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Read test questions carefully |
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It is important that you read the test questions carefully so that you understand what you have to do. Make sure that you read through the whole question and try to find out how the information provided in the question relates to the data provided in the table, chart or graph. At numerical reasoning tests where you need to work under time pressure it is easy to misinterpret the meaning of the question and jump into incorrect conclusions. For example, question 1 is asking what the profits were in 1991 if the revenues and costs rose by 10% each from 1991 to 1992. Less experienced test takers may be under the impression that the costs and revenues in 1991 were 10% lower than in 1992 and would input formula for costs 40 * 0.9 coming up with an incorrect result of $36 million which in fact should be $36.36 million (40/1.1). |
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Question 1
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In 1992 compared to 1991, both revenues and costs rose by 10% each. Approximately, what were the profits in 1991? |
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Pay attention to question wording |
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One of the most important factors that may determine your success at numerical reasoning tests is the length of the time within which you are able to comprehend given question. When you are reading the test question concentrate completely on it and try to think immediately about the approach that you would adopt. |
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Interpret test figures accurately |
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In numerical reasoning tests you may come across data in many forms. For example, you may be required to interpret data from variety of figures such as tables, charts or graphs. If you interpret data from charts make sure that you carefully examine axes labels, units or scales. Makes sure that you know in which units of measurement the data are displayed. Read the legend and note carefully any additional information that relate to the question itself. |
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When you interpret information from tables pay attention to headings, subheadings or data presented in columns and rows. In some tables data values may be presented to an appropriate number of significant figures. Be sure to read any additional information provided in footnotes. For example, consider the table and question below. |
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3,413 Btu = 1kWh |
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Question 2 |
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In May if the average energy cost of German household amounted to £345 approximately how many more kWh did the household used compared to its April figure? 991.25kW |
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In the above table you need to pay the attention to the units in which the data are presented. You can see that the average energy consumption is presented in 000’s Btu whereas Cost (£) is presented per kWh. Note that the footnote has the conversion scale between Btu and kWh. It may be easy especially at timed numerical reasoning tests to forget to take into consideration any measurements of units or scales and forget to convert them to any units requested to answer the question correctly. |
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Identify relevant data from tables, charts or graphs |
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As it was already mentioned in preceding sections, it is important to understand the test question and correctly interpret data provided in figures. Though you may comprehend the test question well you must pay particular attention to use the exact data you need to answer the test question correctly. At graduate numerical reasoning test this may be a daunting task. For example, consider the table and question bellow. |
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Question 3 |
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If FOREX trader agrees to buy £100,000 3 months forward how much money will he be gaining or losing if the spot exchange rate USD/GBP was to rise to 2.2000 in 3 month period? |
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From the first part of the question we know that if FOREX Trader decides to buy £100,000 3 months forward we would be looking at the exchange rate of 2.0981 USD/GBP, that is, International Bank offers to sell 2.0981 USD/GBP to FOREX Trader 3 months forward (FOREX Trader will have to buy £100,000 for $209,810 in three month time). However, many test takers may be under the impression that ‘Bid’ rate instead of ‘Offer’ rate would have to be used to arrive at the correct solution, the answer which would get you zero score. To complete the calculation, we work out that if spot exchange rate was 2.2000 USD/GBP then FOREX Trader would have to pay $220,000 for £100,000 which is $10,190 more. Therefore, to score high at numerical reasoning tests it is important that you pay particular attention to what the question is asking and that you properly interpret given figure and use the exact data you need to answer the test question. |
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