Advanced
Math Skills Test
Solve for x: 4 * log(x) - log(16) = 0.
Strike out the answers you can rule out, then commit the one you'll defend.
ASTB-E selection battery · free practice
ASTB Practice Test: Practising the Full ASTB-E Battery, and Where the OAR Fits
The ASTB-E is the whole Aviation Selection Test Battery. Only three of its sections make the OAR — Math Skills, Reading Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension. Drill those three here, and see exactly which sections you actually sit before you spend an hour prepping ones you never will.
Free practice · 3 OAR subtests
Free ASTB Practice Test — the OAR Core
This bank drills the three OAR subtests inside the ASTB-E: the Math Skills Test, the Reading Comprehension Test and the Mechanical Comprehension Test. The aviation-only sections (PBM/UAV, ANIT, spatial apperception, NATFI) are device and trait tasks that paper items can't stand in for, so they're mapped out below rather than drilled here. On every item, read the four options first, strike the two you can rule out, then commit the one you'll defend.
OAR subtest
Question 1 of 80 0 correct
Set complete
You worked the whole set
The full bank on the app runs hundreds more items across all three OAR subtests, sampled to match the Math / Mechanical / Reading weighting. Restart to run this set again, or step back through the questions you missed.
Aviation Selection Test Battery
What the ASTB-E Is, and Who Actually Sits It
Start with the boundary, because it saves you the most time. The ASTB-E — the Aviation Selection Test Battery — is the selection instrument the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard use for officer and aviation candidates, administered through authorised sites under NAMI. It is not one exam. It is a stack of sections, and the first thing a sharp candidate does is rule out the ones that don't apply to them.
Every officer candidate sits the same three-subtest core — the OAR, the Officer Aptitude Rating. If your route is OCS or a community that only asks for an OAR, that core is your entire test and the aviation sections are noise you should never open a book for. If your route is pilot (SNA) or NFO (SNFO), the OAR is just the opening three sections of a longer battery. Same test name, two very different days — and the wrong assumption costs you weeks of misdirected prep.
3
OAR subtests
Math Skills · Reading Comprehension · Mechanical Comprehension
4
Composite scores
OAR, AQR, PFAR, FOFAR — weighted per your designator
OAR
The universal subset
Every ASTB-E candidate produces one
Structure of the battery per the official ASTB-E outline; confirm current sections with NAMI.
The whole battery
The Full Section List: OAR Subset vs Aviation-Only
Here is the whole battery in one view. Read it the way you'd read an answer key: the three sections at the top are the OAR subset you sit no matter your route; the four below them are aviation-only and roll into the flight composites, not the OAR. An OAR-only candidate can strike the bottom four outright.
The near-duplicate trap to watch is treating “the ASTB” and “the OAR” as the same scope. They differ by exactly the aviation block — the one modifier that changes everything about how long you sit and what you study.
Read the section list before the study plan. Half of the ASTB-E may not be yours to sit.
| Section | What it asks | Who sits it |
|---|---|---|
| Math Skills Test | Arithmetic, algebra, geometry and rate/word problems | OAR + full battery |
| Reading Comprehension Test | Supported-conclusion items drawn from short passages | OAR + full battery |
| Mechanical Comprehension Test | Levers, pulleys, gears, fluids and applied physics | OAR + full battery |
| Aviation and Nautical Information Test (ANIT) | Aviation history, flight rules and nautical terminology | Aviation candidates only |
| Performance Based Measures (PBM/UAV) | Stick-throttle and UAV control tasks on a device rig | Aviation candidates only |
| Spatial apperception | Reading aircraft attitude from an out-the-window view | Aviation candidates only |
| Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory (NATFI) | Forced-choice trait and temperament inventory | Aviation candidates only |
Route yourself
Which Sections You Actually Sit — Then Where to Drill
Decide your scope before you touch a single practice question. If your program asks only for an OAR — many officer and restricted-line routes do — the aviation sections are off your table, and every hour belongs to Math Skills, Reading Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension. If you're going aviation, you sit all of it, but the OAR core is still where the reasoning sections live, so it's still the right place to start. Either way, the three-subtest core is the work in front of you — route yourself into it below.
Officer aptitude
OAR Practice Test
Drill the three-subtest core with the eliminate-&-commit bank.
Study plan
OAR Study Guide
The subtest-by-subtest plan, weighted to where the marks actually are.
Toughest for most
Mechanical Comprehension
Levers, pulleys and gears — the section that decides the OAR for many.
