How the EIAT maths section works
Thirty of the 100 questions are maths. Each gives a sum or a short problem and five answers, (a) to (e), and the fifth is always "No answer". Choose it when you have worked the question and your result is not among the first four.
NEIEP’s samples are three kinds of question: dividing with decimals, multiplying mixed numbers, and a multi-step sum where the order of operations decides the answer. Its study guide adds fractions, percentages, solving equations, manipulating formulas and basic algebraic expressions.
Whether you may use a calculator is not published. The samples are built to be done with a pencil, so prepare to work without one.
How to answer a maths question
Use the same routine on every question:
- Work the question to an answer on paper before you read the five choices.
- If your answer is there, take it. If not, redo the one step you are least sure of before anything else.
- Choose "No answer" only after that check. A near miss among the choices is usually a slip, not a sign the answer is missing.
- Brackets first, then powers, then multiplying and dividing from left to right, then adding and subtracting.
- Turn mixed numbers into single fractions before multiplying or dividing them, and simplify at the end.
Worked examples
Decimals. 7.2 ÷ 0.4 = ? (a) 1.8 (b) 18 (c) 180 (d) 0.18 (e) No answer. Move both decimal points one place to the right: 72 ÷ 4 = 18. The answer is (b).
Mixed numbers. 2 1/4 x 1 1/3 = ? (a) 2 1/12 (b) 3 (c) 3 1/12 (d) 2 1/3 (e) No answer. As fractions, 9/4 x 4/3 = 36/12 = 3. The answer is (b). Multiplying the whole numbers and the fractions separately gives 2 1/12, which is why (a) is there.
Order of operations. (18 - 3 x 4) ÷ 1.5 = ? (a) 40 (b) 10 (c) 4.5 (d) 3.6 (e) No answer. Inside the brackets, multiply first: 3 x 4 = 12, and 18 - 12 = 6. Then 6 ÷ 1.5 = 4. Four is not among (a) to (d), so the answer is (e), No answer. Working left to right inside the brackets gives 15 x 4 = 60 and 60 ÷ 1.5 = 40, which is choice (a).
Equations. If 3x + 7 = 25, what is x? Take 7 from both sides: 3x = 18. Divide by 3: x = 6.
Tips for the real test
- Practise long division with decimals and fraction arithmetic by hand until it is quick. Without a calculator, speed comes from fluency.
- Know the common conversions by heart: 1/4 = 0.25 = 25%, 1/8 = 0.125, 3/8 = 0.375, 1/5 = 0.2.
- Estimate first. If 7.2 ÷ 0.4 must be more than 7, choices below 7 are out before you start.
- Write every step. Most wrong answers among the choices are what a skipped step produces.
- Answer every question. NEIEP does not say whether a wrong answer costs marks.
Practise EIAT Mathematics on CogniPrep
Our practice is 30 questions generated fresh for each sitting, across decimals, fractions and mixed numbers, order of operations, percentages, and equations and formulas, each with five choices, the last "No answer". "No answer" is right on about one question in six, which is our own setting, because the real rate is not published. There is no calculator, and no time limit: the clock counts up, with a marker at about 18 minutes, this section’s share of the 60 minutes prep sites report for the whole paper, labelled reported, not official. You get your percentage correct against the 70% line, with the topic that let you down named when one stands out.