Order of Operations

When a calculation contains more than one operation, you must follow a strict set of rules to get the correct answer. These rules are known as the order of operations, often remembered by the acronym BODMAS (or BIDMAS). Getting this right is essential for the CSSE maths paper.

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What Is BODMAS?

Letter	Stands for	Meaning
B	Brackets	Do calculations inside brackets first
O	Orders	Powers (squares, cubes) and roots
D	Division	Divide
M	Multiplication	Multiply
A	Addition	Add
S	Subtraction	Subtract

Key rules

• Brackets always come first.
• Orders (powers and roots) come next.
• Division and Multiplication are done left to right — they have equal priority.
• Addition and Subtraction are done left to right — they also have equal priority.

Important: Division and Multiplication are at the same level. Work from left to right. The same applies to Addition and Subtraction.

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Worked Example 1: No Brackets

Calculate 3 + 4 × 5