Puzzle maths for Years 5 and 6: how to get better at challenge-style questions

What makes a puzzle different

A puzzle question usually needs one idea: spot a pattern, work backwards, count systematically or draw the shape. Children who find ordinary sums easy can still find puzzles hard, because the method is not given.

Maths challenges run by schools and charities use multiple choice with five options, so being able to check an answer against the options is a skill in itself.

Slow way, then clever way

• Always find a safe method first, even if it is slow: try numbers, draw a picture, list the cases.
• Then ask: what would have made that quicker? That question, asked after every puzzle, is where the insight comes from.
• Wrong options are usually a real mistake someone made (off by one, counting both ends). Spotting why they are wrong is as useful as finding the right one.

What PrepAcer gives you

Puzzle Maths for Years 5 and 6 has seven topics (number puzzles, logic, shape and angles, patterns, working backwards, counting and probability, time, money and measure), in three difficulty bands. Every explanation shows the slow way first, then the clever way, and names the slip behind each wrong option. All puzzles are original, written for PrepAcer; PrepAcer is not affiliated with the UK Mathematics Trust or the Primary Maths Challenge.