|
Many students ask for some level of maths skill when they are going to give civil services examination more often than not, a good GCSE grade 'or equivalent'. Some of them – particularly the armed forces, emergency services and recruitment agencies – ask you to take a specific numeracy test to show that you have a good grounding in maths. If you don't have a maths qualification, a lot of these doors are currently closed to you, so taking and passing a numeracy test is a good step towards qualifying for a job (or, of course, a better job) – and also makes it possible for you to take more advanced qualifications that open even more doors for you.You may need a maths qualification if you want to begin training or studying for certain professions and degrees. If you want to be a teacher or start any kind of medical study, you need to pass a numeracy test covering the kinds of situations you may need to deal with in practice. Numeracy skills are generally a good thing to have – making it easier for you to follow presentations, understand the news and work out the best deals on anything you might want to buy. The civil services qualifications (and different jobs) have different ideas about exactly what numeracy skills you need to have. This makes sense – if you're going to be a teacher, you're probably going to need more maths in a day-to-day setting than if you're going to be a soldier. (I say 'probably' – plenty of jobs in the armed forces need excellent maths skills, and plenty of teachers manage to avoid anything to do with maths – but they're missing out on all the fun.) In this section, I tell you about the contents of the main types of numeracy test you may have to take. The numeracy qualifications are divided into five levels – Entry Levels 1-3 and Levels 1 and 2, which cover material from counting through to GCSE-level maths. The ALAN numeracy test isn't quite as broad-ranging as a GCSE, but some jobs and colleges accept it as an equivalent. If things go wrong, you're allowed to retake the test at a later date. The qualifications themselves are assessed either by an onscreen or paper multiple-choice exam, which generally contains 40 questions you need to answer in an hour and 15 minutes (so you have a little less than two minutes per question). You can't use a calculator in the ALAN numeracy test. Before you really get stuck into this book, I want to ask you a favour, especially if you're someone who often says 'I'm no good at maths' or 'Maths scares the beejeezus out of me’. I’d like you to start talking positively about maths. I don't mean you have to say 'I'm a super-genius and I'm going to win the next series of Countdown!' (Although that's not a bad ambition). Whenever you're next tempted to say 'I'm no good at maths,' say something different. Here are some ideas: ? 'I used to struggle with maths, but I'm putting that right.' ? 'I'm much better at maths than I thought.' ? 'I'm working on my maths skills.' It sounds crazy, but it makes a big difference to the way you approach studying. I'm convinced that the reason people tend to have a bad day on Mondays is that they've decided that Monday is going to be a bad day – and the same thing happens with maths. This book can help you make those positive statements true. I help you build your maths confidence and skills so that you can sail through any numeracy test that gets thrown at you.
Related Articles -
Civil Services Examination, Civil Services Exam, Civil Services,
|
