The RANRA Test Explained: Insights and Effective Study Methods
If you are preparing for a university entrance exam, then you might need to write an advanced numerical reasoning appraisal. Or in layman’s terms, you need to prove that you have had mathematical training up to a GCSE level. You might be taking a numerical reasoning test as part of your job application.
Whatever the reason, your problem solving skills are being put to the test. What sets the Rust Advanced Numerical Reasoning Appraisal or RANRA test aside from other corporate literacy tests is its advanced assessment of higher level numerical reasoning skills.
This article will take you through the basics of the RANRA test, what it consists of, walk you through a couple of practice tests and tell you how to best to prepare for it.
Table of Contents
Why Write The RANRA Test?
The RANRA test measures higher-level numerical reasoning skills. Where most businesses asses you basic mathematical capabilities, the RANRA will assesses your problem-solving and decision making abilities in a mathematical context.
What Is The ANRA / RANRA Test
The RANRA will assesses your capacity for deduction, interpretation, and evaluation. How this is done is through a series of multiple choice questions. You will have to deduce whether the answer combinations can reasonably solve the problems in front of you.
The RANRA test will require knowledge of basic mathematical concepts to complete. Concepts such as the calculation of percentages, ratios and exponents are required, while operations such as speed, time and distance, are also tested.
The Two Parts Of The RANRA Test
RANRA is split into two parts: The Comparison of Quantities section and the Sufficiency of Information section.
The Comparison of Quantities section gives you comparative data which you need to analyse in order to select the appropriate answer. You will have four possible answers for each question.
The Sufficiency of Information section has each question give you two statements with specific information in it. You will need to select the right answer out of five possible answer combinations.
Comparison of Quantities
In each question, you will be presented with a short contextual statement and two options as answers. You will need to use the information in the contextual statement to select the correct option, A or B.
However, you do not have to choose either one or the other option. There are four possible answers to each question: A, B, E and I. You can choose A or B if either one of these options holds the greater value. You can choose option E if both options are of equal value. Option I is available if there is not enough information in the contextual statement to make an informed decision.
Example
Information:
- You buy curtains for £10 per set.
- A set of green curtains cost £8.
Options:
- A) The total cost of 123 curtains of which 32 are green.
- B) The total cost of 160 curtains of which 90 are green.
If you answer A, then you believe the first option has the highest numerical value. If you answer B, then the second option is higher. Answer E if both values are equal, and answer I if the initial statement before the options did not give you enough information to answer the question.
In our example above, the answer is B. Because it has the higher numeric value between the two:
- A = (91 x 10) + (32 x 8) = 1166
- B = (70 x 10) + (90 x 8) = 1420
Sufficiency of Information
This section, gives you two statements followed by a question. Your goal in this section is to decide if any of the statements give you enough information to answer the question. The questions are multiple choice. Your options are A, B, C, D, or E.
- Answer A if: the first statement has enough information to answer the question and the second statement can not answer the question.
- Answer B if: the second statement contains the information you need, but the first one does not.
- If you answer C: the combination of both statements can answer the question, but on their own they contain insufficient information.
- Answering D: means that both statements can answer the question on their own.
- Answer E if: neither statement can answer the question either alone or in combination with each other.
Example
Remember: the statements giving specific information do not necessarily hold the answer.
Question:
What is the ratio of cats to dogs in a particular town?
Statements:
1. There are more cats than dogs.
2. There are exactly 20 dogs in the town.
The correct answer is E. Even though both statements give us specific information, neither will allow us to answer the question of what the ratio of animals are in the town.
How To Prepare For The RANRA Test
Practice tests
The best way to prepare for the RANRA Assessment is to write practice tests. The content of the information is less important than getting used to the way the questions are answered. One plus to practice tests are that they will explain how they get to the answer as well.
Once you have gone through the tests, you should have an idea on what areas you should improve on. Find examples on the internet to practice specific concepts and operations if you find yourself lagging in a particular field.
Focus
The test is usually held in an examination venue and there is no real time limit to complete it. Your ability to think critically is being tested, not your ability to work under pressure. Make sure you are calm when you start and you should finish the test in around 45 minutes.
In Conclusion
The RANRA test is a step above most numerical reasoning tests, but it shows your employer or learning institution that you are able to think in a critical manner. A practice test is crucial for preparing for the actual test, and there are a host of different options to choose from.
Sarah is an accomplished educator, researcher and author in the field of testing and assessment. She has worked with various educational institutions and organisations to develop innovative evaluation methods and enhance student learning. Sarah has published numerous articles and books on assessment and learning. Her passion for promoting equity and fairness in the education system fuels her commitment to sharing insights and best practices with educators and policymakers around the world.
