Free · Grades 5–6 · 3 sections · 16 questions

Order of operations test

Mixed expressions, powers of ten, and exponents — the three places a left-to-right habit breaks down.

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Ready to printOrder of operations test
Order of operations test — printable test paper

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this test

Order of operations is not a list to memorise so much as a habit to interrupt. Reading left to right works for years and then stops working, and 6 + 7 × 3 = 39 is not carelessness — it is the old habit finishing the job. The mixed expressions come first because that is where the interruption has to be practiced.

How the paper is put together

Powers arrive next for a reason: an exponent sits above everything except brackets, so it is the step that most often gets taken too late. And powers of ten between the two sections keep the arithmetic light enough that a wrong answer is about the order, not about the multiplication.