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Functional Skills Level 2 — Rounding and Estimation

Rounding to the Nearest 10, 100 and 1000

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How Do You Round to the Nearest 10?

To round a number to the nearest 10, find the multiple of 10 that is closest to it by looking at the units (ones) digit: 5 or more rounds up, 4 or less rounds down. The same method applies for rounding to the nearest 100 or 1000, using the tens or hundreds digit instead.

Look at the UNITS digit.  If ≥ 5 → round up to next ten.  If < 5 → round down (keep current ten).
30 40 50 34 rounds down → 30 37 → 40 45 rounds up → 50 Units digit 0-4 → Round DOWN 23 → 20 14 → 10 Units digit 5-9 → Round UP 27 → 30 35 → 40

Worked Example 1 - Round 47 to the nearest 10

Step 1
Identify the units digit of 47: the units digit is 7.
Step 2
Since \(7 \geq 5\), we round UP.
Step 3
The next ten above 40 is 50.
47 rounded to the nearest 10 = 50

Worked Example 2 - Round 83 to the nearest 10

Step 1
Identify the units digit of 83: the units digit is 3.
Step 2
Since \(3 < 5\), we round DOWN.
Step 3
Keep the current ten: 80.
83 rounded to the nearest 10 = 80

Worked Example 2b - Round 47.3 to the nearest 10

Step 1
The rule is the same for decimals — look at the units digit, which is 7 (ignore the .3, it doesn't affect which ten we're closest to).
Step 2
Since \(7 \geq 5\), round UP to the next ten.
Step 3
47.3 is between 40 and 50, closer to 50: round up to 50.
47.3 rounded to the nearest 10 = 50
Tip: For nearest 10, look at the units (ones) digit. Replace the units digit with 0 - either keeping the tens digit the same (round down) or adding 1 to it (round up).

✓ Quick Check 1 - Rounding to the Nearest 10

Question 1 of 10

Rounding to the Nearest 100 and 1000

The same principle applies - look at the digit one place to the right of the place you are rounding to:

For nearest 100: look at the tens digit. For nearest 1000: look at the hundreds digit.

Thousands Hundreds Tens Units 3 4 7 2 7 ≥ 5 → round up hundreds 4 → 5 Nearest 100: 3,500 4 < 5 → keep 3 Nearest 1000: 3,000 Nearest 100: 3,400 3,500 3,472 → 3,500 Nearest 1000: 3,000 4,000 3,472 ← 3,000

Worked Example 3 - Round 3,472 to the nearest 100

Step 1
Look at the tens digit of 3,472: it is 7.
Step 2
Since \(7 \geq 5\), round the hundreds UP.
Step 3
Hundreds digit 4 becomes 5. Tens and units become 0.
Step 4
Answer: 3,500.
3,472 rounded to the nearest 100 = 3,500

Worked Example 4 - Round 3,472 to the nearest 1000

Step 1
Look at the hundreds digit of 3,472: it is 4.
Step 2
Since \(4 < 5\), round DOWN.
Step 3
Thousands digit stays at 3. Hundreds, tens and units become 0.
Step 4
Answer: 3,000.
3,472 rounded to the nearest 1000 = 3,000

Worked Example 5 - Round 9,950 to the nearest 100

Step 1
Look at the tens digit of 9,950: it is 5.
Step 2
Since \(5 \geq 5\), round the hundreds UP.
Step 3
Hundreds digit is 9. Adding 1 gives 10 — this carries over: the thousands digit increases from 9 to 10, giving 10,000.
9,950 rounded to the nearest 100 = 10,000
Watch out: when every digit you're rounding up is a 9, the whole number increases to the next power of 10.
Round to Look at Example Answer
Nearest 10Units digit4750
Nearest 100Tens digit3,4723,500
Nearest 1000Hundreds digit3,4723,000
Rounding is also the basis of estimating calculations — you'll cover this fully in Lesson 3.5 — Estimation and Approximation.

✓ Quick Check 2 - Rounding to the Nearest 100 and 1000

Question 1 of 10

Practice: Round these numbers

#NumberRound toYour AnswerResult
134Nearest 10
276Nearest 10
3245Nearest 100
4350Nearest 100
51,742Nearest 1000
66,499Nearest 1000
785Nearest 10
83,050Nearest 100
9452Nearest 10
106,850Nearest 1000

⚠ Things to Watch Out For

  • Looking at the wrong digit: To round to nearest 10, look at the UNITS digit. To nearest 100, look at the TENS digit. To nearest 1000, look at the HUNDREDS digit.
  • Replacing wrong digits with zeros: 3,472 to nearest 100 → look at tens digit (7 ≥ 5), so round up: 3,500. The tens AND units both become zero.
  • Forgetting to write zeros: 2,360 rounded to nearest 1000 is 2,000 — not 2. The zeros must be written to maintain the correct magnitude.
  • Rounding 2,500 to nearest 1000: The hundreds digit is 5, so round up → 3,000. The "round half up" rule applies.
  • Confusing "to the nearest 10" with "to 1 significant figure": These are different operations. 3,472 to nearest 10 = 3,470. To 1 s.f. = 3,000.
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