Quantitative Reasoning is 40 questions in 45 minutes covering algebra, data analysis and applied problem solving. It is the only DAT section with a calculator, and the maths itself does not go beyond what most applicants met before university.
You get add, subtract, multiply, divide, square root, percentage and reciprocal — nothing more. It will not help you with a poorly set-up problem, and reaching for it reflexively costs time. The skill it rewards is setting the arithmetic up correctly, then executing it quickly.
Just over a minute a question
45 minutes for 40 questions is about 67 seconds each. That is comfortable for a routine algebra question and tight for a multi-step word problem, so the section rewards recognising early which kind you are looking at — and being willing to flag and return rather than grinding.
The content ceiling is lower than people expect
Quantitative Reasoning does not reach calculus. It is algebra, data interpretation, geometry and applied word problems. For most applicants the limiting factor is speed and accuracy on material they already know, which makes timed practice more valuable than fresh content study.
This section reports one score (Quantitative Reasoning) on the 200–600 scale. See where any score falls with the DAT score calculator.
Only in Quantitative Reasoning. A basic on-screen calculator is available in that section alone, offering addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, percentages and reciprocals. No calculator is available in Natural Sciences, Perceptual Ability or Reading Comprehension.
Algebra, ratios and proportions, percentages, rates and work problems, probability and basic statistics, data interpretation, geometry and trigonometric ratios. The section does not reach calculus.
40 questions in 45 minutes, which is about 67 seconds per question. It is the shortest section on the exam by both question count and time.
Yes. It is one of the five scores averaged into the Academic Average, alongside Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Reading Comprehension. Only Perceptual Ability is excluded.