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Primary 6 · Chapter 11

Primary 6 Patterns Question Types

Look for what repeats or what grows. Try a repeating pattern first, then use the rule in a growing figure to work forwards and backwards.

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

The Patterns chapter

Watch · The introduction

Start with the first idea

Watch the explanation, then try a question for yourself.

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

Find the repeating unit

Try solving it yourself before opening the solution.

A row of 48 flags is hung along a corridor. The colours repeat in the same order all the way along: red, red, blue, yellow, red, red, blue, yellow, and so on. How many red flags are there in the row?

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. one unit = red, red, blue, yellow = 4 flags
  2. number of units = 48 ÷ 4 = 12
  3. red flags in one unit = 2
  4. red flags = 12 × 2 = 24

Ans: 24

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Question 2 of 3

Follow a growing figure

Try solving it yourself before opening the solution.

Identical triangles with all three sides 6 cm long are laid in a row, each new triangle sharing one whole side with the triangle before it. Figure 1 is a single triangle, figure 2 is a four-sided figure and figure 3 is a trapezium. One figure in this pattern has a perimeter of 486 cm. How many triangles is it made of?

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. figure 1 shows 3 sides, so its perimeter = 3 × 6 = 18
  2. figure 2 shows 4 sides, so its perimeter = 4 × 6 = 24
  3. figure 3 shows 5 sides, so its perimeter = 5 × 6 = 30
  4. difference = 24 - 18 = 6
  5. perimeter added after figure 1 = 486 - 18 = 468
  6. number of gaps = 468 ÷ 6 = 78
  7. number of triangles = 78 + 1 = 79

Ans: 79

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Question 3 of 3

Work back from the perimeter

Try solving it yourself before opening the solution.

Identical triangles with all three sides the same length are laid in a row, each new triangle sharing one whole side with the triangle before it. The figure made of 14 triangles has a perimeter of 240 cm. Find the perimeter of one small triangle.

cm

Show the step-by-step solution
  1. figure 1 shows 3 sides on the outside
  2. figure 2 shows 4 sides, figure 3 shows 5 sides
  3. each new triangle adds one side to the outside
  4. sides showing on figure 14 = 3 + (14 - 1) × 1 = 16
  5. one side = 240 ÷ 16 = 15
  6. perimeter of one triangle = 3 × 15 = 45

Ans: 45 cm

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Continue with the method you need

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

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The chapter · Two question types

Primary 6 patterns 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. A pattern that grows

    11.1

  2. A pattern that repeats

    11.2

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

Every paper includes a pattern question.

Patterns are not a topic with a chapter of its own to revise. The syllabus introduces number sequences in Primary 1 and shape patterns in Primary 2. By Primary 6, patterns are part of the problem-solving heuristics. We model this chapter against top school papers, and every one of them sets a pattern question: Paper 1 asks for the next figure or a count a few steps along, and Paper 2 asks for a figure far enough out that drawing it is not an option.

Higher-mark questions often combine patterns with another topic.

Close to half of Paper 2 questions combine two or more topics. A growing figure made of squares or matchsticks may ask for both a count and an area or perimeter. Practice questions are not labelled by type, so children must choose the methods they need.

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.

  • Use the table to record the counts and changesUse the table printed with the question. Complete any blank cells and use the values to find the change. If no table is supplied, write only the counts needed for the calculation.
  • Check two changes before using a constant-step ruleCheck the change across at least two consecutive pairs before using a constant-step rule. The films write the repeated step in orange.
  • A far figure is counted in steps, and the steps are one fewer than the figure numberCalculate a distant figure as the first figure plus one step for every gap after it. Use the number of gaps, which is one less than the figure number because figure 1 comes before the first step.
  • A leftover is written as a leftover, never as a decimalWhere a pattern repeats, the working divides the total by the size of one unit and writes the result as a whole number of units and a leftover. Read the leftover from the start of the repeating unit, one item at a time.

Parents · Asked and answered

Questions parents ask

Is this the PSLE syllabus?

The question types follow the latest MOE Primary Mathematics syllabus. The syllabus's own words are used throughout, pattern, figure, number sequence, rule and unit, and nothing is brought back from secondary school to name them.

Does my child need algebra for this?

No. The working is a table, a repeated difference and a division, and it stays ordinary arithmetic all the way to a figure nobody has drawn. Your child has met patterns before, as number sequences from Primary 1 and shape patterns from Primary 2; what is new here is being asked for a figure too far along to reach by drawing.

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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