diff --git a/tests/unit/rl_utils_test.py b/tests/unit/rl_utils_test.py
index 2fd04f93f6..98920ab71b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/rl_utils_test.py
+++ b/tests/unit/rl_utils_test.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 import unittest
 import pytest
+from unittest import mock
 from types import SimpleNamespace
 
 evaluate_rl = pytest.importorskip(
@@ -330,5 +331,112 @@ def test_without_hash(self):
     self.assertIsNone(utils_rl.extract_hash_answer(""))
 
 
+class TestCheckAnswer(unittest.TestCase):
+  """Tests for utils_rl.check_answer."""
+
+  def setUp(self):
+    self.config = _make_config()
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_exact_match(self):
+    """Test when the guess exactly matches the answer."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>42</answer>"],
+        answer=["42"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.reward_exact_format_match])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_whitespace_match(self):
+    """Test when the guess matches the answer after stripping whitespace."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer> 42 </answer>"],
+        answer=["42"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.reward_white_space_format_match])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_ratio_high_match(self):
+    """Test when the guess is within the high ratio threshold (0.9 to 1.1)."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>10.5</answer>"],
+        answer=["10"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.reward_ratio_guess_to_answer_high])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_ratio_low_match(self):
+    """Test when the guess is within the low ratio threshold (0.8 to 1.2)."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>11.5</answer>"],
+        answer=["10"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.reward_ratio_guess_to_answer_low])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_incorrect_answer(self):
+    """Test when the guess is outside the acceptable ratio thresholds."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>15</answer>"],
+        answer=["10"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.penalty_incorrect_answer])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  def test_no_format_match(self):
+    """Test when the completion does not match the expected format."""
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=["Just some random text without the right tags."],
+        answer=["42"],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [0])
+
+  @pytest.mark.cpu_only
+  @mock.patch.object(utils_rl, "math_verify_func")
+  @mock.patch.object(utils_rl, "parse")
+  def test_dataset_specific_normalization(self, mock_parse, mock_math_verify):
+    """Test that specific datasets trigger normalize_final_answer."""
+    # Mock math_verify and parse to fail, so we only rely on exact string match
+    # after normalization.
+    mock_math_verify.return_value = [0.0]
+    mock_parse.side_effect = Exception("parse failed")
+
+    complex_guess = r"x=$\text{\textbf{\overline{\boxed{\frac12 \sqrt3}}}}$"
+    expected_normalized = r"\frac{1}{2} \sqrt{3}"
+
+    # These datasets should trigger normalization and match exactly
+    for dataset in ["DAPO-Math-17k", "OpenMathInstruct-2"]:
+      self.config.dataset_name = dataset
+      scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+          prompts=[""],
+          completions=[f"<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>{complex_guess}</answer>"],
+          answer=[expected_normalized],
+          tmvp_config=self.config,
+      )
+      self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.reward_exact_format_match])
+
+    # Other datasets should not normalize, leading to a mismatch/parse error
+    self.config.dataset_name = "gsm8k"
+    scores = utils_rl.check_answer(
+        prompts=[""],
+        completions=[f"<reasoning>r</reasoning><answer>{complex_guess}</answer>"],
+        answer=[expected_normalized],
+        tmvp_config=self.config,
+    )
+    self.assertEqual(scores, [self.config.penalty_incorrect_format])
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
   unittest.main()