PERT Mathematics is 30 untimed, adaptive multiple-choice questions on arithmetic and algebra, from signed numbers to linear systems and quadratic equations. Florida’s college-ready Math score is 114. This guide covers the topics, works two sample questions, lists the mistakes that cost points and links free practice and lessons for every topic.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated November 5, 2026 · 10 min read
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PERT Math at a glance
PERT Mathematics format
Detail
What to know
Questions
30 multiple-choice questions
Scored and unscored
25 scored questions and 5 unscored field-test questions. You won’t be told which 5 are unscored, so treat every question as if it counts
Timing
Untimed: no official time limit
Navigation
Computer-adaptive; you must answer each question to move on and cannot go back
Calculator
You can’t bring your own calculator unless an approved disability accommodation allows one; an on-screen calculator appears only on some math questions
What it reports
One Mathematics score from 50 to 150, used for math placement on its own
Mathematics is one of three PERT subjects, alongside Reading and Writing. Each is scored and used for placement separately, never averaged. The PERT exam guide covers the rules that apply to all three.
The test is computer-adaptive: the next question is chosen from your answers to earlier ones, so the questions you see depend on how you answer. Because you must answer before you move on and cannot return to a submitted question, all of your checking happens while the question is still on screen.
Untimed does not mean open-ended, because testing centers close. Colleges’ own estimates range from about two hours to more than three for all three subjects; the PERT test dates guide lists them by college. In 2015, FDOE reported that the Mathematics subtest averaged about 30 minutes. Treat that as a historical figure, not a limit. If you take all three subjects at Valencia College, you take Reading and Writing first and Math last.
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What PERT Math tests
The FDOE-linked PERT study guide lists seven Mathematics skill items: solving linear equations, linear inequalities, quadratic equations and literal equations; evaluating algebraic expressions; factoring, simplifying, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing polynomials; dividing by monomials and binomials; applying standard algorithms or concepts; lines on the coordinate plane; and pairs of simultaneous linear equations. It also tells students to review order of operations, exponents and percents. The table below is our grouping of the study guide’s skill list, the way our free course teaches it, with the lesson for each topic. Our course adds rational expressions, which build on factoring; they are not named in the guide’s list.
PERT Math topics (our grouping of the study guide’s skill list) and the matching free lessons
Topic group
What you need to do
Free lessons
Arithmetic
Work with negative numbers, fractions, percents, proportions and integer exponents, in the correct order of operations
Solve multistep and fractional equations, spot identities and contradictions, solve for a named variable, and solve single and compound inequalities and word problems
These practice questions were written by Test Ninjas in the four-choice format of the public study-guide samples. They are not real PERT questions. Try each one first.
Example 1 · Medium · Signed numbers and order of operations
Evaluate −3² + (−3)² + 8 ÷ (−2).
A.−4
B.0
C.4
D.14
Answer: A (−4)
How to solve it
Exponents come before the leading negative sign, so −3² means −(3²), which is −9.
With parentheses the base is −3, so (−3)² = 9.
Divide next: 8 ÷ (−2) = −4.
Add from left to right: −9 + 9 + (−4) = −4, which is choice A.
Choice D (14) is the trap: it reads −3² as 9.
Why it works: The first power is −9; the parenthesized power is 9. They cancel. The remaining quotient is −4. Treating both powers as 9 would give 14.
Example 2 · Medium · Interpreting and modeling systems
A theater sells 18 tickets: adult tickets cost $9 and student tickets cost $6. Total revenue is $138. How many adult tickets were sold?
A.6
B.8
C.10
D.12
Answer: C (10)
How to solve it
Name the unknowns: x adult tickets and y student tickets.
Write one equation for the count and one for the money: x + y = 18 and 9x + 6y = 138.
Substitute y = 18 − x: 9x + 6(18 − x) = 138, so 3x + 108 = 138 and x = 10.
Check both conditions: 10 adults and 8 students make 18 tickets, and $90 + $48 = $138. The answer is C.
Choice B (8) is the number of student tickets, a correct number for the wrong question.
Why it works: Let x and y count adults and students. Then x + y = 18 and 9x + 6y = 138. Subtract 6 times the count equation from revenue: 3x = 30, so 10 adult tickets were sold.
Calculator note: The study guide describes the on-screen calculator as a standard four-function calculator that works in the order you enter the keys. On a calculator like that, 2 + 3 × 4 gives 20, not 14. When a question shows the calculator, do the order of operations yourself and enter one operation at a time.
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The two PERT Math question types
Our practice bank sorts PERT Math into two question types. Each has a full guide and its own practice set.
Algebra and mathematical models
These questions turn a condition into an equation and ask for the value that makes it true: multistep and literal equations, inequalities, systems, word problems and quadratic equations. Line and slope questions belong here too. The skill is building the right equation and checking the answer against every original condition. Read the algebra and word-problem guide or go straight to algebra practice.
Expressions, polynomials and factoring
These questions ask you to evaluate or rewrite an expression without changing its value: arithmetic with negative and fractional numbers, exponent rules, distribution, polynomial arithmetic, factoring and rational expressions. Read the expressions, polynomials and factoring guide or start expressions practice.
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How to approach PERT Math without a clock
With no time limit, accuracy on each submitted question is what counts. A steady routine beats speed.
Read the last line first
Before you calculate, find out exactly what the question wants: a value of x, an equation, a coordinate pair, an interval or a number of solutions. In the ticket question above, stopping at the student count gives the wrong answer.
