Reading a table

Reading a table means using its title, headings and units to find and interpret specific values. The title tells you what the table is about: the organisation, the data and the time period. The table below is titled Oakfield School charity fun run, money raised in May, so you know it shows one school's fundraising during one month.

Finding one value

The row headings name each item, such as a class, and the column headings name each field, such as sponsor money or donations. To read a value, find the row for the item and the column for the field, then read the cell where they meet. Here, the donations for class 8B sit in the 8B row and the Donations (£) column, so the value is £60. Without the headings, 60 could mean anything.

Units and comparisons

Always check the units, because they change what a number means: 60 in a column headed Donations (£) is £60, but 60 in a column headed Mass (kg) is 60 kg. To compare values, compare cells in the same column; 8B received £60 in donations and 8A received £45, so 8B received £15 more. Use a total row to check that a column adds up: £120 + £95 = £215. Missing entries, mixed units and vague headings such as “Amount” make a table hard to read accurately, because you cannot tell what the numbers represent or compare them fairly.