The object of the study is the elements of combinatorics at the comprehensive secondary school. The aim of the article is to improve the methodological system of teaching elements of combinatorics at the comprehensive secondary school. The article discusses methodological issues and problems of studying combinatorics elements in the process of teaching mathematics. The methodological features of studying combinatorics elements at the comprehensive secondary school are identified and characterized, their role in the course of mathematics from the point of view of improving the effectiveness of learning is considered. The methods and methodical techniques of teaching combinatorial material, which were previously tested in our educational process, are presented. The possibilities and expediency of their application in connection with the age peculiarities of students are substantiated. Methodological guidelines for teaching individual topics of combinatorics are given. Within the framework of teaching each topic, interesting tasks of applied significance are presented. Effective methods of their solution are given. The presented tasks have been tested for years in our teaching practice. In the process of teaching the elements of combinatorics, methods of cooperative learning, mathematical modeling, graphical modeling, coding, methods that promoting inter- and intra-subject connections were used.