Estimate before you solve
Decide whether the answer should be positive or negative and roughly how big it should be. A 25% discount on $72 must leave more than half the price, so a choice under $36 can go. Estimating catches sign errors that careful algebra can miss.
Write every step on paper
Testing centers such as Santa Fe and Polk State provide paper and pencil. Use what your center gives you to write each line of algebra, because the wrong choices in practice questions like these are usually built from a skipped step: a dropped negative, a sign that was not distributed, an inequality that was not reversed.
Check against the original before you submit
Substitute your answer into the original equation or word problem, not into your last line of work. On a test with no going back, this habit matters most. For rational equations, list the values that make a denominator zero before you start, and reject any answer that matches one.
Use the choices when you are stuck
Plug each choice into the equation, or eliminate the ones that break a condition you are sure of, then pick the best remaining answer. You have to answer to move on.
Ignore how hard a question looks
The test is adaptive and five questions are unscored, so a hard-looking question says nothing reliable about how you are doing.
Try PERT Math on this page.
Build a free Mathematics set below, then review a full explanation for every question.
Better: Square first, then apply the negative: −3² = −9, while (−3)² = 9.
Why: Exponents come before the leading negative sign. Wrong choices are often built from this exact error.
Mistake: Dividing an inequality by a negative number and keeping the sign.
Better: Reverse the inequality: −2x ≥ 6 becomes x ≤ −3. Test a value such as −4 to confirm.
Why: Multiplying or dividing by a negative reverses the order of the two sides.
Mistake: Subtracting only the first term of a group: 3x − (2x − 7) written as 3x − 2x − 7.
Better: Distribute the minus sign to every term: 3x − 2x + 7.
Why: Subtracting a group changes the sign of each term inside it.
Mistake: Keeping a solution that makes a denominator zero.
Better: List excluded values first. In (x + 1)/(x − 2) = 3/(x − 2), the only candidate is x = 2, which is excluded, so there is no solution.
Why: Clearing fractions can create a candidate that the original equation does not allow.
Mistake: Treating a 20% increase followed by a 20% decrease as no change.
Better: Multiply the factors: 1.20 × 0.80 = 0.96, so 96% remains.
Why: The second percent is taken of a new, larger base.
Mistake: Expecting a calculator on every question, or using it to handle order of operations.
Better: Practice arithmetic by hand and enter one operation at a time when the calculator does appear.
Why: The calculator appears only on some math questions. On a calculator that works in the order you enter the keys, 2 + 3 × 4 gives 20, not 14.
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What a 114 in PERT Math means
Under State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.0315, a PERT Mathematics score of 114 or higher shows readiness for college-level math. The PERT is not pass/fail: the score places you in a course. If you have more than one score, the rule uses your highest. If you meet it and enroll at a Florida college within two years, you can’t be required to retest; PERT scores explained covers score validity in full.
Below 114, a student who is not exempt must take developmental education in math. (What is a good PERT score explains who is exempt.) The college has to explain all the developmental options it offers, and you may choose among them after advising. Your exact score still matters, because colleges use it to decide which developmental course you start in.
At 114 or above, you are college-ready in math, but that does not open every math course. Rules for College Algebra and higher courses vary by college. At Palm Beach State College, for example, PERT Math 114–122 places you into MAT1033C or MAT1100 and 123 or higher into courses such as MAC1105, while MAC1114 and higher require ACCUPLACER Advanced Algebra and Functions, ACT or SAT scores, not PERT. The full chart, including its developmental ranges, is on PERT scores explained.
Santa Fe College is another example. There, a PERT Math score of 114 to 122 may qualify you for a college-level math elective, and a score of 123 or higher requires additional placement testing. If your program needs College Algebra, ask your college which score and which test it uses before you book.
Other measures can also show math readiness, such as an ACT Mathematics score of 19, a digital SAT Math score of 480, or an unweighted high school GPA of 3.0 with a B or better in a listed course such as Algebra 1 or Algebra 2. Colleges decide which measures they accept. Compare an official score with the PERT score calculator, read what counts as a good PERT score, or see the PERT retake policy.
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Practice PERT Math
Choose how many questions you want and a difficulty level, then work the set. When you submit the set, every question shows its explanation and a link to its lesson. Practice scores show which topics need work; they do not convert to a PERT score. For more, try the free PERT practice test, build a custom set in the PERT question bank, or answer today’s PERT questions.
30 multiple-choice questions. 25 are scored and 5 are unscored field-test questions. You won’t be told which 5 are unscored, so treat every question as if it counts.
No. There is no official time limit, but the testing center’s hours still apply. FDOE reported in 2015 that the Math subtest averaged about 30 minutes.
You can’t bring your own calculator unless an approved disability accommodation allows one; an on-screen four-function calculator appears only on some math questions.
Algebra, with the arithmetic it depends on. The study guide lists linear, literal and quadratic equations, linear inequalities, evaluating expressions, polynomials and factoring, lines on the coordinate plane and systems of two linear equations, and tells students to review order of operations, exponents and percents.
The PERT is not pass/fail. Florida’s college-ready Mathematics score is 114. Some colleges set higher requirements for College Algebra and above; Santa Fe College, for example, requires additional placement testing for PERT Math scores of 123 or higher.
Not after you submit it. You must answer each question to move on, so check your work while the question is still on screen.
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Sources
PERT rules are set by Florida law and by each college. These are the pages this guide relies on; your testing center’s current instructions take priority.