What are coordinates?
Year 4 uses coordinates in the first quadrant, Year 5 translates and reflects shapes, and Year 6 uses all four quadrants. Below: what it means, a worked example, the mistake to watch for and an 11+ question.
The answer
Coordinates are a pair of numbers that give the exact position of a point on a grid, like (3, 5).
What it means
The first number is how far across (the x-axis). The second is how far up (the y-axis). A way to remember it: along the corridor, then up the stairs.
Where the axes cross is called the origin, (0, 0). Coordinates can be negative when a point is left of or below the origin.
A worked example
Plot the point (4, 2)
- Start at the origin, (0, 0).
- Go 4 squares across, then 2 squares up. Mark the point there.
The common mistake
Swapping the numbers. (4, 2) and (2, 4) are different points. Always go across first, then up.
How it comes up in the 11+
Three corners of a square are at (1, 1), (5, 1) and (5, 5). Where is the fourth corner?
Answer: (1, 5)
- (1, 1) to (5, 1) is the bottom side, 4 squares long. (5, 1) to (5, 5) is the right side, 4 squares tall.
- The fourth corner is above (1, 1) and level with (5, 5): x is 1 and y is 5.
- The fourth corner is (1, 5).
Try it yourself
It opens on (4, 2), the point in the worked example. Tap any other point to see its coordinates, across first and then up.
Coordinates give a point by going across first, then up: (4, 2) is 4 across and 2 up.
Related words and practice
More maths words
Questions parents ask
Which comes first in coordinates, x or y?
x comes first, then y. Go across, then up.
What are the four quadrants?
The four areas made when the x-axis and y-axis cross. Year 6 children plot points in all four, using negative numbers.
Knowing the words is half of an 11+ maths question
11+ papers use maths vocabulary without explaining it. The free diagnostic checks maths, English and both kinds of reasoning, and shows what to practise next. No card is required.