The ABCs of the NBTs with Advantage Learn

Matric is a testing time…both literally and figuratively. The focus, determination and hard work required to get the best marks that you are capable of, tests not only the limits of your heart and mind but of your soul and family aswell. The amount of test (or exam) writing required to get into the tertiary education course of your choice is, well, testing. Afterall, a quick google search of the term itself will tell you it refers to, “revealing a person’s capabilities by putting them under strain; challenging”. This is where Advantage Learn and their NBT Prep course steps in with some NBT help and disentanglement.

NBT Basics

The NBT is a set of standardised tests created to assist South African tertiary institutions in evaluating the strength, weaknesses and capabilities of prospective students. A good NBT score has become a crucial milestone for Matriculants to achieve in order to gain a place on many courses in the countries top universities. See Advantage Learn’s detailed NBT info page here. The NBT focuses on 2 general sections. The AQL section being made up of the Academic Literacy (AL), Quantitative Literacy (QL) sub-sections, and the MAT section which incorporates Core Maths (mainly the Gr 11 syllabus). One of the main things that differentiates the NBT from the testing experienced in South African High Schools, is that the NBT is 100% multiple choice (as are many tests in University). Thus, the secondary education system in South Africa does not prepare students to be tested on subjects they may excel at, in this format. As the NBTs are a relatively new programme (initiated in 2008), many parents (and so their school going children) may not be aware of the specialised format of these tests. Advantage Learn, however, is.

The Advantage Learn Advantage

The Advantage Learn NBT Preparation courses are designed to introduce students to strategies to use to approach ‘well known’ topics (such as Mathematics and Literacy), that will enable them to cope with a strictly timed and specifically constructed multiple choice test. Further to this, many, if not all of the students requiring a good NBT score to get into the more competitive courses (such as Health Sciences) are Core maths students. Thus the content and approach to Mathematics evident in the MAT section will be familiar. However, the QL section requires data manipulation and application skills in mathematics that are more familiar to those taking Maths Literacy. Thus without access to any NBT past papers (each paper is different and closely guarded), Core Maths learners need a way to prepare themselves to answer these QL questions.

This course is available to learners in many forms – it can be bought as a purely online course, or a blended course with access to both the online content, and an in person NBT workshop. The online content not only includes hours of video tutorials, but a specially designed 60 question mock  NBT.

The Advantage Learn course provides NBT test preparation by allowing students to familiarise themselves with the required question and answer style of a multiple choice test that covers both Core Maths skill and the more ‘application’ focused Literacy questions. The course is not based on past papers (as these are unavailable), but rather the experience, insight and expertise of a team of dedicated mathematics educators. This team generates their own content to provide learners with a chance at preparing themselves as best as they can for the NBT. The NBT cannot be learnt for, however, students who wish to prepare as best as they can for the day of their NBT will definitely benefit from the Advantage Learn NBT Preparation Course.