Use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number

I can use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number.

Download all resources

Share activities with pupils

New

Year 3

Use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number

I can use column subtraction to subtract from a 2- or 3-digit number.

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

Start by subtracting the number with the smallest place value first.
The minuend always appears first in a column subtraction.
The subtrahend is written underneath the minuend.

Keywords

Minuend - The minuend is the number being subtracted from.
Subtrahend - A subtrahend is a number subtracted from another.
Column subtraction - Column subtraction is a way of subtracting numbers by writing a number below another.

Common misconception

Pupils may make errors when subtracting zero or when writing zero in the ones, tens or hundreds column of the difference.

Encourage pupils to write zero, using the examples given in the slide deck. Write zero in the hundreds column of the difference when using column subtraction; explain this is not written when the calculation is presented as a horizontal equation.

Pupils may find base ten blocks helpful in representing and understanding column subtraction. Explain that only the minuend needs to be represented. The subtrahend is subtracted from this.

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).