A data question gives a timetable, graph or table, and your child answers from what's printed, reading the labels before the numbers. Children in Year 5 now sit ASET Quantitative Reasoning on 6 March 2027.
Before your child answers, ask them to say in a few words what the table or graph is about. The handbook says Quantitative Reasoning asks children to look at information carefully, find patterns and relationships, solve problems, and spot similarities and differences. A data question puts careful looking first.
It's the third of the four tests. There are 35 questions in 35 minutes, so finding the right row quickly matters as much as the sum.
These three are our own, in the ASET style: a bus timetable, a library graph and a sports table with gaps. Each shows the answer and the working. Read them together and ask your child to point to the row or the point on the graph each step uses.
Worked explanation 1
Here is part of a bus timetable. Ruby gets to the Park Street stop at 8:20 am. What is the earliest time she can arrive at the Library?
Stop
Bus 1
Bus 2
Bus 3
Station
7:50 am
8:15 am
8:40 am
Park Street
8:02 am
8:27 am
8:52 am
Library
8:14 am
8:39 am
9:04 am
AA.
8:14 am
BB.
8:32 am
CC.
9:04 am
DD.
8:39 am
Answer: D
Answer: D
Find the first bus that reaches Park Street after 8:20 am. Bus 1 has already gone (8:02 am), so Ruby catches Bus 2 at 8:27 am, which reaches the Library at 8:39 am. 8:32 am is tempting because it adds the 12-minute trip to 8:20, but Ruby has to wait for the bus first.
Worked explanation 2
The graph shows how many people were inside a town library at each hour on one Saturday. Between which two times did the number of people go up the most?
AA.
11 am and 12 pm
BB.
10 am and 11 am
CC.
2 pm and 3 pm
DD.
1 pm and 2 pm
Answer: B
Answer: B
Find the change between each pair of times and look only at the rises. The number went up by 6, 16, 6 and 4 people, so the biggest rise was 16, from 10 am to 11 am. 2 pm to 3 pm is tempting because it is an equally big change, but the number of people fell then.
Worked explanation 3
Every child in a sports club plays exactly one sport. The table shows how many girls and boys play each sport, but some numbers are missing. Also, 5 more boys play soccer than play tennis. How many girls play tennis?
Sport
Girls
Boys
Total
Swimming
?
12
?
Tennis
?
?
24
Soccer
11
?
?
Total
40
35
75
AA.
10
BB.
14
CC.
15
DD.
9
Answer: C
Answer: C
Start with the boys, where the extra fact helps. Tennis and soccer boys together are 35 − 12 = 23, and soccer has 5 more, so 9 boys play tennis and 14 play soccer. Tennis has 24 children, so 24 − 9 = 15 girls. 10 is tempting if you give the 5 extra boys to tennis instead of soccer.
Read the question line, then the labels, then only the rows that matter. That order works because supervisors can't explain a question or say what a word means, so the headings are your child's only guide to what each number means. These steps are ours, taken from the working above.
Read the question line first
Know exactly what you are looking for, such as the earliest arrival or the biggest rise, before reading the table.
Read the labels
Check the row and column headings, the axes and the units. A misread heading gives an answer that looks right but isn't.
Mark only what you need
Put a finger or a pencil tick on the rows that matter, and ignore the rest.
Write the changes down
For a graph, write the change between each pair of points, with a plus or a minus.
Fill gaps where one number is missing
In a table with blanks, start where a row or column has only one gap, or where an extra fact helps.
Each tempting option in our data questions comes from reading too fast. After you read them together, ask which slip below might catch your child, then watch for it on the next table.
Skipping a real-life step. In the bus question, 8:32 am adds the trip time to 8:20, but Ruby has to wait for the bus at 8:27 am first.
A big change in the wrong direction. In the library graph, 2 pm to 3 pm is a big change, but the number of people fell. The question asks about a rise.
Putting an extra fact in the wrong row. In the sports table, 10 comes from giving the 5 extra boys to tennis instead of soccer. Reread which row the extra fact is about.
How can we practise it at home?
Use the tables already in your week; they cost nothing. The handbook suggests about a minute per question, so aim for quick reading that never skips the labels.
Plan a trip. Use a real bus or train timetable and ask which service gets you somewhere by a set time.
Weather and sport. Read a temperature graph or a sports ladder together and ask when it rose most, or who is ahead by how much.
Fill the gaps. Draw a small table of totals, rub out a few numbers and let your child rebuild them.
Say the units. Ask your child to name what each number means before using it.
Practice test 1 is free, with a full Quantitative Reasoning test timed like the real one, so you'll see if your child still reads every label at that pace. More worked questions across every skill: ASET quantitative reasoning sample questions.
