The invention discloses a selective flocculation-reverse flotation ash content decreasing method for ultrafine-grained sub-bituminous coal. The method is a method that preselection is conducted in a conventional sub-bituminous coal reverse flotation method and comprises the steps that firstly, sodium hexametaphosphate is added, and size mixing, dispersing and stirring are conducted; secondly, dextrin is sequentially added to serve as an inhibitor, and stirring is conduced; thirdly, a non-ionic polymeric flocculant (PAM) is added, and stirring is conducted; fourthly, a foaming agent methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) is added, and stirring is conducted; and fifthly, a collecting agent compound ammonium salt is added, and air inflating and bubble scraping are conducted simultaneously. According to the method, under the condition of the same collecting agent, the ash content of clean coal can be effectively decreased, consumption of the collecting agent is reduced, the reverse flotation separation efficiency of the sub-bituminous coal is improved, and the purposes of decreasing the ash content of the ultrafine-grained sub-bituminous coal and improving the quality of the ultrafine-grained sub-bituminous coal are achieved.