Part 1: Introduction to the QTS Numeracy Test

so what is the qts numeracy test and why

do you have to take it back in the year

2000 the government decided that all

newly qualified teachers needed to

demonstrate a good understanding of

basic maths so they introduced a test to

prove

it the bad news is that you have to pass

the test before you can qualify as a

teacher but the good news is that you

can take it as many times as you need

and the even better news is that 80% of

students pass the test the first time

and nearly everyone passes it eventually

now this isn't a test of the maths

you're going to teach in the classroom

but of the functional maths you'll need

as a practicing teacher such as

scheduling school trips planning

timetables or tracking pupil performance

if you're a math specialist you

shouldn't find the test too difficult

but the style the test could take you by

surprise so it's worth doing some

preparation and if you've waved goodbye

to maths with a grade C GCSE some years

ago it's certainly a good idea to dust

up on your maths I got a B at GCSE in

maths um and then I thought oh that's it

I'm never going to have to do it again

and um I suppose I'm one of these people

that if ever you have to work something

out I just kind of step back and let let

my friends do it um just cuz I hate

maths I really do I've never never

really enjoyed it at school um so then I

thought oh that's it no more maths ever

again until the qts skills test and I

thought oh no I passed my literacy first

time and my ICT first time but my

numeracy was much more of a challenge it

took me five attempts to pass it so

what's the test like to start with it's

all done online at a computer although

there are paper based versions for those

with special needs doing the test on a

computer may seem all at first but

computer-based testing is becoming more

common so it's important for you to have

the same experience as your

pupils although it's an on-screen test

you can use a pen and paper to make

notes and do your workings

out you don't do the test on your own

computer nor on the one at your college

you have to go to a special test center

to take it and when you've done the test

you get your results straight away a

pass or a fail

and if you don't pass you get printed

feedback on your performance which gives

you an opportunity to have a look at

those areas that need further work

before you sit the test

again the test itself is in two sections

there's a mental arithmetic test with 12

questions and a section covering

interpreting and using statistical

information and using and applying

arithmetic with 16 on on screen

questions so that's 28 questions Al

together each question is worth one Mark

and you have 48 minutes to do the whole

test the pass Mark is

60% so you don't have to get everything

right in fact 17 right answers out of

the 28 will see you

through so let's have a quick look at

the different parts of the

test this is the mental arithmetic test

what is

643 pre-recorded voice reads the

question what is 6 and then it reads the

question again divid 0.1 then there's a

gap of 18 seconds for you to work out

the answer and enter it on the screen at

the end of the 18 seconds the onscreen

answer box disappears and the next

question starts six out of 25 pupils you

can't stop it you can't go back you

can't use a calculator but you can make

notes the next section has a mixture of

questions on General arithmetic and

interpreting

statistics these test your ability to

apply arithmetic to school scenarios

such as school trips test results

timetable planning and

budgets and how to make sense of tables

of figures and graphs and charts the

kind of educational data you're likely

to come across once you start

teaching in this part of the test you

can use a calculator but it has to be

the one provided on screen you press the

calculator button and when it pops up

you can move it around to where you want

it you can do any workings on paper but

your answer has to be entered on the

screen in some questions you just click

on the correct answer with others you

click on one or more correct answer in

some questions you type in your answer

in the box and in some questions you

point and click in the correct area of

say a table or a graph in this section

you can work at your own pace moving on

to the next question if you get stuck

and then going back if you want to have

another go at something don't get bogged

down with one question allow about 2

minutes for for each one if you spend

too long kind of deciding on um you know

one question you could get to the end of

the test and you've run out of time so

it's always best to flag them up kind of

make a guess what you think is right um

flag it and then carry on with the whole

test and get to the end so you've got

more chance of obviously you know coming

to some easier questions so that's an

overview of the numeracy test 48 minutes

to answer 12 pre-recorded mental

arithmetic questions and 16 onscreen

questions about statistics and

arithmetic and if you get 17 of them

right you've

passed good luck