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Excel Challenges

Excel challenges allow you to test your Excel skills by solving real-world business problems

Challenge Grading

Our Excel challenges are graded into three categories: Basic, Essential and Expert. The skills needed to complete each challenge are taught in the matching Excel tutorial book/e-book. For example, a challenge that is graded Essential will only require the skills that are taught in: Learn Microsoft Excel Essential Skills with The Smart Method. 

If you have acquired your Excel skills by another route, our Excel challenges will reassure you that you have excellent Excel skills.

No.

Title

Level

Level

1

Conditional Formatting

Essential

2

The Monty Hall Problem – Simple Excel Proof

Expert

3

Numbers to Words

Expert

4

Screen Element Names

Basic

3 Responses

  1. Is your book available in French. We use your book at Illiniis State University (Dr. William Crampton) and we have an international ptogram that has participants from French speaking countries. I would be in the market for about twenty books per year.

    1. Dear Harlan

      We have looked into the possibility of a French, German (and possibly Spanish) translation but the process is a lot more involved than you might think. Most screen grabs would have to be re-made for the foreign version and all of the text translated. This would take at least three months per book. The process would then have to be repeated every six months for each new Excel 365 semi-annual release. My judgement is that it is unlikely that the production costs would be recovered. For this reason we have no plans to publish translated books for other languages at present.

  2. I’d love to see more challenges added as a useful way of testing my skills periodically and to help keep the knowledge fresh if I don’t need to use Excel on a regular basis for a while.

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Challenge #1: Conditional Formatting

Grade: Essential
Estimated completion time: Under 5 minutes

In this challenge you’ll apply conditional formatting elements to a worksheet that will visually represent key performance metrics for recent Marvel Film releases.

Challenge #2: The Monty Hall Problem

Grade: Expert
Estimated completion time: Under 2 minutes

In this challenge you’ll apply conditional formatting elements to a worksheet that will visually represent key performance metrics for recent Marvel Film releases.

In this challenge you’ll apply prove a solution to the famous Monty Hall Problem that confounded thousands of mathematicians in 1991.  

The Monty Hall problem is modelled upon the American game show: Let’s Make a Deal where a prize of a car was behind one of three doors.  

Marilyn Vos Savant was the most intelligent human on planet earth at the time (with an IQ of 228 according to the Guiness Book of Records).  Marilyn figured the best way to win the car but was challenged by nearly 1,000 PhD’s that she was wrong.  In this challenge you’ll use Marylin’s logic to prove who was right!

Challenge #3: Numbers to Words

Grade: Expert
Estimated completion time: 4 minutes

In this challenge you’ll use Excel to convert a number into its textual equivalent.

Challenge #4: Screen Element Names

Grade: Basic
Estimated completion time: 5 minutes

In this challenge you’ll memorise the name of each Excel screen element. 

A flip screen is provided so that you can show and hide the answers as you learn each element’s name.

Which tutorial do you need?