Numeracy Initial Assessment

Marking Scheme and Guide

Version 1 January 2010

Introduction

This is the paper-based version of the Skills for Health Initial Assessment Numeracy tool.

It has been developed as an alternative to the on-screen version of the tool for situations
where, for various reasons, it is not possible to use the on-screen version and should
therefore be used as an alternative only when necessary. The questions in this version are
based on those in the on-screen version and have been designed with the needs of users in
the health sector in mind.

More information and support for these tools can be found on the Skills for Health website
at www.skillsforhealth.org.uk/IAhelp.

How to use this tool

The paper-based tool consists of a User Booklet and this Guidance and Marking Scheme.
The user booklet contains 25 questions, 5 at each level from Entry Level 1 to Level 21. The
questions become progressively harder as users work through them.

Initial assessments are not tests and are not timed. Users should be encouraged to finish in
their own time and not to rush. However, 50–60 minutes should prove adequate in most
cases. Many users will require far less time than this; a few may need a little more time. Users
are encouraged to stop if they are finding the questions too difficult and you should look out for
users who appear to be having problems.

Users should not use calculators but can, of course, use paper to help them with calculations.

Setting the right environment

Getting the right balance between an environment which is supportive to the user but
which does not appear like an examination is difficult.

However, you can help by:

• Ensuring users are clear on the context in which they might be undertaking an IA.
• Making sure the users understand that this is not a test or examination; that there is
no time limit and no pass/fail.
• Telling users that the results are confidential.

1
Based on the Levels used in England. A chart for cross-referencing the level descriptors used in England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland can be found on the website.

Page 2 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

 • Making sure users understand how to answer the questions: the question are
answered by:
o Circling the correct answer
o Writing the answer in a box
o Choosing A, B, C or D as the correct answer
• Ensuring that users understand how you will be able to help them when the IA is
completed.
• Knowing the background of the users and, for example, being certain that the IA is
suitable for them.
• Finding somewhere quiet for the IA to be completed but not replicating an “exam
hall” type of environment.

Providing support and feedback

This IA has not been designed specifically for users who have English as a second language
(ESOL) or who may have other difficulties accessing the questions. However, this IA is
designed to provide the user with a general understanding of their Numeracy skills. If you
think it would help indivdual users to demonstrate their skills by reading some of the
questions to them or helping them to write down their answers, then please do so.

After the IA is complete, use this Marking Scheme to mark the questions. All the questions
are worth 1 mark.

Use this table to determine the level at which the user is working:

Marks
Entry 1 3-8
Entry 2 9-13
Entry 3 14-18
Level 1 19-22
Level 2 23-25

Users with 2 marks or fewer are judged to be working towards Entry level.

All users should be given feedback on their performance. As a minimum, they should
be told the level they have attained. The Adult Core Curriculum2 reference for each
question is included is given in the following table so that you can provide more
detailed feedback, if required.

2
A mapping document between the Adult Core Curriculum references used in England and Wales and the
corresponding references in Scotland and Northern Ireland can be found on the Skills for Health website.

Page 3 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

It is important that feedback is treated with complete confidentiality and considerable
sensitivity, and that users are clear that the initial assessment is simply a stepping
stone to more thorough diagnostic assessment.

Question Curriculum Ref Question Curriculum Ref

1 N1/E1.3 14 N1/E3.6
2 N1/E1.2 15 HD1/E3.2
3 MSS1/E1.1 16 MSS1/L1.10
4 MSS1/E1.1 17 N2/L1.11
5 HD1/E1.1 18 HD1/L1.3
6 N1/E2.5 19 HD1/L1.1
7 HD1/E2.1 20 N2/L1.2
8 N1/E2.3 21 N2/L2.3
9 MSS1/E2.3 22 N2/L2.8
10 N2/E2.2 23 HD1/L2.1
11 N1/E3.4 24 MSS1/L2.6
12 MSS1/E3.1 25 N1/L2.3
13 MSS1/E3.4

Next steps

The user should, if appropriate, be referred to a suitable provider who can offer further IAG
support.

Details of suitable providers and how to access them can be found in the IA support pages
on the Skills for Health website.

Page 4 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

 1 9 people work in this team.

How many are missing?

Answer 4

2 A door entry code is: seven, three, five, nine.

Write the code in numbers in the correct order in the
boxes.

7 3 5 9

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 3 A dentist appointment is for Thursday.
The surgery rings the day before.
On which day will the surgery ring?

Tick the correct box.

Thursday Tuesday Wednesday Friday

4 A patient asks when breakfast will be served.

Which of these times would be sensible?

Write A, B, C or D in the answer box.

A 8 am
B 12 noon
C 4 pm
D 8 pm

Answer A

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 5 This is a list of telephone numbers in an office.

Benita McDonald Human Resources 2540

John Hawksley Finance 2554

Mita Patel Occupational Health 2539

Whitney Franklin Works 2569

What is Mita Patel’s number?

Write the number in the box.

Answer 2539

6 A doctor has told a patient to take 2 tablets, 4 times a

day.

How many tablets will the patient take in 3 days?

Write your answer in the box.

Answer 24

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 7 The chart shows how many patients a community
nurse saw in each quarter of 2008.

