UK Edition: Splitting the Bill: Service Charge, Tips and Percent, SEND, KS4 and Post-16

A money set for KS4 and post 16 SEND learners about paying for a meal out the UK way: reading a bill, spotting an optional 12.5% service charge or "service not included", working out 10%, and splitting the bill evenly or by who ordered what.

Why I made this

Young people watch adults pay in restaurants all the time, but nobody explains the bill. Splitting it, and working out whether to tip, come up the first time a group of mates goes out for a meal. A couple of simple tricks, like finding 10 percent first, turn it into maths they can do at the table without a calculator.

What's included

• Teacher page with a short note on the UK details

• Words to know: 10 key words with pictures (bill, VAT, service charge, optional, tip, percent, total, split evenly, pay separately, card machine)

• 3 restaurant bills in £ with VAT included (one with a service charge, one without, one with separate orders) and a tipping tricks card with a short UK tipping guide

• 12 Level A questions with pictures and three choices

• The same 12 questions at Level B, with open answers and room to show working

• A real life task: split a group bill with a service charge four ways, then work it out again with the service charge removed and a 10% tip

• Answer key that shows where to find every answer

Two levels, same questions

Level A suits learners who need visual support and choices. Level B suits learners ready to write and show working. Because the questions match, the whole group can work from the same documents and go through the answers together.

How I use it

Do the 10% trick on the board with lots of quick examples before anyone looks at a bill. The "What if?" part of the task starts a good conversation about when it is fair to ask for a service charge to be taken off.

Who it is for

KS4, sixth form, FE college and post 16 SEND groups, learners on SEN Support, and supported internship or independent living programmes.

Please note

All restaurants and prices are made up. Tipping is a choice in the UK; the set says so plainly.

What you download: one printable PDF, A4, answer key included. Licence: single teacher or setting.

Written by Jeremy D. Gooch, a teacher with 20+ years in education. Part of the Functional Life Skills UK series from The Transition Cliff.

Keywords: SEND, EHCP, Preparing for Adulthood, KS4, Post 16, splitting the bill, service charge, tipping, percentages, money, restaurant, life skills, functional maths, functional skills, Entry Level, independent living