Tips and advice for the numeracy test

Watch this video. It's a great introduction and explanation about what to expect and how to prepare for and pass the numeracy test.

There are a lot of resources available for you to get ready to sit the numeracy entry test. The test is 20 questions long. Some are calculations and some are word problems. You are not allowed to use a calculator to help you, but you can use pen and paper.

The questions are about decimals, fractions and percentages. There are several reasons for this: the Teaching Council requires that the test is set at University Entrance level and these topics are key to numeracy credits at this level. They are the key part of Level 4 in our mathematics curriculum, which is the level set for Years 7 and 8, and they are internationally recognised as essential for functional numeracy for adults.

There are no questions about geometry, measurement, statistics, probability or algebra involving letters.

This list of web resources provides you with lots of revision and explanation. Each site has both videos with explanations and worked examples, opportunities to practice and revision materials.

The first site, Pathways Awarua, is a wonderful resource developed in Aotearoa for adult learners. It is an interactive teaching and practice tool that you can sign up for. It has interactives to teach you, lots of self-marking activities and word problems to try. Sign up here.

Use the numeracy pathway. For this test you only need to look at the units on fractions, decimals and percentages. 

Khan Academy

This set of sites has animated video explanations and practice interactives. They are from the USA, so some things like tax rates are different, but the principles of the maths are the same.

Bitesize 

These sites are developed in the UK. As above, that means some things are different but the principles still work.

This is an extra video on finding fractions of a quantity, in case you need extra practice