Recognise when fractions can be simplified, and use common factors to simplify fractions (4)

Description

Pupils should be able to simplify fractions:

• where the numerator is a factor of the denominator (and therefore also the highest common factor),
• where the numerator is not a factor of the denominator, resulting in a simplified fraction that is a non-unit fraction,
• where the numerator and denominator share several common factors, so they should divide the numerator and denominator by the highest common factor to express a fraction in its simplest form, but that the simplification can also be performed in more than 1 step.

Language focus “To convert a fraction to its simplest form, divide both the numerator and the denominator by their highest common factor”.