Sophie's school raised £4,567 for charity. What is the value of the digit 5 in this number?
Show worked explanation
In 4,567, the digit 5 is in the hundreds place. So its value is 5 hundreds = 500. ✓
11+ Place Value Practice
(GL Assessment)
Place value and rounding account for an estimated 2 to 4 questions in every GL Assessment 11+ maths paper, and they quietly underpin many more. Sitting at the heart of the dominant Number section, place value is the skill behind ordering decimals, reading large numbers in word problems, estimating answers and working with money. Get it secure and a child gains accuracy right across the paper.
The paper is 50 multiple-choice questions in 50 minutes (about a minute each), with five options (A to E) and no calculator. Questions cover whole numbers up to 10,000,000, decimals to three places, rounding, ordering, Roman numerals and negative numbers in context.
Place value can feel deceptively simple, which is exactly why GL builds in traps: digits offered instead of values, the "5 rounds up" rule, and longer decimals that look larger than they are. The reassurance for parents is that these traps are few, named and very teachable.
What the GL 11+ Tests on Place Value
Place value questions are always multiple-choice, five options (A to E), no calculator. GL does not publish exact category weightings, so the order below is estimated from practice papers and tutor resources, and the skills often combine within a single question. In rough order of frequency:
- Identifying the value of a digit, in whole numbers and decimals
- Rounding whole numbers (to the nearest 10 up to 1,000,000)
- Ordering and comparing (whole numbers, decimals, negatives)
- Rounding decimals (to 1, 2 or 3 decimal places)
- Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000
- Estimation, partitioning and expanded form
- Roman numerals (up to 1,000) and negative numbers in context
Difficulty ranges from reading a digit's value in a four-digit number through to multi-step questions, contextual rounding and ordering mixed fractions, decimals and percentages.
Sample Place Value Questions
Five questions drawn from PrepStep’s place value bank, spanning Foundation to Challenging. Tap “Show worked explanation” to see the full method after you’ve had a go. The correct answer is highlighted on each question so you can check immediately.
A village fete raised exactly £3,845. The organiser rounds this to the nearest hundred for the newsletter. What amount does she write?
Show worked explanation
Look at the tens digit: 4. Since 4 is less than 5, round down. £3,845 rounds to £3,800 for the newsletter. ✓
Jake scored 28,453 points in a video game. Round this to the nearest thousand.
Show worked explanation
Look at the hundreds digit: 4. Since 4 is less than 5, round down. 28,453 rounds to 28,000. ✓
A school library has 56,729 books. Which digit is in the tens place of this number?
Show worked explanation
In 56,729, reading from right to left: 9 is ones, 2 is tens, 7 is hundreds, 6 is thousands, 5 is ten-thousands. The tens digit is 2. ✓
Which of these numbers is closest to 50,000? 48,756 / 51,234 / 49,812 / 52,089 / 47,945
Show worked explanation
Find the difference from 50,000: 48,756 is 1,244 away; 51,234 is 1,234 away; 49,812 is 188 away; 52,089 is 2,089 away; 47,945 is 2,055 away. The closest is 49,812. ✓
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Common mistake 1 of 4
Giving the digit instead of its value.
Tip: Asked for the value of the 6 in 364,285, a child answers "6" rather than 60,000. Always say the place out loud ("6 in the ten-thousands column is worth 60,000") before choosing.
Common mistake 2 of 4
Rounding a 5 down.
Tip: Children treat 5 as "round down" and turn 2,385 into 2,380. The rule is 5 or more rounds up, so the deciding digit (the one immediately to the right) of 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 always lifts the number.
Common mistake 3 of 4
Ignoring real-world "round up" situations.
Tip: With 347 children and buses holding 50, the answer is 7 buses, not 6.94 rounded down. For packs, buses, tables and containers, ask "would the leftover people still need a place?" If yes, round up.
Common mistake 4 of 4
Reading negative numbers like positive ones.
Tip: Children rank -7 as larger than -3 because "7 beats 3". Picture a number line or thermometer: further left, or colder, means smaller, so -7 is less than -3.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does place value mean in the 11+ maths exam?
Place value is the value a digit holds because of its position, so the 6 in 364,285 is worth 60,000. GL tests it through digit-value questions, rounding, ordering, multiplying and dividing by powers of 10, and partitioning. All questions are multiple-choice with five options (A to E) and no calculator.
Are Roman numerals in the GL 11+ exam?
Yes. Roman numerals up to 1,000 are part of the Year 5 curriculum and appear in GL papers, though they are a smaller slice of the place-value questions. Children need the seven symbols (I, V, X, L, C, D, M) and the six subtractive pairs: IV, IX, XL, XC, CD and CM. A common trap is reading IX as 11 instead of 9.
How do you round numbers for the 11+?
Find the place you are rounding to, look only at the single digit immediately to its right, and round up if that digit is 5 or more, or keep it the same if it is 4 or less. The most common GL trap places a 5 in the deciding position, because 5 always rounds up.
What year is place value taught for the 11+?
Year 5 covers numbers to 1,000,000, rounding and Roman numerals to 1,000, with Year 6 extending to 10,000,000 and rounding to any degree of accuracy. As GL exams are often sat early in Year 6, some content may run slightly ahead of school teaching, so a little preparation helps.
Why does my child round 5 down instead of up?
It is one of the most common rounding errors, because "halfway" feels like it could go either way. The convention is that a deciding digit of 5 always rounds up. Drill it with clear examples (45 to the nearest 10 is 50, 350 to the nearest 100 is 400) until it becomes automatic.
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