How the DAT Next Generation Numerical Calculations test works
DAT Next Generation is a set of five separate ability tests, and the employer chooses which ones you sit. It has two number tests. This one, Numerical Calculations, is about doing the sum correctly. The other, Numerical Sequences, is about finding the rule in a series.
TalentLens lists what the test covers: addition, subtraction, division, percentages, algebra and multiplication. It does not publish the number of options or say whether a calculator is allowed, so prepare to work on paper.
There are 15 questions and no time limit, and most people take 10 to 12 minutes. The test is adaptive, so a right answer brings a harder calculation and a wrong one an easier calculation. You must answer all 15 to receive a score.
How to get a calculation right first time
With no clock, every mark you drop here is a slip, not a shortage of time. Build the checking in.
- Estimate first. Round the numbers and get a rough size for the answer, which removes the options that are ten times out.
- Follow the order of operations: brackets, then multiplying and dividing, then adding and subtracting.
- For a percentage, decide what it is a percentage of before you touch the numbers.
- For fractions, find a common denominator before adding or subtracting, and simplify at the end.
- For an equation, do the same thing to both sides, one step at a time, then put your answer back into the original to check it.
Worked examples
- 35% of 80. Ten per cent of 80 is 8, so 30% is 24 and 5% is 4. The answer is 28. A wrong option of 2.8 would be the same digits with the decimal point misplaced, which an estimate rules out at once.
- 6 + 18 ÷ 3 × 2. Divide and multiply first, left to right: 18 ÷ 3 is 6, and 6 × 2 is 12. Then add: 6 + 12 = 18. Working strictly left to right gives 16, which is the trap.
- 3/4 + 5/8. Make the denominators match: 3/4 is 6/8. Then 6/8 + 5/8 = 11/8, which is 1 3/8.
- 4x − 7 = 21. Add 7 to both sides: 4x = 28. Divide by 4: x = 7. Check: 4 × 7 − 7 = 21.
How the test is scored
Everyone answers 15 questions, but not the same 15, so the number you get right says little. The test weighs each answer by the difficulty of its question and produces an ability score, which is reported as a percentile against a norm group the employer chooses. No pass mark is published.
Tips for the real test
- Have pen and paper ready and write every step. Mental arithmetic is where the slips happen.
- Use the time you are given. Redo each sum a second way before you confirm, for example checking a division by multiplying back.
- Brush up on percentages, fractions and one-step and two-step equations beforehand. They are what the harder questions are made of.
- Do not be thrown when the sums get harder. In an adaptive test that means your earlier answers were right.
- Finish all 15 in one sitting. An unfinished test gives no score.
Practise Numerical Calculations on CogniPrep
Our Numerical Calculations game gives you 15 generated sums with five options each, covering whole numbers, decimals, fractions, percentages and simple equations. It adapts across three difficulty levels from a middle start, has no time limit and does not let you go back. No question needs a calculator. Your result is an ability estimate with a percentile against other CogniPrep users. The five options and the difficulty levels are ours.