Progression in written Division
EYFS
Stage 1
Stage 2
Children will solve problems in a practical way.
They need to see and hear representations of
division as sharing and grouping. Division can
be introduced through halving.
Children are encouraged to develop a mental
image of the number system in their heads to
use for calculation. They should experience
practical calculation opportunities involving
equal groups and equal sharing.
Children explore practical contexts where they
share equally and group equally. 6 ÷ 2 = ?
They may develop ways of recording
calculations using pictures.
A child’s jotting showing halving
six spots between two sides of a
ladybird.
Equal grouping (how many groups of 2 are
there in 6?)
There are 6 football stickers, how many people
can have 2 stickers each?
Children begin with mostly pictorial
representations linked to real life contexts.
Mum had 6 socks, she grouped them into pairs.
How many pairs did she have?
I have 10 sweets. I share them with my friend.
How many do we have each?
A child’s jotting showing how
they shared the apples at
snack time between two
groups.
6 football stickers are shared
equally between 2 people,
how many do they each get?
Children may solve this by
Using a ‘one for you, one for me’ strategy until
all stickers have been given out.
Continue with arrays
15 in groups of 3 15 ÷ 3 = 5
15 in groups of 5 15 ÷ 5 = 3
Stage 3
Children continue to use practical equipment to represent division
calculations as grouping (repeated subtraction) and use jottings to
support their calculation.
12 ÷ 3 = ? Children begin to read this calculation as ‘How many
groups of 3 are there in 12?’
Show grouping on a bead string and on a number line.
Group from zero in steps of the divisor.
Grouping ITP
At this stage children will also be introduced to division calculations
that result in remainders.
13 ÷ 4 = 3 remainder 1
Continue to show arrays and discuss what they show.
they show. Support children to understand how
multiplication and division are inverse.
Progression in written Division
Stage 4a
Stage 4b
Stage 5
43 ÷ 8
Use place value counters or base 10 equipment
to model understanding.
Calculations should have
two and three digit
dividends.
Children move on to 4 digit dividends by 1
digit divisors.
Continue to model with place value counters.
43 ÷ 8 = 5 remainder 3
At this stage, children also learn if the
remainder should be rounded up or down.
e.g. 62÷ 8 = 7 remainder 6
I have 62p. Sweets are 8p each. How many can I
buy? Only 7
Apples are packed into boxes of 8. There are 62
apples. How many boxes do I need? 8 (the
remaining apples still need to be placed in a
box).
Each digit as a multiple of the divisor
‘How many groups of 3 are there in the
hundreds column?’
‘How many groups of 3 are there in the tens
column?’
‘How many groups of 3
are there in the
units/ones column?’
Stage 6
Children continue with short division
recognising remainders in different forms
when divisors are 3,4,5 or 8.
Alongside pictorial representations and the use
of counters, children move towards short
division with counters.
When ready, children are moved to exchanging.
The 100 place value counter is changed to 10 of
the 10 pv counters and moved to the tens
column. A small 1 is put to the left of the 2 to
show 12 tens in this column. Counters are
regrouped as necessary.
Place value counters can be used to support
children apply their knowledge of grouping.
Reference should be made to the value of each
digit in the dividend. How many groups of 7 are
there in the tens column?
Remainders can be expressed as above or as
756 ⅖ or 756·4 as ⅖ is four tenths.
Long division 4 digit dividends by 2 digit
divisors.
Learning this method
will support children
when they begin to
divide by more than 1
digit
Division
6÷2=3
Arrays to
illustrate
Sharing and
grouping
24 ÷ 4 = 6
24 ÷ 6 = 4
13 ÷ 4 = 3 remainder 1
Short Division
Long Division