Divide both the numerator and denominator by their HCF. The fraction has now been simplified. Knowing multiplication and division facts may make simplifying fractions easier. The HCF of 4 and 10 ...

Mr. Wray, who also helped write the 2010 IES report, said he has seen students make it to middle school still thinking of the numerator and denominator as separate numbers.

There's a helpful shortcut worth remembering: if your fractions already share the same denominator, you can skip straight to adding or subtracting the numerators.