Telling the Time Worksheets: Draw the Hands

Year 6 maths worksheets on telling the time, analogue clocks and 24-hour time: 36 questions in three levels (All, Most, Some) with answers. Free PDF.

7-page A4 PDF from the Tiger Shark Education question bank. All: Draw the hands on a clock, including Roman numeral clocks. Most: Show 24-hour and digital times on a clock, and write 24-hour times. Some: Read a clock and write the time in 24-hour form. Each level is two pages of six questions, each with its own diagram and space for working, and the last page has every answer, with the correct drawing for each “draw it” question. Each level is also available as its own 3-page PDF. Example questions from the Some level: The clock shows a time in the morning. Write it as a 24-hour time / The clock shows a time in the evening. Write it as a 24-hour time.

What does telling the time involve? Children read and write the time on analogue clocks, including Roman numeral clock faces, and on 12-hour and 24-hour digital clocks. Drawing hands accurately shows they understand that the hour hand moves between numbers as the minutes pass. By Year 6 these skills should be secure, and they underpin time problems.

Common mistakes and tips: Common errors include placing the hour hand exactly on the hour for times like 7:45 and confusing the minute and hour hands. Converting between 12-hour and 24-hour time (3:15 pm = 15:15) is another source of mistakes. Using a real clock with geared hands helps children see how both hands move together.

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.