St.

Olave’s Mathematics Entrance Test

Syllabus and Sample Questions

The Mathematics Test Paper will consist of around 30 questions of generally

increasing difficulty. The paper will last 1 hour. The basis of the syllabus will be the
concepts within the National Curriculum up to and including Level 4 standard.
However, the problems set will often involve manipulation and application of these
concepts in what may be unfamiliar situations. Such questions seek to test candidates’
problem-solving abilities.

Entrance Test Topic Details

National Curriculum Topics
Section
Number * Addition and subtraction of whole numbers and decimals.
* Multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimal
by whole numbers less than 10 and powers of 10.
* Simple calculations involving money, time, metric length
and mass.
* Simple fractions and percentage calculations.
Algebra * Types of number : primes, factors, multiples, squares.
* Numerical patterns and sequences.
* Simple algebra including formulae in words and finding
unknown values by logical deduction.
* Positive co-ordinates, i.e. those in the first quadrant.
Shape, Space * Use of simple 2-D nets to make 3-D objects, e.g. cube.
And Measure * Congruence, line and rotational symmetry.
* Reading scales and selection of appropriate units.
* Perimeter and area of rectangles and squares.
* Simple volumes by counting cubes.
Handling Data * Construct and use simple frequency tables for discrete data.
* Represent and understand data represented using frequency
diagrams and line graphs.
* Mode and median of discrete data.
* Simple concepts of probability.

Sample Question Paper

Within this booklet is about two-thirds (i.e. 40-45 minutes) of a photo-reduced past
paper. Answers are provided on a separate insert. The following instructions are the
same as those for the actual test paper.

- Write in pencil.
- No calculators are allowed.
- Work through the paper carefully without rushing.
- Show your workings in the space provided with each question.
- If you cannot do a question go on to the next one.
_____________________________________________________________

1. 47 + 2509 + 716 =

Answer: ____________________
________________________________________________________________

2. 1035
- 496
______
Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

3. Write, in figures, ten thousand and twenty-eight.

Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

4. 392
x 6
_____
Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

5. 4221 ÷ 7 =
Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

6. Which of these numbers is the smallest?

1 0.205 0.025 2 0.04

4 5

Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

7. Find three quarters of 14.

Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________

8. Find the sum of 5.07 and 0.036.

Answer: _____________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

9. A programme on TV started at 11.55 am and lasted for 1¼ hours. At

what time did the programme end?

Answer: _____________________

________________________________________________________________

10. Samir has a quarter of a cake to share with two of his friends. What
fraction of the whole cake does each of the three boys get?

Answer: _____________________

________________________________________________________________

11. Two children are aged 9 years 3 months and 5 years 10 months. What is
the difference between their ages?

Answer: __________years _________months

________________________________________________________________

12. Fill in the cost of the things on this shopping list.

2 tins of baked beans at 47p each __________________

18 bread rolls at 56p per pack of 6 __________________

1.5 kg of potatoes at 72p per kg __________________

TOTAL COST __________________

If you paid for the shopping with a £10 note, how much change would
you be given?

Answer: £___________________

________________________________________________________________
13.
Two parcels are weighed one at a time. The
arrows show their weights in grams.

(a) Write down the weights of the parcels.

Answers: ______________________ g

_______________________ g

(b) What is the total weight of the two

parcels in kilograms?

Answer: _______________________ kg

___________________________________________________________________________

14. The graph shows the number of pupils in the school dining room during one lunch time.

Number of
pupils

(a) When did the lunch break start?

Answer: _________________________

(b) What is the largest number of pupils in the dining room?

Answer: _________________________

(c) How many pupils are there in the dining room at 1.45 p.m.?

Answer: ________________________

(d) There are 40 pupils still in the dining room when afternoon lessons begin.
At what time do afternoon lessons begin?

Answer: ________________________
________________________________________________________________

15. The 10 street lamps along one side of a straight piece of road are 80 metres apart.
What is the distance between the first lamp and the last one?

