When I first found out that there was a maths and literacy assessment, my mind began to panic. It soon was put to rest though, after I discovered that it was only for your own benefit and to help you improve your basic maths and literacy skills. It has been at least 6 years since I’ve been at primary school, so how was I ever meant to remember all the things I had learnt there.

On Tuesday, I had a few hours to spare in between lectures, so I decided to head to the library and do my first attempt at the OLA (Online Literacy Assessment) and the NOMA (National Online Maths Assessment). I decided to start off with the OLA, as I thought it would be a bit ‘easier’ than the NOMA. It did not start off smoothly though. The audio did not seem to work properly, even though I was doing it in the library, so I had to guess the first few answers. The rest of the test was not as difficult as I had initially expected, and my final score was 27 out of 35 (77%). I was quite happy with this score, as I knew there was some room for improvement. Hopefully at my next attempt, I can achieve at least 85%.

I still had some time left so I decided to attempt the NOMA, although I did have to rush the last few questions to make it to my lecture. Maths has never been my strong point, so I was a bit apprehensive. I was pleasantly surprised though, as the actual questions  were not difficult, it was trying to remember the formulas that was a bit of a struggle. I scored 41 out of 54 (76%) which I was pleased with. I knew that I needed to go and re-learn many of the formulas such as volume of a pyramid, area of a trapezium and so on.

I really like how both the OLA and NOMA give you feedback and show you where you need to improve. I shall use the feedback given and re-attempt both assessments in the near future, hopefully improving my score greatly.