Concept 2 of 9
The Tally Table: Organising the Counts
Today's big idea
A tally table gives every row its own label, marks and total, so rows can be compared.
Adding the row totals gives the grand total, so nothing gets counted twice.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
One tally row tells you how many dogs there are. A table of rows tells you dogs against cats against fish, and which of them is winning.
💡 Here's the trick
A tally table gives every category its own row: a label, its marks, and a total. Working out each row total turns scratches into numbers you can compare, and adding those totals gives the grand total.
🪄 How to do it
- 1.Take one row at a time in the picture above and count its closed bundles in fives.
- 2.Add that row's loose marks to get its total.
- 3.Add all the row totals together for the grand total.
✍️ Try it
A travel survey reads Bus ||||/ ||||/ , Walk ||||/ ||| , Cycle ||||/ . What is the grand total, and how many more come by bus than by cycle?
Bus comes to 10, walk to 8 and cycle to 5, so the grand total is 23 children. Bus beats cycle by 10 take away 5, which is 5.
⚠️ Watch out
A question asking how many MORE wants a subtraction, not a total. Adding the two rows when you were asked to compare them is the commonest slip here, and both answers will be sitting in the options.
🌟 Why this matters
Any time a class votes on something, a tally table is what goes up on the board. A shopkeeper uses one for stock, and a doctor's surgery uses one to count who came in each day.
Exam tip: Fill in the whole total column before you answer anything, because nearly every question underneath needs those totals.
Watch me solve one
Quanta solves it
“Watch how I think through one of these — then you try.”
THE PROBLEM
“Tally row: |||| |||| |||| |. What is the row total?”
- 1
Count bundles in 5s
Three complete bundles = 15.
- 2
Add loose marks
One loose mark after the bundles = 1.
- 3
Sum
15 + 1 = 16
- 4
Row total ✓
16
Now you try one — same steps, different story 👇
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Each row of tallies has 5-bundles + extras. Count bundles in 5s, add the extras. Then sum all rows for the grand total.
What is the Cats row total? (the highlighted row)
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
A tally table's three rows total 8, 10 and 3. A fourth row is added and the grand total becomes 27. What is the fourth row's total?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: The Pictograph
1 🍎 might equal 5 fruits, read the key first.