This free subtraction drill with borrowing runs right in your browser. No app, no account, no download. Open it on a phone, tablet, or school computer, press Start, and practise for a few minutes. It is made for kids, parents, and teachers who want quick, focused maths practice without worksheets to print or mark.
Short, regular practice builds maths fluency faster than one long session. When a child answers a question and sees the result at once, a mistake becomes a lesson instead of a habit. Ten questions is short enough to finish before attention fades, and long enough to show real progress. A score out of 10 also gives a clear goal for the next try.
Borrowing is the step that makes subtraction hard. When the top ones digit is smaller than the bottom ones digit, you cannot just subtract. You must borrow 1 ten from the tens column, which adds 10 to the ones, and the tens column drops by 1. This drill only gives questions that need borrowing, so every question practises exactly that skill. A generic subtraction worksheet wastes half its questions on easy cases with no borrowing at all.
To use it, choose your level or table if the tool offers one, then press Start. Read the question, type your answer, and press Check answer. A correct answer adds one point. A wrong answer shows the correct answer, so you learn it right away. Press Next question for the next one. After 10 questions, the final score appears. Try again to beat it.
Take 52 minus 28. The ones say 2 minus 8, which cannot be done without borrowing. Borrow 1 ten: the 5 becomes 4, and the 2 becomes 12. Now 12 minus 8 is 4. Then 4 tens minus 2 tens is 2 tens. The answer is 24. A child who writes 36 has subtracted the smaller digit from the larger digit in each column, which is the classic borrowing mistake. This drill catches that mistake on every single question.
Always check the ones column first. If the top digit is smaller, borrow before you subtract.
Cross out the tens digit and write the new number above it, so the borrow stays visible.
Check your answer by adding: the answer plus the smaller number must give the larger number.
Common question: What is borrowing? It means taking 1 ten from the tens column to make the ones column big enough to subtract.
Common question: Why do all questions need borrowing? So practice time goes to the hard step, not to easy questions a child already knows.
Common question: What if my child keeps writing 36 for 52 minus 28? They are subtracting the smaller digit from the larger one. Practise the borrow step alone, one column at a time.
Teachers can use this tool at the start of a lesson as a five-minute warm-up, or at the end to check what stuck. Parents can use it for homework help without arguing over answers, because the tool marks each one. Because it runs in the browser, it also works on a shared classroom computer or a borrowed tablet.
Progress is easy to track with a score out of 10. Write the score and the date in a notebook, or on a classroom chart, and look for a steady climb over two weeks. A score that jumps up and down usually means one table or one step still needs work, not that the child is bad at maths. When a level feels easy, move up a level instead of repeating the same easy questions. When a level feels hard, drop back one level, rebuild confidence, and try again tomorrow.
This tool is free to use as often as you like. Bookmark it, practise a little each day, and watch the score climb. Small daily wins build confidence, and confident children enjoy maths more. Start with an easy level, move up when 10 out of 10 feels normal, and keep going.