Optiver mental maths test: format, scoring and how to practise

Optiver's first screen for trading roles is a short arithmetic test taken under heavy time pressure. It is not hard maths. It is easy maths done fast, without a slip, while a clock runs down. That combination is trainable, and this guide covers what the test looks like and how to prepare for it in a few weeks.

Updated September 2026 · 7 minute read

What the test looks like

The version most people meet is known informally as the 80 in 8: eighty arithmetic questions, eight minutes, no calculator, no scrap paper. That is six seconds per question if you attempt every one, which almost nobody does. The questions are drawn from a small set of types:

• Addition and subtraction of two- and three-digit numbers.
• Multiplication of one- and two-digit numbers.
• Division, often set so the answer is exact or a short decimal.
• Fractions: adding, multiplying, and converting to decimals.
• Percentages and decimals, converting between them and taking a percentage of a number.
• Squares and square roots of small numbers.

Answers are typed, not multiple choice, so guessing has no upside. Optiver also runs a separate sequences or pattern test at some stages, and the later rounds include a market making game and probability questions. This guide covers the arithmetic screen only. The market making game has its own guide.

Scoring: why negative marking changes everything

The scoring rule that candidates report is plus one for a correct answer and minus two for a wrong one, with skipped questions scoring zero. Even if the exact penalty differs when you sit it, the principle is the same: a wrong answer costs more than a skipped one. That has three consequences.

1. Accuracy beats speed. Forty attempts at 95% accuracy scores 38 minus 4, which is 34. Sixty attempts at 80% accuracy scores 48 minus 24, which is 24. The slower, cleaner candidate wins by a distance.
2. Skipping is a skill. If a question does not resolve in your head within a couple of seconds, leave it. Coming back is rarely possible, so the decision has to be instant.
3. Your real target is your error rate. Most people who fail are not too slow. They are making one careless slip every eight or ten questions, and each slip wipes out three correct answers.

Pass marks are not published. The figures people quote for this format cluster in the mid-fifties out of eighty, which is roughly sixty correct with a handful of mistakes, in eight minutes. That is the standard to train towards.

The skill you are actually training

Nobody at Optiver cares whether you can multiply 17 by 23. They care whether you can hold a number in your head, do something to it, and produce a clean answer while your attention is split. Fast arithmetic is a proxy for how you will behave with a live price and an incoming order. That framing matters for practice: you need repetitions under time pressure, not more theory.

Three things separate people who pass from people who nearly pass:

• Automatic recall. Times tables to 12, squares to 25 or so, and the common fraction-to-decimal conversions (1/8 = 0.125, 1/6 = 0.1667, 7/8 = 0.875) should not involve thinking at all.
• One method per operation. Left-to-right addition, complements for subtraction, splitting one factor for multiplication. Deciding how to do a sum costs more time than doing it.
• A calm skip reflex. The clock is designed to make you rush. Rushing is exactly what the penalty punishes.

A four-week plan

This assumes fifteen to twenty minutes a day. More is fine, but short daily sessions beat one long weekend.

Week 1: single operations, accuracy only

Run two-minute sessions on one operation at a time: addition, then subtraction, then multiplication, then division. Ignore how many you answer. The only number that matters this week is accuracy, and it should be at 95% or above before you move on. If it is not, slow down until it is.

Week 2: fractions, percentages and conversions

These are where most people leak points. Drill fraction-to-decimal and back, percentages as decimals, and percentage-of questions until the conversions are recall rather than calculation. Keep the single-operation sessions going as a warm-up.

Week 3: mixed sessions, add speed

Switch to mixed mock sessions of five minutes. Now start watching your rate. Aim to lift questions per minute while holding accuracy above 93%. When accuracy dips, that is the signal to ease off the pace, not push through.

Week 4: full-length mocks under test conditions

Eight-minute mixed mocks, ideally at the same time of day as your real test, no pausing, phone away. Score them with the penalty applied: correct minus two times wrong. Track that number session by session. Two or three full mocks a day is plenty; more than that and fatigue starts teaching you bad habits.

On the day

• Do a five-minute warm-up drill an hour before. Cold arithmetic is slow arithmetic.
• Read each question once. Re-reading is where the seconds go.
• Type the answer and move on. Do not check it. Checking is a habit from exams that reward it. This one does not.
• If you feel the panic rise, skip two questions in a row on purpose. It resets the rhythm and costs nothing.

Practise it

Quickfire's maths drills are built around this exact test: the same operation types, typed answers, session lengths from one minute to a full eight, and a mixed mock that draws from every category. Sessions are free and work without an account. Sign in if you want your accuracy tracked over the four weeks.

Start an 8 minute mockDrill one operation