1. Support for the Mental Maths Test
Skills Test Conference
Saturday April 6th 2019

2. Top Tips For The Mental Maths Test
Complete practice tests.
Found at
Use a whiteboard to take notes (there will be a whiteboard provided in the test).
Practice fluency of times tables.
L Greenwood March 2018

3. Tricky Areas
Money
Fractions to percentages
Dividing with decimals

4. Remember that 0.50 is the same as a half
Money Tips
If I worked 40hrs per week at £8.50 per hour, what would be my weekly wage? What is the calculation? 40 x £8.50 = 40 x £8 = £ x half (or half of 40)= £20 £320 + £20 = 340 = £340
Remember that 0.50 is the same as a half
L Greenwood March 2018

5. So can you work out this question out?
Tickets to the cinema cost £7.50. I need to buy 5 tickets, how much will this cost? Here is how to work it out: £7 x 5 (tickets) = £35 5 x half (or Half of 5) = £2.50 Total = £37.50
£7.50 x 5
Remember you can change the order when you are multiplying

6. Tips when answering fractions to percentages questions:
You need to remember these key equivalent fractions/decimal/percentages
1 2 = 0.5 (or 0.50) = 50% (50 x 2 = 100)
1 5 = 0.2 (or 0.20) = 20% (20 x 5 = 100)
1 10 = 0.1 (or 0.10) = 10% (10 x 10 = 100)
Friendly facts
Use of Cuisenaire rods to model (1/2, 1/10 and 1/5)
L Greenwood March 2018

7. Have a go at converting these:
1 4 =
1 8 =
3 4 =
0.25 = 25% (25 x 4 = 100)
0.125 = 12.5% (12.5 x 8 = 100)
0.75 = 75%

8. Unfriendly fractions:
Look at these fractions: Can you spot a times table that both numbers belong to? both numbers are multiples in the 7x table now both numbers are multiples of 2x table 1 4 = 25%
L Greenwood March 2018

9. Calculating with fractions For the mental arithmetic section you need to be able to do calculations involving fractions and decimals.
3 4 of a class of 80 students when on a school trip, how many was this? We want 3 4 of 80 which is the same as 3 4 x 80 So we could find a quarter of 80 = 20 Then multiply the quarter by three = 20 x 3 So now we have 3 quarters = 60 80
1 4 40 20
Also consider the halve strategy to find a quarter
L Greenwood March 2018

10. Calculating with fractions
2 5 of a class of 30 students went on a school trip, how many were there? To find 1 5 we need to divide 30 by 5 30 ÷ 5 = 6 Each part is 1 5 and is worth = = 12 30
1 5 6
L Greenwood March 2018

11. The words 'per cent' means 'out of one hundred’.
Percentages
The way a percentage works is by telling you how many out of every 100 something is.
The words 'per cent' means 'out of one hundred’. ％

12. So our new fraction is 24 100 = 24%
Q. Six out of 25 pupils scored full marks in a test. What percentage of pupils scored full marks?
What is the key information? 6 25 percentage So we can write 6 out of 25 as a fraction 6 25 Remember 25 is a useful number 25 x 4 =
Look at the numbers
6 x 4 = 24
25 x 4 = 100
So our new fraction is = 24%
L Greenwood March 2018

13. Tips when answering fractions to percentages questions
Find 15% of £2800
Clue: Break up the 15% into useful numbers (factor of 100), so 10% and 5%
Start by finding 10% = £ 280
Then half the 10% to find 5% = £ 140
then add 10% and 5% together to make 15% =
£ 420 Answer
Maybe explain factors?
L Greenwood March 2018

14. Tips when answering fractions to percentages questions:
Find 80% of £250.
Clue: What is an easy percentage you can work out in your head?
10% of 250 = £25
25 x 8 (to get 80%) which is the same as 25 x 4 doubled
25 x 4 = 100 so 25 x 8 = £200

15. Tips when answering fractions to percentages questions
A student scored 18 marks out of 20. What percentage is this? Clue: 20 is a fifth of 100 ( 20 x 5 = 100) 18 x 5 = 10 x 5 = 50 8 x 5 = 40 Total = 90%
18 20
Explain the use of the fraction to find the percentage

16. Any more questions?