These questions check the same kinds of skills as the PAT maths and reading tests: number, algebra and measurement, word meanings, grammar and reading for clues. Pick your child's stage, let them answer, and each question is marked straight away with the working shown.
Study Compass is independent and not affiliated with NZCER. These are our own questions from Study Compass lessons, not PAT questions. To understand a PAT report, read PAT tests and results, explained.
Years 3 and 4 Years 5 and 6 Years 7 and 8
Years 3 and 4
Maths
1. Which number is even?
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Answer: 62. 62 ends in 2, and 2 is even. The others end in 5, 7 and 1, which are odd.
2. Jo says 72 − 30 = 42. Which addition checks it?
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Answer: 42 + 30 = 72. Add the answer and the number taken away. If you get back to 72, the answer is right. 42 + 30 = 72.
3. 198 + 304 is closest to...
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Answer: 500. 198 is close to 200 and 304 is close to 300. 200 + 300 = 500. (The exact answer is 502.)
4. What is the rule for 7, 11, 15, 19?
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Answer: Add 4. 7 + 4 = 11, 11 + 4 = 15, 15 + 4 = 19. Each number is 4 more.
5. Kai has 35 marbles. He gives 12 to Sam. Which number sentence shows how many Kai has left?
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Answer: 35 − 12. Giving some away is taking away: 35 − 12 = 23.
English and reading
6. "The sky outside was dark and the stars were twinkling. Mum turned off the light and said goodnight." When did this happen?
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Answer: at night. At night. The clues are a dark sky, twinkling stars and Mum saying goodnight.
7. In which sentence does "ring" mean a sound?
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Answer: I heard the phone ring. A phone makes a ringing sound, so ring means a sound here.
8. "The bell rang, so the children lined up outside the classroom." What caused the children to line up?
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Answer: The bell rang. The bell rang. That is the cause, and lining up is the effect. The word so joins them.
9. Which word is a synonym for “happy”?
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Answer: glad. Glad means nearly the same as happy.
10. Which sentence is correct?
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Answer: They're going to the zoo on Saturday. They're is short for they are. They are going to the zoo, so they're is right.
Study Compass picks up from here: a short starting check, then a daily plan on the skills your child is ready for next.
Start one-month free trialYears 5 and 6
Maths
1. Which is bigger, 0.7 or 0.65?
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Answer: 0.7. Write 0.7 as 0.70. 70 hundredths is more than 65 hundredths, so 0.7 is bigger.
2. Which number is divisible by 5?
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Answer: 135. A number divides by 5 if it ends in 0 or 5. 135 ends in 5.
3. Which multiplication fact helps you find 72 ÷ 8?
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Answer: 8 × 9 = 72. 72 ÷ 8 asks: 8 times what makes 72? 8 × 9 = 72, so 72 ÷ 8 = 9.
4. Which is the best estimate to check 49 × 31?
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Answer: 50 × 30 = 1500. Round 49 to 50 and 31 to 30. 50 × 30 = 1500. (The exact answer is 1519.)
5. A regular triangle has 3 equal sides. Each side is 11 cm. What is its perimeter?
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Answer: 33 cm. All 3 sides are 11 cm, so 3 × 11 = 33 cm.
English and reading
6. Which sentence has the comma in the right place?
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Answer: Before the race, we stretched. Before the race is a fronted adverbial, so the comma goes straight after it.
7. Choose the relative pronoun: "We found a shell ___ was shaped like a star."
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Answer: that. A shell is a thing, so we use that (which would also work).
8. Which sentence is a simile?
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Answer: Her voice was as soft as a feather. Her voice was as soft as a feather. It compares her voice to a feather using as.
9. Where is the missing comma? “We packed tents, sleeping bags torches and food.”
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Answer: after “bags”. The items are tents, sleeping bags, torches and food. Sleeping bags and torches need a comma between them.
10. “I've told you a million times!” What does the speaker really mean?
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Answer: I've told you many times and I'm fed up. It is hyperbole. Nobody counts to a million. The exaggeration shows the speaker is frustrated.
Study Compass picks up from here: a short starting check, then a daily plan on the skills your child is ready for next.
Start one-month free trialYears 7 and 8
Maths
1. Which value makes 2x + 3 = 15 true?
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Answer: 6. Try each one. 2 × 6 + 3 = 12 + 3 = 15, so x = 6.
2. −7 + 10 = ? No calculator.
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Answer: 3. Start at −7 and move 10 to the right. Seven steps get you to 0, and three more get you to 3.
3. What is 3/8 as a decimal?
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Answer: 0.375. 3/8 means 3 ÷ 8. 8 goes into 3.000 to give 0.375.
4. Which ratio is equivalent to 3 : 4?
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Answer: 9 : 12. Multiply both parts by 3: 3 × 3 = 9 and 4 × 3 = 12, so 9 : 12.
5. Which expression means '5 more than twice n'?
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Answer: 2n + 5. Twice n is 2n. 5 more means add 5: 2n + 5.
English and reading
6. "Mia's hands shook as she walked onto the stage. She looked out at the crowd and swallowed hard." How does Mia feel?
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Answer: nervous. Nervous. Shaking hands and swallowing hard are signs of nerves, even though the text never says the word.
7. What does the root "port" mean?
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Answer: carry. Port means carry. A portable speaker is one you can carry around.
8. What is the noun form of "arrive"?
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Answer: arrival. Arrive + -al makes arrival: the arrival of the train.
9. Which is the relative clause? "The book that Sam lent me was gripping."
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Answer: that Sam lent me. That Sam lent me starts with the relative pronoun that and tells us which book.
10. “Plastic harms sea life. ___, it can take hundreds of years to break down.”
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Answer: Furthermore. The second sentence adds another problem with plastic, so an adding connective fits.
Study Compass picks up from here: a short starting check, then a daily plan on the skills your child is ready for next.
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- NZCER, Understanding PATs: for parents, whānau and community. https://www.nzcer.org.nz/tests/understanding-pats-parents-and-community (checked 26 October 2026).
Official guidance changes. Always check the source before making a decision.