Estonian Basic-School Mathematics Exam study guide
Estonian Basic-School Mathematics Exam · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Estonian basic-school mathematics final examination (põhikooli matemaatika lõpueksam) is the school-leaving assessment taken at the end of year 9, normally around age 15–16. It is intended for students completing põhikool, and it also matters to anyone who needs a recognised proof of basic-school mathematics competence - for example, candidates planning to enter upper secondary school (gümnaasium) or vocational education, or adults returning to complete basic education. The Estonian Basic-School Mathematics Exam study guide has 7 sections and about 3,436 words.
01Numbers and Calculation
This domain checks whether you can move confidently between natural numbers (0, 1, 2, …), integers, rational numbers (anything writable as a fraction a/b with integers a and b ≠ 0, which includes terminating and repeating decimals) and irrational real numbers such as √2 and π. Exam tasks usually combine several of these: simplify a numeric expression with powers, compare a fraction with a decimal, round a large result to a sensible number of significant figures, or decide whether a divisibility claim is true.
490 words, about 2 min02Algebra
Algebra in the basic-school exam means manipulating expressions, solving equations and inequalities, handling linear systems, and rearranging formulas so that a named variable becomes the subject. Questions often come as a mixture: simplify first, then solve, then check whether the solution is allowed.
488 words, about 2 min03Functions and Graphs
This domain asks you to read information off a graph, to draw a graph from a formula or a table, and to interpret a graph that models a real situation. The functions in the basic-school programme are the linear function y = kx + b, direct proportionality y = kx, and the quadratic function y = ax² + bx + c.
521 words, about 3 min04Geometry
Geometry covers plane figures and their perimeters and areas, solids and their volumes and surface areas, measurement with unit conversion, similarity, the Pythagorean theorem, and the basic trigonometric ratios in a right-angled triangle. Angles: the angles of a triangle sum to 180°, of a quadrilateral to 360°.
470 words, about 2 min05Statistics and Probability
This domain covers collecting and organising data, reading and drawing diagrams, calculating averages, and finding simple probabilities. Typical exam items give a frequency table or a diagram and ask you to compute and then interpret - for example to say which average best describes the data.
490 words, about 2 min06Word Problems and Modelling
Multi-step problems set in real life: shopping and discounts, percentages and interest, speed and travel, sharing in a ratio, scale drawings, mixtures and simple work rates. The exam is testing whether you can translate text into mathematics, carry the calculation through with correct units, and return to the context with a sensible answer.
486 words, about 2 min07Mathematical Reasoning and Communication
This domain is assessed inside every other task: can you show a complete chain of reasoning, justify a claim rather than just assert it, use notation and units correctly, and present the solution so a reader can follow it? Exam tasks include justify, explain why, show that, decide whether the statement is true, and give a counterexample.
491 words, about 2 min