1. Which list is in order from the SMALLEST capacity to the largest?
ICAS Mathematics Paper A (Year 3)
Paper A is the entry level of ICAS Mathematics, sat by Year 3 students in Australia. Entry is through your child's school, an ICAS testing centre or an ICAS partner, not through us.
Last updated: 17 October 2026
What the paper looks like
Forty questions in 45 minutes, most of them multiple choice with four options. The integer-answer questions that appear in the upper papers start at Paper D.
Questions are spread across five areas: number and arithmetic, algebra and patterns, measures and units, space and geometry, and chance and data. Number, measurement and geometry each take about a quarter of the paper, and the split is much the same at every level.
What Year 3 content actually shows up
The paper draws on what Year 3 has covered, then keeps going past it. Expect place value into the thousands, addition and subtraction with regrouping, early multiplication and division, and simple fractions of a shape or a group. On the measurement side: length, mass, time on both analogue and digital clocks, and calendars. Space questions cover 2D shapes, symmetry, and position and direction. Data is usually a picture graph or a column graph to read.
What makes it ICAS rather than a school test is the framing. The arithmetic is ordinary; the difficulty sits in working out what is being asked.
Where Year 3 students lose marks
Three patterns account for most of it:
- Scales where not every mark is labelled. A ruler or measuring jug with only some numbers printed catches children who have only read fully labelled scales at school.
- Two-step questions. A child who can do both steps separately will still stumble when the paper does not signal that there are two.
- Time across the hour. "How long from 2:45 to 3:20" is a different skill from reading a clock face, and it is tested here.
What the mark will look like
ICAS marks run lower than school tests by design. The paper keeps stretching students well past year level, so a result that looks disappointing on a school scale can be a strong ICAS result — read it against the distribution rather than as a percentage.
How to prepare for Paper A
At this age, familiarity matters more than volume. A child who has sat one or two full 45-minute papers knows what forty questions feels like and does not panic at question 30. Beyond that, the useful work is narrow: read real scales around the house, and get into the habit of saying the two steps out loud before writing anything.
Common questions
Which year level sits ICAS Paper A?
Year 3. ICAS names its papers by letter rather than by year — Paper A is Year 3 and Paper F is Year 8 — so a Year 3 student sits Paper A.
How long is Maths Paper A?
40 questions in 45 minutes.
Is Paper A all multiple choice?
Mostly. Papers A, B and C are mostly multiple choice, and the integer-answer questions, where a number has to be produced rather than chosen, start at Paper D.
Year 3 also sits: English Paper A · Spelling Paper A · Science Paper A
Sample questions
Try each one first, then open the answer and worked solution under it.
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: A
Think about how much liquid each one holds.
A teaspoon holds only a few millilitres, a mug holds a few hundred millilitres, and a bucket holds several litres.
From smallest to largest that is teaspoon, mug, bucket.
The order is teaspoon, mug, bucket.
2. Is this angle closer to a right angle or closer to a straight line?
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: C
A right angle is a square corner, and a straight line is a completely flat, opened-out angle.
This angle has opened out well past a square corner, and it is nearly flat.
So it sits much closer to the straight line than to the right angle.
The angle is closer to a straight line, because it has almost flattened out.
3. What fraction of the circle is shaded?
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: D
The circle is cut into 3 equal slices.
1 slice is shaded, so the fraction is 1 over 3.
1 over 3 of the circle is shaded.
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More ICAS maths papers: Paper B (Year 4)
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