How to Take This Test
The 25 questions sit on eight charts and tables, three or four questions to each, in the kind of mix a Tier 1 paper has: a table, two bar graphs, two pie charts, a line graph, a histogram and one pair of charts that must be read together. At 36 seconds a question there is time to read each chart only once, so read it properly the first time (the title, the units, which bar or line is which) and answer all its questions from that one reading.
- Set a 15-minute timer and work without a calculator or notes.
- Marks: +2 for a correct answer, for a wrong one, nothing for a question left blank.
- Glance at the options before calculating. When they are far apart, round the readings and pick the nearest.
- Open the explanations only after time is up.
Working out your score. The maximum is 50. Someone with 19 right, 4 wrong and 2 left blank scores .
| Score (out of 50) | What to do next |
|---|---|
| 40 or more | You read charts and calculate at exam speed. One PYQ Practice Set from this chapter each week will keep it that way. |
| 30 to 39.5 | Most chart types are under control. Note the topic tags of the questions you missed and redo the quiz in the matching concept section: Tables, Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, or Line Graphs, Histograms and Frequency Polygons. Questions on two charts at once are worked in Solved Questions. |
| 20 to 29.5 | The methods are known but the speed is not there yet. Go through Shortcuts & Speed Methods, especially the fraction values of common percentages, redo Practice Sets 1 and 2 against the clock, and sit this test again in three or four days. |
| Below 20 | Start again from Tables and Bar Graphs, then Pie Charts, with their quizzes, and keep away from timed work until you can read a chart without errors. |
On guessing: under this marking a blind guess adds only about 0.125 marks a question on average, and about 0.33 once one option has been ruled out, so guess only after ruling out at least one. In data interpretation one option often goes quickly: a part cannot be larger than its total, a fall cannot have an increase as its answer, and when a share is plainly under a quarter of the whole, every option above 25% can be struck off.