How scores roll up
The Composite Scores: OAR, AQR, PFAR, FOFAR
The sections don't stand alone — they roll up into composite scores, and different communities read different composites. The OAR is built from the three officer subtests. The aviation composites add the aviation sections and reweight them: the AQR reads general aviation aptitude, the PFAR leans toward pilot-relevant material and the FOFAR toward flight-officer material. Which one your board looks at is fixed by your designator.
What each composite counts as competitive is not a number to memorise. Minimums and weightings are set by NAMI and your community and they move, so attribute any cutoff to your specific designator rather than to a figure you read once. The elimination move here is the same as on the test: rule out the composites that don't apply to you, and don't chase an aviation minimum an OAR-only route never asks for.
| Composite | Built from | What it's read for |
|---|---|---|
| OAR | Math Skills + Reading Comprehension + Mechanical Comprehension | Officer-aptitude selection across many communities |
| AQR | OAR sections plus the aviation sections | General aviation aptitude (pilot and NFO) |
| PFAR | Aviation battery, weighted toward pilot-relevant material | Student naval aviator (pilot) selection |
| FOFAR | Aviation battery, weighted toward flight-officer material | Student naval flight officer selection |
Booking + seat
Registration and Test Day
The mechanics are straightforward once your scope is settled. The steps below run the same order for everyone; only the length of test day changes with whether you sit the OAR subset or the full battery.
Confirm your scope first
Check with your recruiter or OCS whether your program needs the OAR only or the full battery. Get this wrong and you prep sections you never sit — the single most expensive mistake on this test.
Schedule through an authorised site
The ASTB-E is booked through NAMI-authorised locations (officer recruiting stations, NROTC units and similar). It is scheduled on demand, not on a fixed public calendar, so there are no dated windows to promise — arrange a seat through your recruiter.
Confirm test-day rules, don't assume them
What you may bring and use — calculator, scratch paper, identification — is governed by current NAMI test-administration policy and the administering site. Verify it for your sitting rather than trusting an old account.
Know the device portion if you're aviation
The PBM/UAV runs on a stick-throttle-and-controller rig, not on paper. If you're OAR-only you skip it entirely; if you're aviation, build in that it exists and adds real time to your day.
Results + retakes
Scores, Retakes and What “Good” Means
OAR results are reported on a scaled range, but there is no universal pass mark to aim at — what clears one community's board can fall short for another. Anchor “good” to your own designator's current requirement, attributed to NAMI and your recruiter, not to a number pulled from a thread.
Retakes exist but they are rationed: a limited number of attempts with waiting periods between them, all set by current NAMI policy and subject to change. Because attempts are finite, don't spend one cold — walk in having drilled the three OAR subtests to the point where reading the answers first and eliminating down to two is automatic.
FAQ
ASTB Practice Test: FAQ
What is on the ASTB test?
The full ASTB-E is a battery, not one test. Three sections make the OAR subset every officer candidate sits: the Math Skills Test, the Reading Comprehension Test and the Mechanical Comprehension Test. Aviation candidates add the aviation-only sections — the Aviation and Nautical Information Test (ANIT), the Performance Based Measures battery (PBM/UAV), the spatial apperception section and the Naval Aviation Trait Facet Inventory (NATFI). If you only need the OAR, the aviation sections never touch your score.
What is a good score on the ASTB?
There is no single “passing” number to quote. What counts as competitive depends on the composite and the community you are applying to — an OAR that is strong for one designator can be thin for another. Treat any figure you hear as a rumour until you check the current requirement for your specific program with NAMI and your recruiter or OCS.
How many times can you retake the ASTB?
The ASTB-E allows a limited number of attempts with mandatory waiting periods between them, but the exact counts and windows are set by current NAMI policy and change over time. Do not plan around a number you saw on a forum — confirm the live rule before you book, and treat every sitting as if it is scored, because it is.
How long does the ASTB take?
It depends on what you sit. The OAR subset — three subtests — is far shorter than the full battery, which adds the PBM/UAV device tasks and the aviation sections. Attribute the exact seat time to NAMI and the administering site rather than a fixed promise; the device portion in particular adds real time for aviation candidates.
What is the difference between the ASTB and the OAR?
This is the confusion the whole page exists to clear up. The ASTB-E is the entire Aviation Selection Test Battery; the OAR is its three-subtest officer-aptitude subset (Math Skills Test, Reading Comprehension Test, Mechanical Comprehension Test). Every ASTB-E candidate produces an OAR score, but only pilot and NFO candidates sit the extra aviation sections that feed the AQR, PFAR and FOFAR composites.
OAR Exam Prep
Take the OAR question bank with you
Get the app for the full bank across all three OAR subtests, sampled to the real Math / Mechanical / Reading weighting — or keep drilling free on this site.