digit is worth 9.
Is Maya right? Write the correct answer, not just yes or no.
Show the answer to question 1
Answer: 900 · "No, 900" is right too; "No" on its own scores nothing
Why:
The hundreds digit is 9, and it is worth 9 × 100 = 900.
Maya's answer was not right: the correct answer is 900.
Common mistakes:
- 9: That is the digit, not its value. A digit’s value is the digit multiplied by the column it sits in.
- 3: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.
- 9,000: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too big.
- 90: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too small.
In the number 915, what is the value of the digit in the tens place?
Show the answer to question 2
Answer: 10
Why:
The tens digit is 1, and it is worth 1 × 10 = 10.
Common mistakes:
- 1: That is the digit, not its value. A digit’s value is the digit multiplied by the column it sits in.
- 5: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.
- 100: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too big.
In the number 762, what is the value of the digit in the ones place?
Show the answer to question 3
Answer: 2
Why:
The ones digit is 2, and it is worth 2 × 1 = 2.
Common mistakes:
- 60: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.
- 20: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too big.
Noor says: In 919, the ones digit is worth 900.
Is Noor right? Write the correct answer, not just yes or no.
Show the answer to question 4
Answer: 9 · "No, 9" is right too; "No" on its own scores nothing
Why:
The ones digit is 9, and it is worth 9 × 1 = 9.
Noor's answer was not right: the correct answer is 9.
Common mistakes:
- 10: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.
- 90: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too big.
In the number 703, what is the value of the digit in the hundreds place?
Show the answer to question 5
Answer: 700
Why:
The hundreds digit is 7, and it is worth 7 × 100 = 700.
Common mistakes:
- 7: That is the digit, not its value. A digit’s value is the digit multiplied by the column it sits in.
- 3: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.
- 7,000: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too big.
- 70: Your digits are right, but in the wrong columns: your answer is 10 times too small.
In the number 388, what is the value of the digit in the ones place?
- A 7
- B 8
- C 3
- D 9
Show the answer to question 6
Answer: B · 8
Why:
The ones digit is 8, and it is worth 8 × 1 = 8.
Common mistakes:
- 80: That is the value of a different digit. Count the columns again from the right: ones, tens, hundreds, thousands.

Answers

1. 900 · "No, 900" is right too; "No" on its own scores nothing
2. 10
3. 2
4. 9 · "No, 9" is right too; "No" on its own scores nothing
5. 700
6. B · 8

How Remelia uses a mistake

When a wrong answer matches one of these mistakes, the app says what the child seems to have done before they try again, and brings the objective back on a later day.

Remelia practises maths for the child's own year group, in short sessions, and brings back on later days what they got wrong.

Open the app What it teaches

Every Year 3 maths objective