Non-verbal reasoning test practice

What the real test usually looks like

There is no single non-verbal reasoning test. The name covers any test that asks you to reason with shapes, diagrams and pictures instead of words or numbers. Some are short tests on their own; others are one part of a larger battery. Employers choose the test, so the length, the timer and the screens all vary. Your invitation is the best guide to yours.

One prep site describes a non-verbal reasoning test as one that "measures how well you reason with shapes, diagrams and images rather than words", and groups the questions into four families: abstract, inductive, diagrammatic and spatial (Practice Aptitude Tests). Two publisher examples show how different the tests can be:

• SHL Verify Interactive Inductive Reasoning. SHL's factsheet lists 18 minutes for at most 15 questions, one sitting, adaptive and designed to be taken unsupervised on any device, including a phone. It says the task presents information "as shapes and alphanumeric sequences", and the question format is interactive and activity-based rather than a plain list of choices (SHL factsheet).
• Raven's Adaptive (TalentLens). TalentLens calls it a "non-verbal assessment" of relationships and patterns, with 15 items, untimed and unsupervised, taking about 12 minutes. It is adaptive too: a correct answer brings a harder item, a wrong one an easier item (TalentLens).

Question types you are likely to meet:

• Figure series: a row of figures changes step by step, and you pick the one that comes next.
• Matrices: a grid of cells, usually 2 by 2 or 3 by 3, with one cell missing. Rows and columns each follow a rule.
• Odd one out: several figures share a rule and one breaks it.
• Diagram and spatial items: some tests add operator diagrams, rotation in three dimensions or paper folding.

What our mocks cover. Each full mock has 24 questions in 22 minutes in three sections of 8: figure series, matrices and odd one out. Every question is a drawn figure with five answer options, built from flat shapes that change in fixed steps of position, rotation, size, fill and count. As on many timed tests, you cannot go back to an earlier question, so each answer is final. Our mocks leave out 3D figures, paper folding, mirror images and interactive drag-and-drop items. If your test includes those, our spatial reasoning test covers rotation, mirroring and folding.

Question types with worked examples

Five worked examples, one idea each. Each one describes the figures in words, then gives the method and the trap.

1. Movement in fixed steps. A small square sits in the left third of a box, then the middle third, then the right third, then the left third again. Next: the middle third. The square moves one place right and wraps back to the start. Method: count the step size, then check it on every move, including the wrap. Trap: reading the jump from right back to left as a new rule, when it is the same step wrapping around.

2. Two features on different cycles. A shape goes circle, triangle, circle, triangle, while its fill goes black, white, gray, black, white, gray. The shape repeats every two steps and the fill every three. To find the seventh figure, work each one out on its own: the seventh shape is a circle and the seventh fill is black. Trap: assuming both features must change at the same rate.

3. A matrix read both ways. In a 3 by 3 grid, the number of lines in each cell rises by one across a row, and each row starts with one more line than the row above. Row 3 starts with 3 lines, so its cells hold 3, 4 and 5. Method: find the row rule, then check it against a column before you choose. Trap: solving the row only. Two options can fit a row; usually only one fits both.

4. Combining cells. In each row of a matrix, the third cell shows the lines of the first two drawn on top of each other. A circle and a diagonal give a circle with a diagonal through it. Some tests use a different version where lines that appear in both cells disappear. Method: look at a row where the first two cells share a line; whether it stays or goes tells you which version you have. Trap: picking the merged figure without checking for shared lines.

5. Odd one out by relationship. Five boxes each hold a large shape and some dots. The shapes and the dot counts all differ, so neither alone is the rule. What four boxes share is that the dots equal the sides. Method: when no single feature splits the group, compare two features in the same box. Trap: choosing the figure that looks most unusual, such as the only one with seven sides, when it follows the rule.

How to prepare

1. Check what your test includes. Find out from your invitation whether it is timed, adaptive, or includes 3D, folding or diagram items. SHL's inductive test is timed at 18 minutes; Raven's Adaptive is untimed (SHL, TalentLens).
2. Keep a short checklist. For every question, ask the same questions in the same order: what moves, what turns, what grows, what changes fill, what is counted. A fixed order stops you missing a feature.
3. Measure the step. Rules in these tests usually change by a fixed amount: one corner, 45 degrees, one more dot. Write the step down, even as "+1 dot" or "45 counterclockwise".
4. Test the rule on every figure. A rule that explains the last two figures but not the first is the wrong rule.
5. Decide before you look. Picture the answer first, then find it among the options. Wrong options are often built to match one of two rules.
6. Use each section's method. For series, follow one feature at a time. For matrices, solve a row, then confirm with a column. For odd one out, name the rule four figures share before choosing the fifth.
7. Practice at a timed pace. SHL's limit of 18 minutes for up to 15 questions works out at about 72 seconds a question (SHL). Our mocks give 22 minutes for 24 questions, a little under a minute each.
8. Read the instructions about going back. If you cannot return to a question, make your best choice and move on rather than leaving it blank.

How scoring usually works

Scores are usually relative, not fixed. Most non-verbal tests compare your result with a group of other people who took the same test. TalentLens says the Raven's Adaptive report gives a "percentile rank and several other norm-referenced scores" (TalentLens). One prep site puts it simply: "Most employers score you against other candidates, not against a fixed pass mark." It adds that negative marking is rare, but to check the instructions (Practice Aptitude Tests).

Adaptive tests. On adaptive tests such as SHL's and TalentLens's, the difficulty follows your answers, so the result reflects how hard the questions you reached were, not only how many you got right. SHL says its adaptive design gives "a more precise score" with a shorter test (SHL factsheet).

No universal pass mark. Each employer decides what result it wants for each role, and few publish it.

Our practice score is the number of our own questions you answered correctly, with a breakdown by section: series, matrices and odd one out. It is a practice score. It is not a percentile, it is not a score on any publisher's test, and it does not predict your result on one.

Common mistakes on non-verbal reasoning tests

• Following only one feature. Many figures change in two ways at once, such as position and fill. If two options look right, you have missed the second rule.
• Mixing up clockwise and counterclockwise. Trace the direction across three figures, not two.
• Counting the wrong thing. Sides, dots, lines and inner shapes can each be the rule. Count every one on the first figure before deciding.
• Solving a matrix by its row alone. Confirm the answer down the column as well.
• Choosing the figure that looks strangest. In odd one out, the figure that looks most different often follows the rule. The answer is the one that breaks a rule you can name.
• Spending too long on one question. When you cannot go back, a careful best choice after a minute beats running out of time later.

Non-verbal, abstract and spatial reasoning: what is different

The names overlap, and employers use them loosely, so check your invitation for the exact test.

• Non-verbal reasoning is the broadest name: any reasoning with shapes and pictures instead of words. This page practices its most common core: figure series, matrices and odd one out with flat shapes.
• Abstract reasoning focuses on finding the hidden rule in shapes and symbols, sometimes with symbol codes and set questions. Our abstract reasoning test practices those.
• Spatial reasoning is about picturing objects in your head: turning them in three dimensions, mirroring and folding. It is practiced on its own page, linked above.

If your test is described only as "non-verbal", it is worth a few questions of each kind before the day. The habits carry over: name the rule, measure the step and check every figure.