Mental Arithmetic Paper 6
Mental Arithmetic Paper 6 continues this series of full timed mental arithmetic papers, testing the same core skills, the four operations, fractions, percentages, and time or money conversions, in the fast, no-calculator format used by GL Assessment and CEM/CSSE 11+ mental maths sections, with a fresh set of questions designed to keep recall automatic rather than memorised from an earlier paper.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Before the paper starts, refresh the common fraction-to-percentage links you will need instantly, such as a half is 50%, a quarter is 25% and a tenth is 10%, so you do not have to work these out from scratch.
- Read or listen to the whole question once before calculating, since a mental arithmetic question is often two short steps chained together, and starting the wrong step wastes the time you have.
- Work out each step of a chained question in the order it is given, holding only the running total in your head rather than every earlier number.
- Where a question mentions 'of' an amount, decide immediately whether that means a fraction, a percentage or a straightforward multiplication, since misreading this is a common error.
- Keep your working to the fewest numbers possible, jotting only what you cannot hold in your head for the next step.
- If you are unsure of an answer, give your best mental estimate rather than leaving the space blank, then move straight on to the next question.
Worked example
A mental arithmetic question, read aloud once: 'Take 19 away from 50, then multiply the result by 3. What is your final answer?'
- Start with the subtraction: 50 - 19.
- 19 is close to 20, so subtract 20 from 50 to get 30, then add back the 1 that was over-subtracted: 30 + 1 = 31.
- Now multiply the result by 3: 31 x 3.
- 31 x 3 = 93.
- The final answer is 93.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What is 6 less than 71?Show answer
Answer: 65
Q2Multiply 9 by 7.Show answer
Answer: 63
Q3What is a third of 45?Show answer
Answer: 15
Q4Add 38 and 47.Show answer
Answer: 85
Q5What is 8 times 4, plus 9?Show answer
Answer: 41
Q6Divide 108 by 9.Show answer
Answer: 12
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
This is question 2 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'Multiply 7 by 9, then subtract 8. What is your answer?'
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This is question 11 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'A baker makes 72 buns. She puts them equally onto 6 trays, then sells 5 buns from one tray. How many buns are left on that tray?'
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This is question 17 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'Find 25% of 48, then double your answer. What is your answer?'
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the mental arithmetic paper 6 worksheet pack - 9 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 12 of 11+ Maths Workbook 1, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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