Giving change

You get change when you pay too much for an item.

This happens when you are paying with money and you don’t have the exact amount.

If someone pays with a card, they pay the exact amount, so they do not receive any change.

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Fred has some coins and wants to buy a doughnut.

Doughnut cost 42p each.

Look at the different coins that Fred has.

He does not have 42p exactly, so he pays using the 50p coin.

50p is more than 42p, so Fred needs some change.

Let’s calculate how much change Fred will get.

You can use a number line to help.

First, label it with the price of the item and the money that was paid.

Then you can count on in 1p amounts. Or, you can count in any amount you find easy to count in.

Let’s count on to find the difference between the two amounts.

You can see that the difference between 50p and 42p is 8 pence.

So Fred will get 8p change.

Giving change in pounds

Let's try another one.

Maya has a £10 note. She wants to buy a toy helicopter for her little sister that costs £7.

How much change will Maya get when she pays with the £10 note?

Let’s use a number line again to work out the answer.

First, label it with the price of the item (£7) and the money that was paid (£10).

This time let's count back to find the difference between the two amounts.

You can see the difference between £10 and £7 is £3.

So Maya will get £3 change.

Example 2

Example 3