What is in the OC Mathematical Reasoning test?

Your child has a little over a minute for each question. Mathematical Reasoning has 35 multiple-choice questions in 40 minutes, and is worth 33.3% of the test. These are the Department's current figures for the opportunity class test. This page is for families whose child sits the 2027 test in Year 4, for Year 5 entry in 2028. If the Department changes the format, we will update this page.

• Every Mathematical Reasoning question is multiple choice with five possible answers. A wrong option often matches the answer you get from a common slip, so it can look right at first glance.
• Calculators are not allowed in any part of the test. Every sum is done in your child's head or on paper, so practise working by hand.
• Each student is given two A4 sheets of paper for working out at the start of the test, and can ask for more. Answers go into the computer; the paper is only for working.

This section has the most questions of the three, so there is the most to get through in the 40 minutes. A child who spends several minutes on one hard question loses time that easier questions needed. Skipping a question and coming back to it is worth practising. How the three sections fit into one morning is on how the OC test works.

It covers the maths your child already learns in primary school, used to solve problems. Mathematical Reasoning is based on maths concepts your child already learns at school. No extra maths study is needed. The questions draw on concepts from the NSW curriculum up to Year 4, and the Department says students do not need extra knowledge.

The word “reasoning” is the key. The questions use ideas a Year 3 or Year 4 child knows, such as place value, times tables, simple fractions, shapes, time and money. What makes them harder is that your child has to work out what to do, often in a few steps, rather than follow a method they were shown.

The Department does not publish a topic list for this section. Its practice tests are the clearest guide to what the questions look like.

Most problems need more than one step, and many are built around a picture, a table or a pattern. The table below is our own description of the shapes these problems tend to take, with a way to approach each. It is not a Department list and it does not copy any test questions.

The same habits help with all of them: read the whole question, notice the units, draw or jot on paper, and check the answer against the question before choosing.

It looks like finding the rule, checking it, then using it. Here is a question we made up ourselves to show the thinking. It is not from the Department or from any real test.

The sums here are small. What the question tests is whether your child notices the shared sides and counts the steps carefully. Talking a problem through aloud like this is a good way to build that habit.

The number of questions and the time are the same, but OC maths counts for a bigger share of the result and sits at a Year 4 level. That is because the OC test has three sections where the selective test has four. The OC test has 3 sections (Reading, Thinking Skills and Mathematical Reasoning). Unlike the selective test, there is no Writing section.

If your child may sit both tests, the selective Mathematical Reasoning page covers the Year 6 version, and OC vs selective compares the two tests as a whole.

The Department publishes its own OC practice tests, and they are the place to start. The Department offers 2 types of practice test: online computer-based tests and PDF tests.

• The online practice tests simulate the real test, so your child can get used to the test software and its tools.
• In the online practice tests each response is worth 1 mark; questions that ask for several responses are worth more.
• The Department publishes 3 PDF sample tests, each with Reading, Mathematical Reasoning and Thinking Skills.
• The PDF practice tests come from older paper-based versions of the test, so they do not reflect the current format.
• For students with disability, practice materials are available in large print, black-and-white or braille.

Use the online test to get used to the screen and the pace, and the PDF questions for extra problems to talk through on paper. Find both on the Department's OC practice test page.

The other two sections have their own pages: OC Reading and OC Thinking Skills, which also involves problem solving. For when the 2027 test is held, check the OC test dates.

The Department says no: coaching or tutoring for the placement test is not necessary.

This section uses maths your child already does at school. Steady practice with times tables and working by hand, talking through a few problems, and a look at the online practice test so the screen isn't new on the day all match what the Department describes. For everything else about the opportunity class test, start at the OC guide, and see how we check our facts.