Sudoku Academy

A standard Sudoku puzzle consists of a 9x9 grid, divided up in to 3x3 regions.

Your aim is to fill the grid with the numbers 1 to 9 so that...

There are 9 rows, each with 9 cells.

Each of the numbers 1-9 must appear once in each row, i.e. no duplicates and no repeats in any given row.

There are 9 columns, each with 9 cells.

Each of the numbers 1-9 must appear once in each column, i.e. no duplicates and no repeats in any given column.

There are 9 regions, each with 9 cells.

Each of the numbers 1-9 must appear once in each region, i.e. no duplicates and no repeats in any given region.

This is an example of a starting Sudoku puzzle - we have some given numbers already. The aim of the puzzle is to fill all the missing numbers.

A sudoku has only one solution - it's not possible to have more than one solution.

This is the same Sudoku puzzle, but it has been finished. Notice how the 3 rules of Sudoku apply to each row, column and 3x3 region?

Sudoku is a logic puzzle, you don't need to guess, there is always a way to work out what the next step should be.

This Sudoku puzzle is almost finished, can you work out the numbers that should go in the missing cells?

Were these your answers?

Did you notice that there were multiple ways to work out each missing value? You could have used the rules for uniqueness in rows, columns or regions.

If you make a mistake and insert the same number twice in a row, column or 3x3 region, we will highlight your mistake in red. Sorry!

Can you see why these are mistakes?

That's it, you now know all the rules of Sudoku!

There are 2 techniques you need to know to start solving Sudoku puzzles, Single Position and Single Candidate, you will learn these next!

As a final gift, this Sudoku puzzle is almost complete, can you finish it?