Place value questions at Level 2 hide inside real contexts – reading a population figure, ordering bank balances that go negative, comparing decimal prices. This free worksheet covers whole numbers into the millions, negative numbers on a scale and ordering decimals, all in exam-style settings.
Free to download, print and share for personal or classroom use. Answers included.
What’s in this worksheet
- Section A – Reading and writing numbers (8 marks)
- Section B – Negative numbers (9 marks)
- Section C – Decimals and mixed (8 marks)
- Revise box with the rules and methods for the topic
- Worked answers for every question
Common mistakes on this topic
From our tutors’ marking and the most recent examiner reports – check your work against these:
- Reading 39,846 as ‘thirty-nine thousand eight hundred and forty-six’ correctly but then rounding the wrong way – rounding to the nearest thousand looks at the hundreds digit.
- Treating −7 as bigger than −3 because 7 is bigger than 3. On a thermometer, −7 is colder.
- Comparing decimals by length: thinking 12.19 is bigger than 12.9 because it has more digits.
How to use it
- Print the worksheet (or work on screen) and attempt every question without looking at the answers. Give yourself a rough time limit – Level 2 exams are tight.
- Mark your work against the answer page. For maths, check the method as well as the final number; method marks are where most of the marks are.
- Read the ‘common mistakes’ notes below and check whether any of them happened to you. Then redo the questions you got wrong a day later.
Related free resources
- Functional Skills Maths Level 2 Ratio and Proportion Worksheet
- Addition and Subtraction Worksheet – Functional Skills Maths Level 2
- Level 2 Maths Mini Practice Paper 1 – Functional Skills Maths Level 2
- All free Functional Skills Maths Level 2 resources
Frequently asked questions
What is place value in Functional Skills maths?
Place value is what each digit in a number is worth because of its position. In 4,725,318 the 7 is in the hundred-thousands column, so it is worth 700,000. Level 2 questions use it for reading large figures, rounding and comparing numbers.
How do you order negative numbers?
Picture a number line or a thermometer: the further left (or lower), the smaller. So −7 is less than −3, which is less than 0. The difference between −7 and 2 is 9, because you count up 7 to reach zero and then 2 more.
How do you compare decimals like 0.7 and 0.65?
Give them the same number of decimal places: 0.70 and 0.65. Then compare digit by digit from the left – 0.70 is bigger. Never judge by how many digits there are.
Want a tutor to mark your work? Not sure where you stand? Take the free 15-minute mini mock test. Ready to get qualified? Our live 10-week Functional Skills Level 2 Maths course runs in small groups with a mock exam included, and the 5-day revision course is there if your exam is close.