Logical Reasoning Test Practice

What the real test usually looks like

"Logical reasoning test" is an umbrella term. Publishers usually sell the parts as separate tests, so the first job is to work out which one you have been sent:

• Deductive reasoning. You get facts or rules and decide what must follow. SHL lists its Verify Interactive Deductive Reasoning test as up to 12 questions in 18 minutes, adaptive and designed to be taken unsupervised, for mid-level roles; candidates "evaluate arguments, analyse scenarios, and draw logical conclusions" (SHL factsheet).
• Inductive reasoning. You find the rule behind a series and predict what comes next. SHL lists its Verify Interactive Inductive Reasoning test as up to 15 questions in 18 minutes, also adaptive, using "shapes and alphanumeric sequences", for roles such as product development, IT, professional services and management (SHL factsheet).
• Diagrammatic reasoning. Items pass through a flowchart of operators that change them, and you work out the output, the input or what each operator does. Saville Assessment includes diagrammatic reasoning in its aptitude range and offers diagrammatic practice tests (Saville Assessment).
• Critical thinking. Some employers call the Watson-Glaser a logical reasoning test. It has its own answer formats, so if your invitation names it, practice with our critical thinking test.

SHL describes its deductive tasks as drawing logical conclusions and completing scenarios from the information provided (SHL). Because SHL's versions are adaptive, two candidates will not see the same questions, and the difficulty rises as you get answers right.

Logic tests are taken online, usually at home through a link, and the questions are multiple choice or, on interactive versions, activity based. There is little or nothing to calculate. If your series questions are all shapes, our abstract reasoning test gives you more of that format.

Question types with worked examples

Each worked example below shows the method and the trap the wrong options are built on.

1. Deductive: "if, then" rules. "If a shipment is late, the client is notified. The client was not notified." What follows? The shipment was not late, because a late shipment would have triggered a notice. Trap: the reverse. If the client was notified, you cannot conclude the shipment was late; the notice might have had another cause.

2. Deductive: syllogisms. "All auditors have compliance training. Some trainers are auditors." Does "Some trainers have compliance training" follow? Yes: the trainers who are auditors must have it. Does "All trainers have compliance training" follow? No: only some trainers are known to be auditors. Our syllogisms guide shows how to check these with quick circle sketches.

3. Deductive: ordering puzzles. Four reports, P, Q, R and S, are filed one a day from Monday to Thursday. Q is filed the day after P. S is filed on Thursday. R is not filed on Monday. When is R filed? S takes Thursday, so P, Q and R fill Monday to Wednesday. P and Q are back to back and R cannot be first, so P is Monday, Q is Tuesday and R is Wednesday. Method: place fixed facts first, then pairs, then exclusions. More puzzles like this are in our deductive reasoning examples.

4. Inductive: number series. 3, 5, 9, 17, 33, ? The gaps are 2, 4, 8, 16, doubling each time, so the next gap is 32 and the answer is 65. A second way to see it: each term is double the last minus 1. When two rules give the same answer, you can be confident. See the number series guide for the common patterns.

5. Inductive: letter series. B, E, H, K, ? Convert letters to positions: 2, 5, 8, 11. The step is +3, so the next is 14, which is N. Trap: counting the letters between (two) instead of the step (three).

6. Inductive: shape series. A square holds a dot that moves one corner clockwise each step, while the square alternates between shaded and unshaded. Track the two rules separately, work out where the dot will be and what the shading will be, then find the one option that matches both. Trap: choosing an option that gets one rule right and ignores the other.

7. Diagrammatic: order matters. Box 1 moves the first letter to the end. Box 2 shifts every letter one place forward in the alphabet. KLM goes through Box 1, then Box 2. Box 1 gives LMK; Box 2 gives MNL. Trap: applying the boxes in the order they appear in the key, not the order on the path. To work backward from an output, undo each box in reverse order.

How to prepare

1. Find out which type you will get. Your invitation may say deductive, inductive or diagrammatic. Practice that type most, but do some of each in case the test is mixed.
2. Know your pace. SHL's deductive test allows 18 minutes for up to 12 questions, about 90 seconds each. Its inductive test allows 18 minutes for up to 15, about 72 seconds each (SHL, SHL). Divide your own test's minutes by its questions and practice to that number.
3. Learn the two "if, then" moves in example 1. They settle more deductive questions than any other rule.
4. Sketch ordering and seating puzzles. A row of boxes on scrap paper is faster and safer than holding five clues in your head.
5. For series, list what changes. Count, position, rotation, shading, size. Check one rule at a time against every step, not just the last two.
6. Write diagrammatic operators down. Note what each symbol does in plain words the first time you work it out.
7. Solve before you look at the options. Distractors are built from half-right rules; your own answer protects you from them.
8. Do not chase one question. On an adaptive test a hard question often means you are doing well. Give it your best answer and keep going.

How scoring usually works

Raw score and percentile. Fixed-form logic tests count your correct answers and compare the total with a norm group, a large set of people who took the same test, to give a percentile. A 65th percentile means you scored as well as or better than 65% of that group.

Adaptive scores. SHL's interactive deductive and inductive tests are adaptive, which SHL says gives shorter tests and "a more precise score". Because the questions adjust to you, the number you got right is not directly comparable with another candidate's.

Section scores. If you sit a battery, the employer may see a result for each test plus an overall one.

There is no universal pass mark. Employers choose the norm group and set their own target for each role.

Our practice score is the number of our own questions you got right, with a breakdown by deductive, inductive and diagrammatic. It is not a score from any real test and does not predict a percentile.

Deductive, inductive or diagrammatic: how to tell which you have

• The invitation names the publisher and test. "Verify Deductive" or "Inductive Reasoning" tells you directly. Search the publisher's site for the factsheet.
• Text with "must be true" or "cannot be true" options is deductive. Expect rules, schedules and short scenarios.
• Rows of shapes, numbers or letters with a gap is inductive. Expect "what comes next" and "which completes the set".
• Shapes or symbols passing through boxes or arrows is diagrammatic. Expect "which operator", "what comes out" and "what went in".
• Five-point "true to false" scales and "assumption made" are critical thinking items, as in the Watson-Glaser. That format has its own rules, covered on our critical thinking test.

If you cannot tell, prepare inductive and deductive first; the rule-tracking you learn there carries straight over to diagrammatic questions.

Common mistakes on logic tests

• Reversing an "if, then" rule. "If A then B" does not mean "if B then A".
• Reading "some" as "most" or "all". In logic, "some" means at least one, and nothing more.
• Bringing in real-world knowledge. Treat the given statements as true even when they are odd.
• Stopping at the first rule that fits. A series can fit a simple rule for three steps and break it at the fourth. Check every step.
• Ignoring direction. Clockwise versus counterclockwise, and left versus right in seating puzzles, are the most common distractors.
• Losing track in long diagrams. Write the result after each operator instead of doing three in your head.

A one-week logical reasoning study plan

• Day 1: Take the free sample above. Mark each miss as deductive, inductive or diagrammatic.
• Day 2: Deductive basics: the syllogisms guide and the "if, then" moves.
• Day 3: Ordering and rule puzzles with the deductive reasoning examples.
• Day 4: Series: the number series guide, then shape series on the abstract reasoning test.
• Day 5: A full timed mock at the real pace. The 30-Day Pass includes full logical reasoning mocks with explanations.
• Day 6: Review the mock by section, drill your weakest, then a second mock.
• Day 7: Rest, check your device and internet, and read the invitation once more for the test type.