Worked example
27 October 2026
When your child is learning about averages, understanding the mode is a key part. The mode shows which number appears most often in a list. This is sometimes called the 'most popular' number. Below is a clear example to help your child see how to spot the mode in a group of numbers.
Example question
Find the mode of these numbers: 3, 5, 3, 8, 5, 3, 9
Step 1: Count how many times each number appears.
3 appears 3 times.
5 appears 2 times.
8 appears 1 time.
9 appears 1 time.
Step 2: The mode is the number that appears most often.
Step 3: The mode is 3 because it appears 3 times, more than any other number.
Now your child can recognise the mode by looking for the number that repeats most often. This skill is useful for many 11+ maths questions. If your child is ready, there are more practice questions just like this to try next.
