What does a child have to do to multiply fractions in the 11+?

Multiply two proper fractions and simplify the result when required. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the fractions, decimals and percentages strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

What is the trap in an 11+ multiply fractions question?

Denominators are multiplied, never added. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What is not part of multiply fractions in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Excludes finding a single fraction of a whole-number quantity. A question past that line is testing a different named maths skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

Which other 11+ skills should we practise alongside multiply fractions?

The fractions, decimals and percentages strand holds 9 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to multiply fractions are recognise equivalent fractions, convert decimal and percentage and convert fraction and decimal. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise multiply fractions for free?

Use Area Grid, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to multiply fractions, it runs in the browser with no account to make, nothing is scored, and nothing a child does here is recorded or sent anywhere. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Maths · Fractions, decimals and percentages

Multiply fractions

Multiply two proper fractions and simplify the result when required.

Practise it now

Slide the coral band to $\frac{2}{3}$ and the teal band to $\frac{3}{4}$ . Where they cross is $\frac{2}{3} \times \frac{3}{4}$ .

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

A fraction of a fraction

What is $\frac{1}{4}$ of $\frac{1}{6}$ ?

The top bar shows $\frac{1}{4}$ and the lower bar shows $\frac{1}{6}$ ; taking part of a part leaves $\frac{1}{24}$ .

1/4

1/6

$\frac{2}{3}$
$\frac{1}{4}$
$\frac{1}{10}$
$\frac{1}{24}$

Answer: $\frac{1}{24}$

How you get there

$\frac{1}{4}$ of $\frac{1}{6}$ multiplies the tops and the bottoms to give $\frac{1}{24}$ , which means the answer is smaller than both bars - you are taking part of a part.

Why the other answers tempt

Denominators are multiplied, never added.

If they are stuck, say this

Taking a fraction of a fraction makes it smaller, so multiply the two top numbers and the two bottom numbers, then simplify.

Now do it live in Area Grid

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Multiply fractions together. Take a look at the picture. Here is what matters: The top bar shows 1/4 and the lower bar shows 1/6; taking part of a part leaves 1/24. Here comes the question: What is 1/4 of 1/6? Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Taking a fraction of a fraction makes it smaller, so multiply the two top numbers and the two bottom numbers, then simplify. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: 1/4 of 1/6 multiplies the tops and the bottoms to give 1/24, which means the answer is smaller than both bars - you are taking part of a part. So our answer is: 1/24. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: Denominators are multiplied, never added. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

What this exercise is doing

Area Grid

Slide the coral band to $\frac{2}{3}$ and the teal band to $\frac{3}{4}$ . Where they cross is $\frac{2}{3} \times \frac{3}{4}$ .

Cutting the square into 3 rows and 4 columns makes $3 \times 4 = 12$ equal cells, and the two bands cross over $2 \times 3 = 6$ of them. That is the whole reason you multiply the tops and multiply the bottoms: the tops count the rows and columns the overlap covers, and the bottoms count the rows and columns the square was cut into. $\frac{6}{12}$ cancels by 6 to $\frac{1}{2}$ , the same rectangle regrouped into bigger pieces. Notice the overlap is smaller than either band on its own - taking a fraction OF something always shrinks it, which is why adding the two fractions can never be the answer.

Step 1. Build it. Slide the coral band to $\frac{2}{3}$ of the height and the teal band to $\frac{3}{4}$ of the width.
Step 2. Cancel it. The overlap covers 6 of the 12 cells. Pull the simplify handle as far as it will go.
Step 3. Without the square. The square is covered. What is $\frac{3}{5} \times \frac{2}{3}$ ?

What to say if they get stuck

$\frac{2}{3}$ of the HEIGHT and $\frac{3}{4}$ of the WIDTH. Drag one band at a time and watch the ruled cells change.
The whole square is now cut into $3 \times 4 = 12$ little cells, and the overlap covers $2 \times 3 = 6$ of them.
$\frac{6}{12}$ is not in its simplest form - both numbers divide by 6.

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How multiply fractions differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises several skills, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: multiply two proper fractions and simplify the result when required, and it stops where excludes finding a single fraction of a whole-number quantity.

Find a fraction of a quantity
Calculate one unit or non-unit fraction of a quantity. Excludes chained operations.
Recognise equivalent fractions
Recognise two fractions representing the same value. Excludes arithmetic with non-equivalent fractions.

Related maths skills

Convert decimal and percentageConvert one decimal to or from a percentage.
Convert fraction and decimalConvert one familiar fraction to or from a decimal.
Convert fraction and percentageConvert one familiar fraction to or from a percentage.
Find a percentage of a quantityCalculate one familiar percentage of a quantity.
Identify a represented fractionName the fraction represented by equal parts.
Locate an equivalent valueLocate a fraction, decimal, or percentage at the same number-line position.

All maths 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about multiply fractions

Answered from what the skill map records about this skill, not from a template. Every answer here is on the page, and the same questions are the page's FAQ structured data.

: Multiply two proper fractions and simplify the result when required. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the fractions, decimals and percentages strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
: Denominators are multiplied, never added. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Taking a fraction of a fraction makes it smaller, so multiply the two top numbers and the two bottom numbers, then simplify.
: The skill map draws the line here: Excludes finding a single fraction of a whole-number quantity. A question past that line is testing a different named maths skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: The fractions, decimals and percentages strand holds 9 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to multiply fractions are recognise equivalent fractions, convert decimal and percentage and convert fraction and decimal. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Area Grid, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to multiply fractions, it runs in the browser with no account to make, nothing is scored, and nothing a child does here is recorded or sent anywhere. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Knowing which maths topic to practise is most of the work

A free diagnostic covers arithmetic, fractions, geometry, measure and data handling, and comes back with the topics to spend the next few weeks on.

Start the free 11+ diagnostic