Year 4 maths, English and science practice for NSW

What your child works on in Year 4

Maths

Place value to tens of thousands, adding and subtracting 4-digit numbers, multiplying a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number, dividing with remainders, equivalent fractions, decimals to hundredths, measuring length, mass and capacity, elapsed time, angles, 3D objects and grid maps. For the OC test the list also holds some Stage 3 maths, such as long division, percentages, 24-hour time and the mean.

English

Prefixes and suffixes, homophones, base words and what an added part means, adjectives and adverbs, joining clauses with and, but, so and because, commas in lists, and reading for sequence, inference and why the writer wrote it.

Science

Living and non-living things, life cycles, the features that help an animal survive, food chains, solids, liquids and gases, heating and cooling, choosing a material for a job, light and shadow, forces, the Sun's path, the water cycle and fair tests.

Years 3 and 4 share Stage 2 of the NSW syllabus, so Learnest works from one list of Stage 2 skills. The first day in each subject is a check, so a Year 4 child who is ready starts on the later skills.

Tests around Year 4

• OC-style practice for the Year 4 placement testChildren sit the OC placement test in Year 4. From your parent page you can set an OC-style thinking skills paper.
• OC and selective test applications for 2028 entryThe last round's OC application and test dates, and where the next ones will appear.
• Thinking skills practice for Years 3 to 6On maths days the stretch question can be a thinking skills question in the style of the OC test.
• AMC-style maths competition practice for Years 3 to 8AMC Middle Primary is for Years 3 and 4.

Sample questions

Questions from Learnest's own Stage 2 question bank. Try each one, then open the worked answer.

Or hand the device over: let your child try seven questions on the real screens, about five minutes, no sign-up.

Pick an answer to check it. Try a wrong one too: you see the mistake that usually leads to it.

1. Sample

   1Maths: fraction of a quantity

   Noah counts 25 students. ⁴⁄₅ of them go to sport. How many do not go?

   Your child types the answer.

   See the worked answer

   Answer: 5

   One fifth is 5 students, so ⁴⁄₅ is 20 and 25 take away that leaves 5.

2. Sample

   2Maths: elapsed time

   How many minutes are there from 9:50 am to 11:05 am?

   Your child types the answer.

   See the worked answer

   Answer: 75

   From 9:50 to 10:00 is 10 minutes, then one whole hour to 11:00, then 5 minutes more, making 75 minutes.

3. Sample

   3English: what a pronoun refers to

   The dog chased the ball across the park. When Noah threw it again, the dog ran after it. What does 'it' refer to?

   1. AOption A: the ball
   2. BOption B: the dog
   3. COption C: the park
   4. DOption D: Noah
   See the worked answer

   Answer: A, the ball

   The pronoun it points to the thing being thrown and chased, the ball.

4. Sample

   4Science: forces and friction

   The same ball is rolled just as hard across thick carpet and across a smooth wooden floor. Where does it roll further, and why?

   1. AOption A: On the wooden floor, as it has less friction
   2. BOption B: On the carpet, as it has more friction
   3. COption C: On the wooden floor, as the floor pulls it along
   4. DOption D: The same on both, as the push was the same
   See the worked answer

   Answer: A, On the wooden floor, as it has less friction

   Friction slows a rolling ball. Rough carpet rubs on the ball more than a smooth floor does, so the ball rolls further on the wooden floor.

Questions parents ask