PRACTICE GUIDE DA VINCI
Da Vinci Numerical Quiz Practice
The Da Vinci numerical quiz screen is 20 questions in 12 minutes - about 36 seconds each - answered by typing the number, with no calculator. There is no negative marking, so leaving an item blank gains you nothing over guessing.
Where it sits: Numerical quiz, first online round. The practice sitting on this page runs the same item count, the same clock and the same marking rule, with questions generated by Outcry rather than taken from Da Vinci.
Outcry is not affiliated with Da Vinci and has no access to their assessment content. This guide describes an assessment format that candidates report publicly; the questions here are generated by Outcry and are not Da Vinci’s own.
What it screens
A derivatives market maker in Amsterdam trading options across European and Asian markets.
- ✓Two-digit multiplication and division without writing anything down
- ✓Fraction and decimal conversion at a glance
- ✓Percentage moves in both directions (a 20% drop needs +25% to recover)
- ✓Knowing when to skip: negative marking punishes guessing
Where it sits at Da Vinci
This section does not arrive on its own. It opens the paper, and the sitting around it runs 37 minutes and 34 items in total, with Career Match on the same continuous clock. Candidates who prepare only for this round tend to be caught by the pacing of the rest.
There is no going back. You answer or skip, and the next item loads, which means the decision to leave an item is final at the moment you make it.
The format
These are the numbers the Da Vinci sitting on this site runs on, matching the format candidates report.
| Questions | 20 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12 minutes |
| Per question | 36 seconds |
| Negative marking | No |
| Answer style | Typed numeric answer, no calculator |
| Where it sits | Numerical quiz, first online round |
What it tests, with a worked example
Every example below is generated by Outcry, drawn from the same question generators the timed drills run. None of them is Da Vinci’s.
Two-digit multiplication
Products you are expected to reach by splitting rather than by long multiplication.
Example 1
25²
Answer 625
25² = 625.
Example 2
35% of 500
Answer 175
Swap it: 35% of 500 = 500% of 35 = 175.
Example 3
62% of 400
Answer 248
Swap it: 62% of 400 = 400% of 62 = 248.
Fast division
Exact quotients where the divisor is chosen to make a shortcut available.
Example 1
22.5 ÷ 0.5
Answer 45
Scale both by 10: 225 ÷ 5 = 45. A decimal divisor is only ever a whole one in disguise.
Example 2
588 ÷ 7
Answer 84
7 × 84 = 588, so the quotient is 84.
Example 3
0.25 × 132
Answer 33
A quarter of 132: halve it twice, 66 then 33.
Fractions and decimals
Converting between the two on sight, and reducing without pencil work.
Example 1
25% of 25% of 400
Answer 25
Multiply the fractions first: 25% × 25% = 6.25%, and 6.25% of 400 = 25.
Example 2
352 ÷ 11
Answer 32
11 × 32 = 352, so the quotient is 32.
Example 3
25% of 50% of 400
Answer 50
Multiply the fractions first: 25% × 50% = 12.5%, and 12.5% of 400 = 50.
Mixed operations under a clock
Several steps in one item, where the order you take them decides whether it fits in the time.
Example 1
73.46 + 7.08 = ?
Answer 80.54
73.46 + 7.08 = 80.54.
Example 2
After a 50% rise a price is 90. What was it before?
Answer 60
Divide, do not subtract: 90/1.5 = 60.
Example 3
337 × 5 = ?
Answer 1685
× 5 is × 10 ÷ 2: 3,370/2 = 1,685.
Knowing when to skip
On a negatively marked paper an item you cannot see a route through is worth leaving.
Additive chains
Long sums and differences where grouping to round numbers beats working left to right.
Example 1
783 + 557 = ?
Answer 1340
Round 557 to 560, add, then correct by -3: 1,340.
Example 2
2/3 as a decimal, three decimal places?
Answer 0.667
1/3 = 0.333, so 2/3 = 0.667.
Example 3
4/11 of 352 = ?
Answer 128
352/11 = 32, times 4 = 128.
What a good score looks like
On a paper of 20 questions with no penalty for a wrong answer, the only thing an unanswered question can do is cost you. Candidates most often report a pass mark around 70 per cent of the questions attempted correctly, with the strongest scores well above that. Nothing here is a published figure: firms move these by role, region and year, and most never state them at all.
How to train for it
- 01Drill the arithmetic cold, untimed, until you stop making careless errors. Speed on top of shaky accuracy is worth negative marks on a paper that subtracts.
- 02Sit a full timed screen end to end, so the pacing decisions happen under the same pressure as the real thing.
- 03Work the operation you avoid. Almost everyone has one - long division, or fractions, or subtraction with a borrow - and it is where the dropped marks cluster.
TRAIN IT HERE
The drills that match each section
Arithmetic Drill
2.5 timed minutes of exactly this question mix, with a ghost of your best past run to race.
Duck Duck Dash
Endless mental-math runner - one mistake ends the run, and the questions climb through ten difficulty tiers.
Sequence Sprint
Pattern recognition under the same per-question time pressure.
SIT THE FULL BATTERY
All the sections back to back on one clock, marked the way the real screen marks them, with a by-skill breakdown at the end. Included with any pass.
Also reported at Da Vinci
Common questions
- Is the Da Vinci numerical quiz test multiple choice?
- Typed numeric answer, no calculator. You type the number, so there is nothing to eliminate your way to.
- How long is the Da Vinci numerical quiz test?
- 20 questions in 12 minutes, which is about 36 seconds each.
- Is there negative marking on the Da Vinci numerical quiz test?
- No. A wrong answer costs nothing beyond the mark you would have earned, so leaving an item blank is never better than guessing at it.
- How do I practise for it free?
- Every drill linked on this page is free to play, with no account, inside a daily run cap. Questions are generated fresh each run, so there is nothing to memorise between attempts. The full Da Vinci Numerical Quiz and Career Match sitting puts the sections back to back on one clock.