Rounding is not always about following the usual “5 or more, round up” rule. In some problems, you must decide whether to round up or down based on what makes sense in the situation.

This often appears in real-life contexts where answers must be practical or realistic. The key idea is to think about what the number represents.

Examples:

• If you need 3.2 litres of paint, you must round up to 4 litres, because you cannot buy less than what is required.
• If a bus can carry 50 people and 123 people are travelling, you need 3 buses, not 2.46.
• If a journey takes 2.7 hours and you are asked for the number of full hours completed, you would round down to 2.

You should be able to:

• Interpret what the answer represents
• Decide whether rounding up or down is sensible
• Explain your choice clearly

Choosing how to round correctly is about understanding the problem, not just applying a rule.