Subtract 4-digit numbers using column subtraction

I can subtract two 4-digit numbers using column subtraction, regrouping hundreds, tens and ones.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

New

Year 4

Subtract 4-digit numbers using column subtraction

I can subtract two 4-digit numbers using column subtraction, regrouping hundreds, tens and ones.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

View new resources

Slide deck

Download slide deck

Skip slide deck

Lesson details

Key learning points

Column subtraction can be used to subtract 4-digit numbers.
Work from the ones column on the right so that regrouping can be represented.
If the tens value of the subtrahend is greater than the tens value of the minuend, regroup 1 hundred as 10 tens.
If the hundreds value of the subtrahend is greater than the hundreds of the minuend, regroup 1 thousand as 10 hundreds.

Keywords

Column subtraction - Column subtraction is a way of subtracting numbers by writing a number below another.
Regrouping - The process of unitising and exchanging between place values is known as regrouping.

Common misconception

Trying to subtract 3 from 2 for example without regrouping and seeing the difference as 1

Continually acknowledge the whole and the parts in each 'column' so that children know what we have and what is being subtracted.

Base 10 is used to support visualisation of the first few examples, but once able to do this, children should be able to apply their learning of column subtraction with 3-digits to 4-digit calculations and this scaffold can be removed.

Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).