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In this paper we introduce higher order numerical methods for solving fractional differential equations. We use two approaches to this problem. The first approach is based on a direct discretisation of the fractional differential operator: we obtain a numerical method for solving a linear fractional differential equation with order 0<α<1. The order of convergence of the numerical method is O(h ^3−α ). Our second approach is based on discretisation of the integral form of the fractional differential equation and we obtain a fractional Adams-type method for a nonlinear fractional differential equation of any order α>0. The order of convergence of the numerical method is O(h ³) for α≥1 and O(h ^1+2α ) for 0<α≤1 for sufficiently smooth solutions. Numerical examples are given to show that the numerical results are consistent with the theoretical results.