The "Last Digit" Trick: Speed Maths Hacks for the Selective Test — Selective online test papers & screen-based prep

The Time Crunch In the "Mathematical Reasoning" test, you have about 70 seconds per question. You do not have time to do long division for everything. You need shortcuts.

Hack 1: The Last Digit Trick Question: 1234 × 5678 = ? Options: A) 7,006,650, B) 7,006,652, C) 7,006,653. Strategy: Don't multiply the whole thing! Just multiply the last digits: 4 × 8 = 32. The answer must end in 2. Look at the options. Only B ends in 2. You solved it in 5 seconds.

Hack 2: Estimation (The "Close Enough" Rule) Question: What is 49 × 21? Strategy: Round them to nice numbers. 50 × 20. 5 × 2 = 10, add two zeros = 1000. Look for the answer closest to 1000. (The real answer is 1029).