Answer: ________________________m
___________________________________________________________________________

16. Peter is making dice. The diagram below shows the net of one of them. When the
edges of the net are stuck together, the number of dots on opposite faces adds up to
seven.

Write down the number of dots there should be on the

faces marked A, B and C.

Answer A: __________________________________

Answer B: __________________________________

Answer C: __________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

17. A new office block is going to be 20 storeys high and all the storeys will be of the
same height. So far 6 storeys have been built and they reach a height of 27 metres.

(a) What fraction of the block has been built?

Answer: __________________

(b) What will be the block’s total height?

Answer: _________________ m
___________________________________________________________________________

18. The perimeter of a rectangle is 22 centimetres and its area is 24 square centimeters.
What are the lengths of its sides?

Answers: ________________ cm _________________ cm

___________________________________________________________________________

19. A shopkeeper wishes to write the words

WINTER SALE
on the inside of his shop window so that people outside the shop can read it.

What should he write? Put your answer in the space below.

___________________________________________________________________________

20. If each bag of mints weighs 250 g, how heavy is the cake?

Answer: ___________________
___________________________________________________________________________

21.

One of these squares is different

from the others.

Put a ring round the one that is

different.
___________________________________________________________________________

22. Ben plants a seed and an unusual plant starts to grow. Every morning Ben finds that
the plant is one and a half times as tall as it was the morning before. On Tuesday
morning the plant is 12 cm tall.

(a) How tall will it be on Wednesday morning?

Answer: ______________________ cm

(b) How tall was the plant on Monday morning?

Answer: ______________________ cm

(c) How tall will the plant be on Friday morning?

Answer: ______________________ cm

___________________________________________________________________________

23. On the deck of a small car ferry to a Scottish Island there are three lanes
marked on the deck, each 20 metres long, as shown in the diagram below.

LANE 1

LANE 2

LANE 3

Waiting to be loaded are the following vehicles:

A. A camper 8 metres long. E. A coach 9 metres long.

B. A minivan 5 metres long. F. A car 4 metres long.
C. A truck 10 metres long. G. A car with trailer 6 metres long.
D. A minibus 7 metres long. H. A lorry 11 metres long.

Write the letters A to H on the plan, showing a possible loading arrangement for the
vehicles.
___________________________________________________________________________

24. Two trains are running, on separate tracks, round a model railway layout. One
completes a circuit every 40 seconds and the other every 55 seconds. The trains
start together at the station. How long, in minutes and seconds, will it be before
they are at the station together again?

Answer: ______________minutes ______________ seconds

___________________________________________________________________________

25. This is a picture of a closed box and two cubes.

(a) How many cubes of side 2 cm will fit inside the box?

Answer: _________________________

(b) How many cubes of side 3 cm will fit inside the box?

Answer: _________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

26. Raj has designed a number machine. Two numbers go in and an answer comes out.
Two examples of what the machine does are given below

Describe in words what the number machines does to the two numbers put into it.

_______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
 Sample Question Paper Answer Sheet
1. 3272
2. 539
3. 10028
4. 2352
5. 603
6. 0.025
7. 10½
8. 5.106
9. 1.10 p.m.
10. 1
12
11. 3 years 5 months
12. 0.94
1.68
1.08
3.70
Change = £6.30
13. (a) 480 g, 750 g (b) 1230 g = 1.23 kg
14. (a) 12.20 (b) 280 (c) 140 (d) 1.55
15. 720 metres
16. A:5 B:1 C:4
17. (a) 3 (b) 90 m
10
18. 8 cm, 3 cm
19.

20. 750 g
21. Middle diagram in the bottom row.
22. (a) 18 cm (b) 8 cm (c) 40.5 cm
23. For example Lane 1 E H
Lane 2 A B D
Lane 3 C F G
24. 440 seconds = 7 minutes 20 seconds.
25. (a) 45 (b) 12
26. Missing numbers : 37 and 7
Multiply the two numbers and then add one.