How to Pass the NFA Working with Numbers Test

What the test involves

The Working with Numbers test lasts 45 minutes and contains 32 multiple-choice questions. Each question presents a scenario with associated numerical data — typically in the form of a table, chart, floor plan, or written description. You must read the data, perform calculations, and select the correct answer from four or five options.

The numerical operations involved are not complex. You are not expected to know calculus, trigonometry, or advanced maths. What the test assesses is your ability to extract the right numbers from a data-heavy presentation, apply straightforward arithmetic (percentages, ratios, areas, averages), and do so accurately under time pressure — without a calculator.

Question types you will encounter

Questions typically fall into several categories. Data table questions present a table of figures — perhaps staffing rosters, equipment quantities, or incident statistics — and ask you to calculate totals, averages, differences, or percentages from the data. Chart questions present information as a bar chart or pie chart and ask you to read off or calculate values.

Floor plan questions show a scale drawing of a building and ask you to calculate areas, perimeters, or distances. These require you to read the scale carefully and convert between units. Word problem questions embed numerical information in a written paragraph — you must extract the relevant figures and apply the correct operation.

Ratio and proportion questions ask you to scale quantities up or down, or to split a total into given proportions. Percentage questions ask you to calculate percentage increases, decreases, or of a given total.

• ✓Data tables — extract and calculate from rows and columns
• ✓Charts and graphs — read values and compute differences
• ✓Floor plans — calculate areas using scale
• ✓Ratio and proportion — scale quantities
• ✓Percentages — increases, decreases, of totals
• ✓Word problems — identify relevant numbers from text

No calculator — how to manage this

The most common source of anxiety about the Working with Numbers test is the no-calculator rule. In practice, the calculations required are designed to be achievable with written working — the numbers are deliberately chosen to be manageable. You will not be asked to multiply 847 by 63 from scratch.

What you should practise: mental arithmetic for simple operations (times tables, percentage of round numbers, doubling and halving), written long multiplication and division for anything more complex, and working with fractions and ratios without a calculator. The rough working paper you are given is there to use — do not try to do everything in your head.

Time, not difficulty, is the real pressure. 45 minutes for 32 questions gives you roughly 85 seconds per question. That is enough if you are practised and focused, but tight if you spend too long on any single question. Learn to move on — skip a question that is taking too long, answer the ones you are confident about, then return.

How to prepare effectively

The single most valuable thing you can do is practise timed tests in a firefighter context. Reading about the test, understanding the format, and doing a few sample questions is helpful — but it does not replicate the experience of working through 32 questions under a 45-minute countdown. Timed practice builds both accuracy and composure.

Start by doing a full practice test without any time pressure to understand the question types and your own strengths and weaknesses. Then introduce the timer and work on pace. Review every question you got wrong — understanding why you made an error is more valuable than simply repeating the test.

In the two weeks before your actual test, aim to complete at least three or four full timed practice sessions. This ensures the format is familiar, your pace is calibrated, and you feel confident rather than anxious when the real test begins.

On the day — strategy

Read each question carefully before looking at the answer options. It is easy to misread a question under time pressure and pick an answer that answers a slightly different question than the one asked.

Work through the questions in order, but do not get stuck. If a question is taking more than two minutes, mark it and move on. Most candidates who run out of time do so because they spent too long on one or two difficult questions rather than running out of time overall.

Check your working, not just your answer — arithmetic errors are the most common cause of incorrect responses. A quick sanity check (does this answer seem reasonable?) catches many mistakes that a second read of the calculation would miss.