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Quarter past and quarter to

Part of MathsTimeYear 1

What is quarter past?

When the minute hand of a clock has moved from 12 and travelled a quarter of the way around the clock to point at 3, this is quarter past the hour.

The hour hand also moves and is a quarter of the way from one number to the next one.

An analogue clock showing quarter past 7.
An illustration of a boy smiling.

On this clock, the minute hand points 3 so it is quarter past.

The hour hand points a quarter of the way past 7 so it is quarter past 7.

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What is quarter to?

When the minute hand of a clock has moved from 12 and travelled three quarters of the way around the clock to point at 9, this is quarter to the hour.

The hour hand also moves and is three quarters of the way from one number to the next one.

An analogue clock showing quarter to 5.
An illustration of a young girl pointing to the left.

On this clock, the minute hand points to 9 so it is quarter to.

The hour hand points three quarters of the way past 4 so it is quarter to 5.

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Watch: Quarter of an hour

Watch this clip from ±«Óătv Teach which shows examples of activities which take a quarter of an hour – like eating lunch or walking to school.

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Example

Can you match the clocks below with these times?

  • quarter past 6
  • quarter past 9
  • quarter to 2
Three clocks showing different quarter to or quarter past times.

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An illustration of a young boy smiling and a bubble that says 'top tip'

Top tip

Check the minute hand first. If the minute hand is on the 3 this means it is quarter past.

If the minute hand is on the 9 this means it is quarter to.

An illustration of a young boy smiling and a bubble that says 'top tip'
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An illustration of a young girl thinking with two clocks and a two question marks.

Activity 1

Keep looking at a clock throughout the day and practise telling the time.

Look for things you do when it is quarter past or quarter to the hour. You could keep a diary of your day.

Remember, the minute hand points at 3 when it is quarter past, and at 9 when it is quarter to.

An illustration of a young girl thinking with two clocks and a two question marks.
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Activity 2

Have a go at telling the time with this quiz!

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Train with the Karate Cats to become an expert in addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, place value and more!

Karate Cats Maths game
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