OLNA numeracy section — realistic for adult returners with an 18-year gap?
I'm 34 and going back to finish year 12 equivalency in Western Australia. I left school at 16 and haven't done formal maths since then. My literacy is fine — I read constantly and I'm not worried about that component at all. The numeracy section is what's keeping me up at night.
From what I've read the OLNA numeracy covers number and algebra, measurement and geometry, and statistics and probability. It's not university-level maths but for someone who hasn't touched algebra in 18 years it might as well be. I've been doing Khan Academy exercises for about 4 weeks now. Progress is happening but slowly.
I'm sitting the assessment in about 10 weeks. My practice scores on the sample questions are around 55-60%, and the benchmark is 73 correct out of 101 questions on the actual assessment. I need to close that gap and I'm not sure if I'm doing the right things. Anyone who's done OLNA as an adult have a sense of how long it realistically took to feel comfortable with the numeracy content?
The measurement and geometry section was my weakest area. Perimeter, area, and volume calculations are fair game and if you haven't done them in a long time they'll take longer than you expect to get fast at. Give that section a dedicated week before exam day.
I passed on my second sitting. First time I didn't take the time constraint seriously and ran out of time on the back third of the paper. Practice with a hard 45-minute limit and you'll be in much better shape.
Going from 57% to 73% in 10 weeks is realistic if you're putting in an hour a day consistently. The statistics section is actually the most manageable for adults — reading graphs and interpreting data is something people do intuitively. Don't let it scare you.
I did OLNA at 29 after being out of school for 11 years. Khan Academy is the right call — I'd also add the SCSA sample assessments to your rotation. The real exam questions are close in style and doing them timed is more useful than open practice at this stage.