Taking the QTS test and countdown has me in a panic

[WotaLiberty]

I just wondered if anyone has taken the Maths one recently. My maths is generally good but, I am failing the practise ones online. It is generally down to not being fast enough on the timed questions. I had my daughter who just got a 9 in maths gcse to take it and she also failed.

Does anyone have any tips?

Practice practice practice.
You will get faster

I agree, it’s just practice! When I started as a maths teacher my mental arithmetic was terrible. 20 years of being expected to do it has meant I have improved hugely!

Do jottings!

Just to reassure you, I had terrible anxiety attacks over this maths test and the timings. I bought a book from Amazon so I could teach myself some quick ways of doing fractions, decimals etc then worked on my timings. I still couldn't pass it online as it was so quick but decided to still sit the test and it was so much slower! I found I had a good few seconds at the end of each question to double check my answer. Passed first time.

I had to do them daily until the test. My maths is good but I just wasn't fast enough with the mental maths. I found the supporting hints useful as I didn't learn some of the strategies at school myself. You'll be fine - just keep practising. Good luck!

Maths wasn't DSs strongest subject but he did a bit of practice and passed both Maths and English first time. He was concerned about the speed element but in reality it was fine. Just keep practicing and try to stay calm. Good luck!

Also, remember that you don't need to get 100% to pass the test.
I found the actual ones better than the online practice ones!

Which questions are you not fast enough on? It may not be that you’re not fast enough, but that you don’t know the tricks that you are expected to use to answer the question more efficiently.

I remember when I was young thinking that mental arithmetic was trying to do e.g. a column or bus stop method in your head, which doesn’t work!

I got a maths tutor to help me.

I took the tests last year and passed both first time. I'm reasonably strong at maths, but I think the keys were:

a) having a strong/instant recall of my times tables and maths facts such as 25%=1/4 etc.

b) jotting down relevant bits the first time the question is read as you get more thinking time.

c) figuring out the techniques that were best to use for speed. This video really helped:

Remember, the pass mark is 60-66% so you don't need to get every question right. It can help to look at the paper versions of the tests first to get the correct techniques and then work on your speed.

I hope this helps.

You can print off paper practice tests and use them to revise common questions... I think I may have even purchased a qts work book.