Can YOU pass this Maths SATs test for 14-year-olds?
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Are you smarter than a 14 year old?
MailOnline has unearthed a recent SAT maths exam taken by Year Nine pupils across the UK.
Teenagers take tests that are monitored by teachers to track their progress before they head off to study for their GCSEs in Year 10.
After Rishi Sunak’s vow to make maths compulsory for all pupils up to the age of 18, adults shared number puzzles online this week to test themselves – Sky News presenter Anna Botting even asked for help with her 10-year-old daughter’s math homework.
So MailOnline asks… Can You Solve These Year 9 Math Test Questions? Remember that calculators are not allowed (answers at the bottom of the page)
MailOnline challenges you to try to solve the same problems faced by 14-year-olds preparing for their Year Nine SAT math exams.
The prime minister laid out his new plan last week for all pupils in England to study some form of mathematics up to the age of 18, to combat high illiteracy rates in the UK.
Young people will be required to take ‘some form’ of mathematics delivered through new courses or existing qualifications such as A-levels, T-levels and Core Maths.
While many have criticized this agenda, including actor Simon Pegg, some scientific studies support it.
For example, a 2021 study from the University of Oxford found that dropping out of mathematics at the age of 16 can have an adverse effect on brain development.
Another study suggested that those who took mathematics at A level had a 11 percent higher salary than those who did not at age 33.
Mr Sunak promised to equip children for the ‘jobs of the future’ by making sure they have good math skills when they leave school.
For most, driving is likely to involve practical skills rather than algebra.
Around eight million adults in England only have the numeracy skills expected of primary school children, according to government figures.
Only about half of 16- to 19-year-olds are studying math in any way right now.
And 60 percent of disadvantaged students don’t have basic math skills by age 16.
The UK remains one of the only countries that does not require children to study some form of mathematics until the age of 18.
Several countries in the OECD economic forum, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway, and the US, insist that students stick to the subject.
Young people will be required to take ‘some form’ of mathematics delivered through new courses or existing qualifications such as A-levels, T-levels and Core Maths.
But union leaders have warned that teachers are now more likely to strike because of the backlash against the prime minister’s math promise.
Kevin Courtney, who oversees more than 300,000 educators as assistant general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), accused Sunak of a “shocking failure” in realizing the obstacles facing the industry.
“Sunak’s plan is disappointing not only because of its lack of realism but also because of its lack of vision,” Courtney said.
“He ignores the increasingly detailed and urgent debates on curriculum reform that have been taking place in the education sector and even within his own party.
‘Most of the people who voted will have voted. But I think there will be some people who will look at this and think ‘is that all they have to say about education?’
“It doesn’t seem like they are taking the problem of the teacher hiring crisis seriously because they haven’t met their math teacher hiring goals every year for the last 11 years.”
Teachers, who are currently voting, say the plan does not address the hiring crisis currently plaguing the sector.
More than 500,000 teachers from three unions are considering a possible strike in England and Wales, with deadlines to vote from January 9.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared this week his new plan for all students in England to study some form of mathematics until the age of 18. He is shown during a visit to Harris Academy in Battersea, South West London, today.
Unions have urged staff to vote as soon as possible amid fears postal chaos could delay the return of ballots.
Meanwhile, opposition parties have dismissed the initiative as “empty”, while conservatives urged Sunak to focus on tackling illegal immigration.
Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the prime minister “needs to show his work” as he “cannot deliver on this overheated, empty promise without more maths teachers.”
He added: “However, the government missed its target for new math teachers year after year, and existing teachers left en masse.”
A Labor source said: ‘In their desperation to ensure that Sunak’s speech does not follow Keir’s, No 10 have revealed that they have nothing to offer the country except…double math.
‘As the health service collapses after 12 years of Tory rule, criminals terrorize the streets and workers worry how their wages will last for the month, the country is entitled to ask: is this all?’
Former Cabinet Minister John Redwood tweeted: “While the Prime Minister focuses his attention on teaching mathematics, his election must not be forgotten as the most pressing priority was to stop illegal immigration.
‘Parliament urgently needs to legislate on small boats and public services.’
Nigel Farage also chimed in and said: ‘So Rishi Sunak’s big idea to save the nation is maths till 18! How will quadratic equations help solve Broken Britain?
WHAT ARE THE ANSWERS?
- Girls with blue eyes; girls altogether; students in total
- 30g; 1 liter; 200cm
- 30; 4; 2; twenty
- An integer between 640 and 750
- Any three correct numbers: eg 10 x 10 – 20 for part 1; 100 x 10 – 200 for part 2
- 6 hours; Hong Kong and San Juan, Dhaka and Chicago or Dubai and Los Angeles
- Given A: 1/6; Die B: You can’t be sure or you would have to experiment; Given C: 1/6