Number of patients seen in 2008

400
350
300
250
Number of
200
patients 150
100
50
0
1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter

2008

In which quarter did the community nurse see the

IIn patients?
most

Tick the correct box.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th

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8 The stock sheet shows the number of sterile gowns
used on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Daily Sterile Gowns Sheet

Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Large: 18 15 13
Small: 22 27 21
Total: 40 32 34

Which daily total is wrong?

Tick the correct box.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday

9 A bottle of medicine has a “use by” date of 6/11/13.

Which date should the medicine be used by?

Tick the correct box.

11th June 2013 13th June 2011

6th November 2013 13th November 2006

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 10 Four plastic bags of fluid are shown below.
Which bag is a ¼ full?

Write A, B, C or D in the answer box.

Answer C

11 A hospital volunteer visits 5 wards with the book trolley.

Each ward has 16 patients.

How many patients are visited?

Write your answer in the box.

Answer 80

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12 Your wages are £328.50 but tax and National Insurance
totalling £59.73 have to be taken out.

How much will you receive?

Tick the correct box.

£279.87 £268.77 £331.23 £368.77

13 This is an alphabetical list of clinics and their distance

from a hospital entrance.
A & E : 230 metres
Burns : 142 metres
Cardiology : 260 metres
Dermatology : 245 metres
ENT : 323 metres

Which clinic is nearest the entrance? Burns

Which clinic is furthest from the
entrance? ENT

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14 On an outing from a day centre 3 coaches are ordered
for 75 people.

How many people will there be in each coach?

Answer 25

15 The chart shows the number of Health & Safety

incidents at a hospital in 2008.

How many more incidents were there in the 2nd

quarter than in the 3rd quarter?

Number of incidents
70
60
50
40
Number
30
20
10
0
1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Quarter

Tick the correct box.

2 5 55 60

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 How are you doing?

Happy to go on?
If not, tell the person administering the Initial Assessment.

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 16 An electrician needs to know the volume of a day
room so that he can fit the correct size of extractor.

The dimensions of the day room are shown on the

diagram.

3m

4500mm
6000mm

Work out the volume of the day room using the

formula:
volume = height x width x depth
Tick the correct box.
27m³ 81m³ 8100m³

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17 The table shows the amount of overtime that a
receptionist has worked in a week.
Overtime
Monday 10 minutes
Tuesday 5 minutes
Wednesday 25 minutes
Thursday 35 minutes
Friday None

How much overtime has been worked in total?

Give your answer in hours to 2 decimal places. 1.25hrs

18 The fluid output from a patient is measured for six days.

Day Fluid output in ml.
Monday 785
Tuesday 456
Wednesday 356
Thursday 257
Friday 990
Saturday 876

What is the arithmetic average (mean) value of the

patient’s fluid output for the six days?
Answer 620 ml

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 19 A dietician plots the calorie intake of a patient from
their food diary over four days.

Calorie intake
2200
2100
2000
1900
1800
1700
Calories 1600
1500
1400
1300
1200
1100
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Day

How much more was the patient’s intake on

Wednesday than it was on Tuesday?
Answer 500 calories

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 20 A catering manager has a recipe for bread and butter
pudding for 60 people.

Reduce the quantities so that the recipe will be

suitable for 30 people.

Write your answers in the right-hand column.

Recipe for Bread & Butter Pudding

Quantities for Quantities for

Ingredients
60 people 30 people
Thick white bread 60 slices 30 slices

Butter 800g 400 g

Raisins 300g 150 g

Sultanas 500g 250 g

Caster sugar 600g 300 g

Eggs 40 20

Full cream milk 3600ml 1800 ml

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 How are you doing?

Happy to go on?
If not, tell the person administering the Initial Assessment.

Page 18 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

 21 An ambulance station serves four districts. The mileage
covered in each district last year (to the nearest
thousand miles) is shown in the table.
District Mileage (in thousands)
Central 48
North 8
West 12
East 4

What fraction of the total mileage was covered by the

Central district? Give your answer in its simplest form.

2
Answer /3

22 A manager has a draft budget of £57,500.

The finance department requests a reduction in this
budget of 12½%.
Calculate the revised budget to the nearest £10.

Answer £50,310

Page 19 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

 23 Clinical audit is monitoring the different categories of
patients visiting Accident & Emergency for their
February report.

Visits to A&E in February

400
350
300
Number of 250
Medical
visits 200
150 Surgical
100
Trauma
50
0 Others
1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Week

Which category of patients made the most visits to

A&E in February?
Tick the correct box.
Medical Surgical Trauma Others

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 24 A pharmacist has to calculate the weight of a person
in kilograms (kgs) in order to dispense the correct
dosage of a medicine.
The patient states their weight is 9½ stones.
Using 1 stone = 14lbs and the lbs/kgs conversion
chart below, what does the patient weigh in
kilograms?
350
Lbs
300

250

200

150

100

50

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Kgs

Answer Accept any answer from 59-61 kgs

Page 21 Numeracy Initial Assessment Marking Scheme and Guide

 25 A 12 year old child is prescribed 500mg of paracetamol
liquid to be repeated every four to six hours.
The paracetamol liquid strength is 125mg per 5ml.
How many millilitres should the child take for one dose?

Answer 20 ml

Well done! You have finished.

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