Practice test for the maths catch-up exam, liceo scientifico.
The September exam is just around the corner. Before rereading the whole book, find out in exactly one hour where you really lose points: 20 timed questions on your year’s programme, with a score, weak points by topic and the correct answer to every exercise; the step-by-step solution unlocks with your first lesson.
Choose your year and start. If you would rather understand first how the real exam works, read the complete guide to the maths catch-up exam.
The catch-up exam is the test an Italian high-school student sits in late August or September to make up a subject failed during the school year; the liceo scientifico is the science-oriented high school.
Test in ItalianThe questions of this simulator are in Italian, as in the real exam.
- Year 1
Maths catch-up exam, Year 1
The Year 1 catch-up exam centres on algebraic manipulation, factorising and first-degree equations.
- Algebraic manipulation and special products
- Factorising
- Algebraic fractions and domain restrictions
- First-degree equations (with and without fractions) and word problems
- …and more
- Year 2
Maths catch-up exam, Year 2
The Year 2 catch-up exam centres on radicals, quadratic equations and inequalities.
- Radicals and rationalising the denominator
- Quadratic equations (including with a parameter)
- Linear and quadratic inequalities, including fractions
- Linear systems
- …and more
- Year 3
Maths catch-up exam, Year 3
The Year 3 catch-up exam centres on absolute value, equations with radicals, functions and conics.
- Equations and inequalities with absolute value and with radicals
- Higher-degree inequalities and inequalities with fractions
- Functions: domain, composition, inverse
- The line and families of lines
- …and more
- Year 4
Maths catch-up exam, Year 4
The Year 4 catch-up exam centres on trigonometry, exponentials and logarithms.
- Trigonometric identities and related angles
- Trigonometric equations and inequalities
- Trigonometry: sine, cosine, solving triangles
- Exponentials and logarithms
- …and more
How the catch-up works, in brief.
What does the real catch-up exam look like?
Most schools set a written test of 90–120 minutes with 5–8 exercises, often without a calculator, sometimes followed by a short oral that starts from a discussion of the written paper. 80% of the exercises are pure technique — factorising, equations, inequalities, systems — at textbook difficulty, plus one problem or a theory question. A pass is a 6 out of 10: correct basic theory and application in the simple cases.
Why does the practice test last 60 minutes?
Because multiple choice is quicker than a written paper: 20 questions in an hour cover the same programme as a two-hour written test. The aim is not to reproduce the strain of the real exam, but to show you, in exactly one hour, where you are weak, topic by topic.
Are the questions on my year’s programme?
Yes: there is a separate practice test for each year (Year 1, 2, 3 and 4), built on the typical programme of the liceo scientifico for that year. Note: some schools bring exponentials and logarithms forward to Year 3 — here you find them in the Year 4 test, which is the most common placement. If your programme is different, also try the test for the adjacent year.
What happens if I do not make up the failed subject?
The class council decides: a single failed subject that is not made up does not automatically mean repeating the year, but it is up to the council to judge whether to admit you to the next one. That is why it pays to arrive at the exam having closed the real gaps, rather than having reread the whole book in a rush.
How long does it take to prepare for the September exam?
With 2–3 weeks of targeted revision you almost always make it. The method that works: first the practice test to find the gaps, then exercises only on those 2–3 topics, then the practice test again to check. If you want a hand, 6–8 targeted lessons are usually enough to arrive calm.
Are the solutions free?
The marking is: the correct answer to every question and your weak points by topic reach you by email — with an account you see them straight away on this page. The step-by-step explained solution, on the other hand, unlocks with your first lesson.
A few weeks to the exam?
Take the practice test, then we look at the results together in a free diagnostic: I tell you honestly how many lessons you need and on which topics. Usually 6–8 targeted lessons are enough to make up the subject calmly. See also maths tutoring and the page on catching up in maths and physics.