Mental Arithmetic Paper 9
Mental Arithmetic Paper 9 continues the series of timed mental arithmetic practice papers, again drawing on the four operations, fractions, percentages, and time or money conversions used in the mental maths sections of GL Assessment and CEM/CSSE 11+ tests, and again allowing no calculator and only a short pause to answer each question.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Refresh the conversions you are likely to need before the paper starts, such as 100 pence in a pound, 60 minutes in an hour, and 1,000 grams in a kilogram.
- Listen for units as carefully as numbers; a question that mixes pence and pounds, or minutes and hours, expects you to convert before you calculate.
- Convert to the smaller or more convenient unit first, for example changing pounds to pence, so the rest of the calculation uses only whole numbers.
- Carry out each step of the question in order, holding the result of the first step in your head before applying the second.
- Give your final answer in the unit the question actually asks for, converting back at the end if you changed units earlier.
- If time is short, prioritise getting the correct unit over refining an approximate final number, since an answer in the wrong unit is usually marked wrong outright.
Worked example
A mental arithmetic question, read aloud once: 'Add 27 to 35, then divide the result by 2. What is your final answer?'
- Start with the addition: 27 + 35.
- 27 + 35 = 62.
- Now divide the result by 2: 62 / 2.
- 62 / 2 = 31.
- The final answer is 31.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What is 15 less than 92?Show answer
Answer: 77
Q2Multiply 7 by 12.Show answer
Answer: 84
Q3What is two-thirds of 27?Show answer
Answer: 18
Q4Add 46 and 38.Show answer
Answer: 84
Q5What is 9 times 5, minus 6?Show answer
Answer: 39
Q6Divide 132 by 12.Show answer
Answer: 11
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
This is question 6 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'Take 9 away from 20, then multiply your answer by 6. What is your answer?'
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This is question 14 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'A crate holds 108 oranges packed equally into 9 layers. If 5 oranges are removed from the top layer, how many oranges remain in that layer?'
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
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This is question 20 of a mental arithmetic paper, read aloud once: 'A train leaves at 14:15 and the journey takes 1 hour 40 minutes. At what time does it arrive?'
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Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 2 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the mental arithmetic paper 9 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 18 of 11+ Maths Workbook 1, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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