Roman Numerals Worksheets: Read and Write

Year 6 maths worksheets on reading and writing Roman numerals: 36 questions in three levels (All, Most, Some) with answers. Free PDF.

7-page A4 PDF from the Tiger Shark Education question bank. All: Read Roman numerals. Most: Write numbers in Roman numerals. Some: Read years written in Roman numerals. Each level is two pages of six questions, each with a squared working area, and the last page has every answer, with short working for multi-step questions. Each level is also available as its own 3-page PDF. Example questions from the Some level: Which year is written as MDXXXVIII? / Which year is written as MDCCCXLIII?

What are Roman numerals? Roman numerals use letters to represent numbers: I (1), V (5), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500) and M (1,000). Symbols are usually written from largest to smallest and added together, but a smaller symbol before a larger one is subtracted (IV = 4, XC = 90). Year 6 pupils read Roman numerals to 1,000 (M) and recognise years.

Common mistakes and tips: Children often write four Is in a row (IIII instead of IV) or subtract from too large a symbol (writing IC for 99 instead of XCIX). Teach the valid subtraction pairs (IV, IX, XL, XC, CD, CM). Breaking years into thousands, hundreds, tens and ones (MCMXCV = 1000 + 900 + 90 + 5) helps.

Questions on this topic appear year after year in the KS2 maths SATs. Because each sheet starts with the core skill and builds to test-style problems, it works both for teaching the topic and for spotting gaps during revision.

Teaching ideas: use the All level to check prerequisite knowledge at the start of a lesson, then move children onto Most or Some when they are ready. Squared working space encourages neat written methods. The answer page includes short working for multi-step questions, so pupils can self-mark and see where they went wrong.

Spotting misconceptions: the mistakes children make on this topic are usually consistent, so look for patterns across their answers rather than marking each question in isolation. A short follow-up on the specific misconception, using concrete resources or diagrams, is often more effective than setting more of the same questions.

Use All for children working towards the expected standard, Most for secure Year 5 skills and Some for SATs-standard practice: three entry points to the same lesson. Suits whole-class differentiation, intervention groups, homework and SATs revision, and upper KS2 generally.

Part of a set of 42 Year 6 maths topics.