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Numerical exercise · ~3 min a run · free

Audio Arithmetic

Hear the sum, hold the numbers, key the exact answer.

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Some selection batteries read arithmetic problems out loud through a headset and never show them on screen, which regularly surprises candidates who prepared only on visual drills. This exercise recreates that format: a short beep, then a spoken problem, then you key the exact answer on a calculator-style keypad and confirm it with OK. There are no answer options to lean on, so you must hold both numbers in your head while you work. Choose Easy, Medium or Hard to widen the numbers, mix harder operations, quicken the voice and shorten the answer window.

About this test

What this test measures

This exercise measures numerical fluency when the problem arrives by ear: holding two spoken numbers in working memory while you calculate an exact answer and key it in before the window closes. Some selection batteries deliver mental arithmetic entirely through headphones with typed answers, and candidates who prepared only on visual drills consistently report the audio delivery as the surprise of the day, so the listening load is trained here as deliberately as the maths.

How to improve your score

  • Echo the spoken problem back to yourself once before calculating; most audio-arithmetic errors are a drifted operand, not a wrong method.
  • Drill squares up to 30 and cubes up to 10 until they are instant, so recognising 289 or 729 removes whole calculation steps.
  • Practise keying and confirming answers on a keypad without looking down, because a strict delete-and-confirm entry flow is part of the real format.

Good to know

  • Technique: echo the numbers before you calculate

    Most audio-arithmetic errors are memory slips, not maths slips: by the time you finish working, one operand has drifted. Repeat the spoken problem back to yourself once, thirty-four plus seventeen, then calculate. The echo costs a second and saves the item. If you lose a number mid-way, replaying (in practice) beats guessing.

  • The documented prep baseline

    Candidates preparing for audio-delivered number work drill squares up to 30 and cubes up to 10 until they are instant, because recognising 289 as 17 squared or 729 as 9 cubed removes whole calculation steps. Add the round-and-adjust habit from Mental Arithmetic and most spoken problems reduce to one held number and one easy correction.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the arithmetic spoken instead of shown?

Because that is a real selection format: some batteries deliver mental arithmetic entirely through headphones with typed answers, and the audio delivery itself is what catches candidates out. Working from a heard problem loads your working memory as well as your arithmetic, so it needs its own practice.

Is this exercise affiliated with any airline selection test or testing company?

No. This is an original SkyStudy exercise. Every problem and voice is generated by us, and it is not affiliated with any test publisher, airline or assessment centre, nor does it predict the outcome of a real selection.

I cannot hear anything. Can I still practise?

Yes. Playback uses your browser's built-in speech. If that is unavailable, the problem is shown as text instead, with a note reminding you that the real format is audio only, so treat the visual version as a fallback rather than the target skill.

How is it scored?

Your score is the percentage of problems answered exactly right, from 0 to 100. There is no partial credit and no options to guess from: an unconfirmed or expired answer counts as wrong, which mirrors the strict typed-entry convention of the real format.

Why is the voice slower than I expected?

Candidates consistently report that real audio-delivered arithmetic reads more slowly and deliberately than prep tools, and that the slow pace is itself disorienting. The reading speed here is calibrated to that, and it quickens slightly at higher difficulty.

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