- Define and explain Six-Figure Grid References in your own words
- Use key terms such as eastings accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
This lesson focuses on Six-Figure Grid References: give precise locations by dividing each grid square into tenths.
Give precise locations by dividing each grid square into tenths.
Key ideas
Six figures give 100-metre precision
To be more precise, divide the 1 km square into tenths. The extra digits estimate how far across and up the square the feature lies — a six-figure reference pinpoints a 100 m by 100 m square. Estimate the third and sixth digits carefully; they are the ones most people get wrong.
Along the corridor, then up the stairs
Grid references always give eastings first, then northings. Imagine walking along a corridor (across the map) before climbing stairs (up the map). A four-figure reference like 4738 names the 1 km square whose south-west corner is at easting 47 and northing 38.
Key term — eastings: The vertical grid lines on a map, numbered from west to east — read these first in a grid reference.
A church stands inside the 1 km square with south-west corner 47 east, 38 north. Within the square it sits about three-tenths of the way across and seven-tenths of the way up. What is its six-figure grid reference?
Write the easting of the square's left edge: 47. Add the tenths across: 3, giving 473. Write the northing of the square's bottom edge: 38. Add the tenths up: 7, giving 387. Combine eastings then northings: 473387.
Answer: 473387.
- Writing a four-figure reference when six are needed Four figures only name the whole 1 km square. If the question asks for a specific building, you need the extra precision of six figures.
- Giving northings before eastings It must be eastings first — 'along the corridor, then up the stairs'. Reversing them points to a completely different square.
Practice
It identifies a 100 m by 100 m square.
A 1 km by 1 km square.
Eastings come first, then northings.
1 cm = 500 m, so 6 cm = 3 km.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "eastings"?
Contours on a map are packed very closely together. What does this tell you about the slope?
On a 1:25,000 map, what real distance does 8 cm represent?
- Six-Figure Grid References: give precise locations by dividing each grid square into tenths.
- Six figures give 100-metre precision: To be more precise, divide the 1 km square into tenths.
- northings: The horizontal grid lines on a map, numbered from south to north — read these second.
- Watch out for: writing a four-figure reference when six are needed