Three notations, one underlying amount. 3/4, 0.75 and 75% aren't three topics — they're the same number, three times.
25 August 2026 · 5 min read
Fractions, decimals and percentages are usually taught in that order, across different years, which makes it easy for a child to file them away as three separate topics with three separate sets of rules. They're not. They're three different ways of writing exactly the same amount, and genuinely understanding the connection between them is worth more than mastering any one in isolation.
Take three-quarters of something. As a fraction, it's 3/4. As a decimal, it's 0.75. As a percentage, it's 75%. All three describe the identical quantity — none of them is more "correct" than the others, they're just suited to different situations: fractions for exact parts of a whole, decimals for calculation and measurement, percentages for comparison and everyday communication.
The genuinely useful skill isn't memorising these as separate procedures — it's being comfortable moving in any direction between the three, because a real problem doesn't always hand you the representation that's easiest to work with.
A child who can convert a fraction to a percentage but freezes going the other way hasn't really grasped the connection — they've learned one direction of a process, not the underlying relationship. This shows up in genuinely practical situations: working out that a 30%-off sale price is the same as paying 7/10 of the original cost, or that a recipe using 0.5 of a cup is the same as half a cup, both rely on moving fluently between representations without treating it as a fresh calculation each time.
Ask for the same amount in all three forms, starting from whichever one is easiest for your child, and see if the other two come without much hesitation. 1/2, 0.5 and 50% is a good starting trio — genuinely secure understanding means all three feel equally obvious, not like three different facts to separately recall.
The formal connection between fractions and decimals arrives in Year 4, with percentages joining in Year 5. If you want the basics of any one on its own first, see our guides to fractions, decimals and percentages.
Grasp Maths tests conversions in both directions, not just the more common one, so a child who's only secure going from fraction to percentage — but not back again — gets that specific gap identified and addressed.
Try a free Grasp Maths practice session and see how the connection between the three gets tested properly.