What does a child have to do to compare line-graph change in the 11+?

Compare one change or gap between plotted values. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the data strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

What should my child be able to do before working on compare line-graph change?

The skill map puts read a line-graph value first. A change comparison requires accurate plotted values. If compare line-graph change keeps going wrong, that is the thing to check before doing more of this one.

What is the trap in an 11+ compare line-graph change question?

The highest point on the graph is not the biggest step - a step is the gap between two neighbouring points. 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 compare line-graph change in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Excludes extrapolation beyond the graph. 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 compare line-graph change?

The data strand holds 9 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to compare line-graph change are compare table values, decode a pictogram key and interpret a pie-chart sector. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise compare line-graph change for free?

Use Line Reader, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to compare line-graph change, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Maths · Data

Compare line-graph change

Compare one change or gap between plotted values.

Watch the worked example

Open the video page

Which Line-Graph Change Is Greater?

This video shows how to read plotted values and calculate a rise, fall or gap between points on a line graph. Watch an 11+ maths question solved step by step.

0:00 / 2:42

Turn on captions with the CC button. Jump to any part with the chapter buttons.

Read the transcript

Keep practising with Trace Learn. Find topics to practise next

Quick quiz: Compare line-graph change

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
Between which two weeks did the compost heap fall the most?
- A.Week 2 → Week 3
- B.Week 1 → Week 2
- C.Week 6 → Week 7
- D.Week 3 → Week 4
Question 2
Between which two weeks did the number of players fall the most?
- A.Week 3 → Week 4
- B.Week 4 → Week 5
- C.Week 1 → Week 2
- D.Week 5 → Week 6
Question 3
Between which two days did the number of eggs rise the most?
- A.Thu → Fri
- B.Sat → Sun
- C.Mon → Tue
- D.Wed → Thu
Question 4
Between which two days did the number of ice creams sold rise the most?
- A.Thu → Fri
- B.Wed → Thu
- C.Fri → Sat
- D.Tue → Wed
Question 5
Between which two days did the number of tickets sold rise the most?
- A.Tue → Wed
- B.Wed → Thu
- C.Thu → Fri
- D.Mon → Tue
Question 6
Between which two sessions did the number of laps fall the most?
- A.Session 4 → Session 5
- B.Session 2 → Session 3
- C.Session 6 → Session 7
- D.Session 1 → Session 2
Question 7
Between which two rounds did the number of goals fall the most?
- A.Round 4 → Round 5
- B.Round 3 → Round 4
- C.Round 5 → Round 6
- D.Round 6 → Round 7
Question 8
Between which two days did the number of passengers fall the most?
- A.Tue → Wed
- B.Mon → Tue
- C.Thu → Fri
- D.Fri → Sat
Question 9
Between which two sessions did the distance rowed fall the most?
- A.Session 3 → Session 4
- B.Session 2 → Session 3
- C.Session 1 → Session 2
- D.Session 4 → Session 5
Question 10
Between which two weeks did the number of players fall the most?
- A.Week 4 → Week 5
- B.Week 3 → Week 4
- C.Week 1 → Week 2
- D.Week 2 → Week 3

Practise it now

Tap the step where the line rises the most. Then say by how many books it rose across that step.

This exercise practises compare line-graph change alongside its own main skill, Reading values off a line graph.

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.

Height of the classroom sunflower

Look at each step in turn. Between which two weeks did the sunflower fall by the largest amount?

Height recorded once each week.

Week 3 → Week 4
Week 5 → Week 6
Week 1 → Week 2
Week 4 → Week 5

Answer: Week 4 → Week 5

How you get there

Week 4 to Week 5 goes from 26 to 18, a fall of 8 centimetres, which is bigger than the fall across every other pair of neighbouring points.

Why the other answers tempt

The highest point on the graph is not the biggest step - a step is the gap between two neighbouring points.

If they are stuck, say this

Work out the fall for each pair of neighbouring points in turn, then compare those steps rather than the plotted heights.

Now do it live in Line Reader

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 Compare line-graph change together. Take a look at the picture. Here is what matters: Height recorded once each week. Here comes the question: Look at each step in turn. Between which two weeks did the sunflower fall by the largest amount? Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Work out the fall for each pair of neighbouring points in turn, then compare those steps rather than the plotted heights. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: Week 4 to Week 5 goes from 26 to 18, a fall of 8 centimetres, which is bigger than the fall across every other pair of neighbouring points. So our answer is: Week 4 → Week 5. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: The highest point on the graph is not the biggest step - a step is the gap between two neighbouring points. 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

Line Reader

Tap the step where the line rises the most. Then say by how many books it rose across that step.

This engine’s own main skill is Reading values off a line graph. It practises compare line-graph change alongside it.

The steepest rise is from Tuesday to Wednesday: the line goes from 15 to 30, a rise of 15. Every other step on this graph moves less than that, which is what makes this one the answer rather than merely a big move. Counting the gridlines between the two ends gives the same number as subtracting, and the lines here go up in 5s. The steepest step is the one that climbs the most lines, not the one that ends highest.

Step 1. Find it. Tap the steepest step of the line.
Step 2. Read it. Now read the scale and choose how many books that is.

What to say if they get stuck

Find the bar, row or slice the question names before you read anything. Getting the label right matters as much as the reading.
The scale does not always count up in single steps. Work out what a single line is worth before you read anything off it.
Keep your finger level as you slide from the board across to the scale. Drifting up or down by a line is the commonest slip there is.

Open Line Reader on its own page to share it

Where compare line-graph change sits in the 11+

The 11+ does not test these skills in isolation, and practising one in the wrong order wastes the practice. These are the skills the curriculum map connects this one to.

Secure this first: Read a line-graph value
A change comparison requires accurate plotted values.

How compare line-graph change differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises one other skill, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: compare one change or gap between plotted values, and it stops where excludes extrapolation beyond the graph.

Read a line-graph value
Read one plotted value at a named position. Excludes trend and rate interpretation.

Related maths skills

Calculate an arithmetic meanFind the mean of a short supplied data set.
Compare bar-chart valuesCompare two category values on a bar chart.
Compare table valuesCompare two values read from a table.
Decode a pictogram keyUse a pictogram key to determine one represented quantity.
Interpret a pie-chart sectorExpress one pie-chart sector as a fraction, percentage, or count.
Read a bar-chart valueRead one category value using the bar-chart scale.
Read a table cellFind one value at a named row and column.

All maths 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about compare line-graph change

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Compare one change or gap between plotted values. It is one of 55 named maths skills in the 11+, in the data strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
: The skill map puts read a line-graph value first. A change comparison requires accurate plotted values. If compare line-graph change keeps going wrong, that is the thing to check before doing more of this one.
: The highest point on the graph is not the biggest step - a step is the gap between two neighbouring points. 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. Work out the fall for each pair of neighbouring points in turn, then compare those steps rather than the plotted heights.
: The skill map draws the line here: Excludes extrapolation beyond the graph. 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 data strand holds 9 skills that are tested together, and the pages next to compare line-graph change are compare table values, decode a pictogram key and interpret a pie-chart sector. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Line Reader, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to compare line-graph change, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Compare line-graph change rests on something else being secure first

This skill depends on read a line-graph value. A free diagnostic checks those alongside every other maths skill, so you find out whether the problem is here or underneath it.