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The 4-Week NBT Countdown Checklist
4 weeks before
- Register online at www.nbt.ac.za and pay your EasyPay reference fee.
- Check your specific university faculty to confirm if you need to write just the AQL, or both AQL and MAT.
- Download the official exemplar questions from the NBT website.
2 weeks before
- Practise your mental arithmetic: put your calculator away and work on estimating percentages, fractions, and basic trig and algebra by hand.
- Work through the official NBT exemplars under timed conditions so you get used to the pace.
- If you are writing MAT, focus on number sense, formulae (e.g. compound interest), and solving before looking at options.
1 week before
- Familiarise yourself with the multiple-choice format: solve each question fully on scrap paper before looking at the options to avoid "distractor" answers.
- Confirm your venue and that your ID name matches your registration. Get your stationery and lunch plan ready.
- Taper off heavy study; light review and rest will help you stay sharp on test day.
Test day
- Arrive at 7:30 AM.
- Bring your official ID (the name must match your registration exactly).
- Pack a good lunch, as you will be writing the AQL for 3 hours in the morning and the MAT for 3 hours in the afternoon (if you are writing both).
Stick to the timeline that works for you: the important thing is to register early, use the exemplars, build no-calculator and multiple-choice habits, and arrive on test day with everything you need and a clear head.
Ready to put this into practice?
Our NBT courses are designed around the same strategies and content areas—with practice questions, exemplar-style tasks, and no-calculator drills.
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