LANTITE Numeracy: Key Topics Quick Reference

The LANTITE Numeracy component draws from three content areas. This guide covers what each area tests, with the specific sub-topics confirmed in the ACER Skills and Content Guide (2023).

The Format First

Section	Questions	Calculator	Time (recommended)
Section 1	52	Yes (online)	90 to 95 minutes
Section 2	13	No	25 to 30 minutes

Section 2 uses common numbers, fractions, and percentages in a small number of familiar steps. Once you move to Section 2 you cannot return to Section 1.

Content Area 1: Number and Algebra (40 to 50% of the test)

This is the largest content area. Questions cover:

• Percentages: finding a percentage of a value, expressing one quantity as a percentage of another, weighted percentages across assignments, percentage increase and decrease
• Fractions and decimals: converting between equivalent forms, ordering, operations
• Ratios and rates: map scales, mixing ratios, magnification factors, rates in familiar situations (km/h, $/kg, $/m)
• Proportional reasoning: working with proportions across several variables
• Money and budgeting: calculating GST, interest calculations, cost comparisons, budget allocations
• Basic operations: order of operations for multi-step calculations, division by small whole numbers, multiplication of whole number values
• Simple formulae: substituting values into a given formula, one-step or two-step rearrangement

At Level 3 (around the standard): whole numbers, everyday fractions, decimals, percentages, and conversion between equivalent forms. At Level 4: ratio, rates and proportions, roots and powers, routine algebraic representations.

Content Area 2: Measurement and Geometry (20 to 30% of the test)

• Time and timetabling: scheduling parent-teacher interviews, timetables across multiple campuses, time zone calculations
• Metric unit conversions: milli, centi, kilo across length, mass, capacity, and area
• Area and volume: area of rectangles (A = L x W), areas of compound shapes, volumes using given routine formulae
• Perimeter: for common 2D shapes
• Space and shape: properties of common 2D and 3D shapes, lines of symmetry, rotational symmetry
• Similarity and scale: finding a missing length from two similar shapes using a scale factor, maps and plans with simple and complex scales
• Angles: properties of angles in shapes, common angle measures (90 degrees, 180 degrees, 360 degrees)
• Maps, bearings, and travel: distances, speeds, and time zones from map or plan information

Area and volume questions typically provide the formula in the question. You need to know how to apply it, not memorise it.

Content Area 3: Statistics and Probability (25 to 35% of the test)

• Reading graphs and charts: bar, line, pie, scatter plots, box plots, tables with familiar and complex scales
• Descriptive statistics: mean, median, mode, simple measures of spread
• Comparing data sets: identifying trends, drawing conclusions about student achievement from data
• NAPLAN data: interpreting NAPLAN-style reports showing student results across bands and year levels
• Sampling and bias: statistics and sampling methods, data validity and reliability
• Distributions: box plots, actual versus predicted scores, assigning a grade based on a raw score
• ATAR calculations: interpreting or calculating an ATAR from given data
• Probability: chance and probability in both numerical and qualitative terms (certain, likely, impossible), relating probability to fractions, decimals, and percentages

Context Areas Across All Questions

Questions are set in three context types:

• Personal and community: 45 to 55% of questions
• Schools and teaching: 30 to 40% of questions
• Further education and professional learning: 10 to 20% of questions

School and teaching contexts include things like: reading a class timetable, calculating a weighted assessment mark, interpreting a NAPLAN report, working out a room booking schedule, or converting between units in a science experiment context.

Section 2 (No Calculator): What to Expect

The ACER Skills and Content Guide describes Section 2 as covering common numbers, fractions, and percentages, with a small number of steps and familiar routine operations only. The questions are not designed to require complex arithmetic without a calculator. They test whether you can work accurately with straightforward numbers by hand.

Common equivalences worth knowing: 1/4 = 25%, 1/3 is approximately 33%, 1/2 = 50%, 2/3 is approximately 67%, 3/4 = 75%, 1/5 = 20%, 1/10 = 10%.

All facts on this page are sourced directly from the ACER Skills and Content Guide (2023) and teacheredtest.acer.edu.au. For the latest information, always refer to the ACER website.