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This topic covers place value in whole numbers and decimals, and ordering positive and negative numbers and decimals using inequality signs. It's a core topic in GCSE and iGCSE Maths with Edexcel and the other major boards. This free interactive course teaches the method with worked examples and gives instant-feedback practice questions to lock it in.
How you do it
Line the numbers up by their decimal points and compare digit by digit from the left. The first place where they differ decides the order. With negatives, remember the number line runs the other way — -8 is smaller than -3, not bigger.
Before you start
It draws heavily on place value in whole numbers and decimals. It reappears throughout rounding, estimation and standard form. This is a Foundation and Higher tier topic.
What you learn
This short lesson gets you confident with how numbers are built and compared — a skill every Foundation paper leans on. The symbols (less than) and (greater than) always point to the smaller number. Negative numbers sit to the left of zero on the number line. The course works through place value, ordering integers & decimals and negative numbers. Every section has instant-feedback practice questions matched to Edexcel iGCSE 4MA1 and the other major GCSE boards, and the course finishes with full exam-style questions you mark yourself.
Related Topics
We teach Ordering & Place Value as one of the Number topics in our GCSE course library, at Foundation tier. It runs to 3 concepts, each followed by a check, with 2 worked examples along the way. Related topics students usually take next include Percentages, Powers & Roots, Primes, Factors & Multiples and Primes & LCM / HCF. You can drill this strand further on the Number revision engine, with your accuracy saved to your skill tree.
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