Mathweave

Primary 6 · Chapter 9

Primary 6 Area Question Types

Find areas of triangles, folded paper and overlapping shapes. Follow the introduction, then try the questions.

Self-paced lessons · Modelled on top school exam questions · No sign-up for the samples

The Area chapter

Watch · The introduction

See area as parts of a whole

Start with a triangle inside a rectangle, then use equal heights, folds and overlaps.

Explore the introductory lesson →

Try · Modelled on top school exam questions

Try three questions, from easier to harder

Try each question yourself first, then check your answer or compare it with the solution. These questions are written by Mathweave, not copied from school papers. No sign-up is needed.

Question 1 of 3

A triangle inside a rectangle

Use the rectangle's area and the triangle's position to find the missing area.

KLMN is a rectangle with an area of 156 cm². T is a point on the side LM. Find the area of triangle KNT.

cm²

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. the height of triangle KNT is the distance from LM across to KN
  2. triangle KNT is half of rectangle KLMN
  3. area of triangle KNT = 156 ÷ 2 = 78 cm²

Ans: 78 cm²

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Question 2 of 3

Compare triangle areas by parts

Use the shared height and the base lengths to compare the triangle areas.

In the figure, P, Q and R lie on a straight line and S is a point above the line. PQ is 3 units long and QR is 5 units long. The area of triangle QRS is 45 cm². Find the area of triangle PQS.

cm²

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. triangles PQS and QRS have the same height from S, so their areas follow PQ and QR
  2. 5 units = 45
  3. 1 unit = 45 ÷ 5 = 9
  4. area of triangle PQS = 3 x 9 = 27

Ans: 27 cm²

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Question 3 of 3

Find the covered area

Use the two identical rectangles and their crossed arrangement to find the total covered area.

Two identical rectangles, each 15 cm by 8 cm, are laid across each other so that the part where they cross is a square of side 8 cm. Find the area of the figure the two rectangles cover.

cm²

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. area of one rectangle = 15 x 8 = 120
  2. area of the overlap = 8 x 8 = 64
  3. area covered = 120 + 120 - 64 = 176

Ans: 176 cm²

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Continue with the method you need

Follow a lesson link beside a question, or browse the chapter below.

See practice plans See how practice works

The chapter · Four question types

Primary 6 area questions by question type

A linked row opens a published lesson with its own film. Explore the explanation and available practice on that page.

Mixed practice, where the types return unannounced and unlabelled, is a chapter-level activity. It has no lesson page of its own.

The order · Two groups

The order to learn them

  1. Composite figures, and the pieces they are built from

    9.1 and 9.2

  2. Paper folded over, and a base marked in units

    9.3 and 9.4

The number tells you where a question type sits in this chapter, not what your child needs to learn first. A child who has already met a type in school can practise it without working through the ones above it.

The papers · Modelled against top school papers

How Paper 1 and Paper 2 set these questions

The PSLE Maths format from 2026.

Paper 1 has 30 questions for 50 marks: 18 multiple-choice questions and 12 short-answer questions. Paper 2 has 15 questions for 50 marks: 5 short-answer questions and 10 structured or long-answer questions.

Source: SEAB examination syllabus, from 2026

Area appears with figures in both Paper 1 and Paper 2.

A Paper 1 item is usually one shape and one rule, often answered by picking from four options. The three-mark and four-mark items appear in Paper 2, and they are almost always a figure built from squares, rectangles and triangles with a part shaded, two identical shapes laid over one another, or a sheet folded so that some of it lies on top of the rest. The harder items often combine area with fractions or ratio. Practice questions are not labelled by type, so children must choose the methods they need.

Earlier geometry is examined again in Primary 6.

Base and height of a triangle, the area of a triangle, and composite figures made up of rectangles, squares and triangles are Primary 5 outcomes in the current MOE syllabus, and the PSLE sets them again. Some appear in higher-mark Paper 2 questions, so this chapter teaches them in the form used in Primary 6.

Everything here is modelled against top school papers. Those papers are never reproduced, and every question on this site is original.

Written working · Clear methods, line by line

How to set out the working clearly

These examples show Mathweave's clear, consistent layout for each method. The layout is informed by the answer keys we reviewed.

  • Write the rule before substituting any measurementsState the triangle rule as part of the calculation. Mathweave places area of a triangle = 1/2 × base × height on a line before substituting the measurements. Use the same opening line when working backwards to find a missing measurement.
  • Write the doubling before the divisionFinding the missing length requires multiplication by 2 before division: 1/2 × 16 × BC = 96, then BC = 96 × 2 ÷ 16 = 12 cm. Keeping both operations visible makes the calculation easier to check.
  • Name and count every piece that is subtractedState which piece is being subtracted and how many copies there are: one shared copy for each join between shapes, one flap for each fold. Writing 270 - 63 × 2 records both folds and leaves a line the child can check.
  • Keep the area unit on every value in the chainWrite 5 units = 60 cm², then 1 unit = 60 ÷ 5 = 12 cm², then the line that answers the question. Keep cm² on every area value and identify the final line as the answer.

Parents · Asked and answered

Questions parents ask

Is this the PSLE syllabus?

The question types follow the latest MOE Primary Mathematics syllabus. The syllabus defines what is taught; the papers we model against show how it is examined.

Why does this chapter teach things my child met in an earlier year?

The papers set base and height of a triangle, and figures built from squares, rectangles and triangles, right through Primary 6, and they set them at three and four marks. This chapter teaches that material in the form used in Primary 6.

Are the questions from past papers?

We write the questions ourselves rather than copy them from papers. Each chapter is modelled on the types of question that top school papers set. A question may look like one your child has met before because it is the same type.

What does the practice add over the films?

Practice uses different numbers for each question type, points out the common mistake when your child makes it and records which types your child can complete independently.

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