What the NBT is, and how it is scored
The National Benchmark Tests measure how ready you are for university mathematics and academic reading. Some South African universities use them alongside the National Senior Certificate to decide entry; others use them to decide what support you will be given once you are in. They are not a second matric, and they are not meant to be: the NBT calls them a snapshot of your competencies at one point in time.
There are two tests, and you write both on the same day
The AQL (Academic and Quantitative Literacy) is written in a three-hour morning session. The MAT (Mathematics) is written the same day, in a three-hour afternoon session. You may not write one on one day and the other on another. Which tests you need, and by when, is decided by each university and faculty — not by the NBT.
Check-in closes at 7:30 AM, your ID is checked before you may write, and bathroom breaks are not allowed once a session starts. Plan for three hours in your seat.
What you may take in — and what you may not
| You will need | You may not bring |
|---|---|
| Your South African ID book, ID card or passport | A calculator |
| Two sharpened pencils and an eraser | A dictionary |
| Lunch and water | Scrap paper and notebooks |
| Proof that your test fees are paid | Phones, tablets and smart watches |
Two of those surprise people every year. No calculator — every number in the test is meant to be workable by hand. And no scrap paper — you work in the white space of the question booklet, so it is worth practising small, neat working long before test day. Everything you are not using goes on the floor beside you.
What the Mathematics test examines
The NBT lists five competence areas for the MAT, and places every question at one of four cognitive levels: knowing, performing routine procedures, performing complex procedures, and reasoning, reflecting and problem solving.
- Problem solving and modelling — algebraic processes, and functions represented by graphs and equations
- Basic trigonometry, including graphs, identities, equations and the area, sine and cosine rules in two and three dimensions
- Spatial perception — properties of 2D and 3D shapes, perimeter, area and volume, and analytic geometry
- Data handling — measurement, representation, and the interpretation of both
- Logical skills — making deductions and deciding whether a given assertion is true
Two different lists, and they get confused
The competence areas above are what the NBT's website publishes. Your result, though, is broken down differently: the National Report groups the same material into five diagnostic subdomains — algebraic processing, number sense, functions and graphs, trigonometric functions and graphs, and geometric reasoning. The two lists are not the same, and only the second has published national figures. Three placements settle most arguments: analytic geometry is counted under geometric reasoning, calculus under functions and graphs, and probability under number sense — there is no data-handling subdomain in the reporting.
How your result is reported
Your score places you in one of three benchmark categories: Proficient, Intermediate or Basic. Roughly, Proficient means you are likely to cope with the regular programme, Intermediate that you will need some support, and Basic that you will need a great deal of it.
The cut-off percentages are not fixed for ever. The NBT says benchmarks are revised and reset every three years, so any site quoting exact boundaries may be quoting an old set — including this one, which is why it does not. Read the current levels on the NBT's own benchmark levels page.
What the national results actually look like
From the NBT's National Report for the 2023 intake cycle, across 39 856 candidates, the median mark in each MAT subdomain was:
| Subdomain | National median |
|---|---|
| Geometric reasoning | 41 |
| Functions and graphs | 39 |
| Trigonometric functions and graphs | 38 |
| Algebraic processing | 36 |
| Number sense | 28 |
Number sense is the weakest nationally and by far the most spread out — and it is the one most people assume they can skip, because it looks like primary-school arithmetic. It is not: it is fractions, ratio, percentage and financial reasoning done quickly and without a calculator.
What nobody can tell you
How many of the 60 questions fall in each area is not published. Neither the website nor the National Report gives those counts; the report gives performance, not question numbers. So when a book or a site prints "algebra is 25% of the paper", that figure is invented. We took ours out when we checked. Practise every area — it is 60 questions and they are mixed together, with no sections.
Where to practise each of them
Our free NBT Mathematics book works through all of it, with every question explained in full and every wrong option accounted for. The study guide and formula sheet gathers every formula the test draws on in one place, which matters more than usual in a test that hands you nothing. There is a full Afrikaans edition as well, and a timed mock test when you want to sit one under pressure.
Sources: the NBT's own pages for the Mathematics test, what to expect and interpreting your results, and the NBT National Report for the 2023 intake cycle. Mathbench is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the NBT or any university.