SHL Verify G+ practice test

What the real test usually looks like

SHL Verify G+ is one test in three parts. SHL's fact sheet describes it as part of the Verify suite of cognitive ability tests, measuring numerical, deductive and inductive ability with 30 questions in 36 minutes, 10 for each ability. It is multiple choice and adaptive, taken in one sitting, and SHL says it suits all job levels and roles (SHL fact sheet). The three parts, as SHL describes them:

• Numerical ability: solving problems with numerical data and reading charts, graphs and tables. SHL's sample is a short percentage problem with five answer options.
• Deductive reasoning: drawing logical conclusions from information, judging the strengths and weaknesses of arguments, and completing scenarios with incomplete information. SHL's sample gives four facts and asks which of five statements must be true.
• Inductive reasoning: finding regularities and rules in patterns. SHL says these 10 questions are completely non-verbal and feature only shapes and figures.

SHL also publishes Verify Interactive G+: up to 24 questions in 36 minutes, interactive and activity based, adaptive, built for any device including phones. SHL says candidates get a score for each of the three abilities as well as a general ability score (SHL fact sheet). SHL's practice page offers general ability practice in both an interactive drag-and-drop style and a standard multiple choice style (SHL Direct).

Calculator. SHL's G+ fact sheet does not say. Preparation sites commonly report that a simple calculator is allowed on most SHL Verify tests with numerical reasoning (GraduatesFirst); check your invitation. Preparation sites disagree on whether you can go back to earlier questions, so plan to answer each one before you move on.

What our mocks cover. Our full mocks are in the style of SHL Verify G+: 30 questions in 36 minutes with a calculator allowed, in three sections of 10: numerical reasoning, deductive reasoning, and pattern reasoning with symbols. Every question has five options, and there is no going back once you move on. SHL's real inductive questions use drawn shapes and figures. Our pattern section uses text symbols (such as ●, ○, ■ and ▲) in grids and sequences to practice the same rule-finding, so expect the real pictures to look different even when the rules are similar. Our mocks also leave out the interactive G+, and they are fixed sets rather than adaptive.

Question types with worked examples

One worked example for each part of the test, with the trap that catches people.

1. Numerical: working back from a percentage. "After a 20% rise, monthly rent is $1,500. What was it before?" The new rent is 120% of the old, so divide: 1,500 / 1.2 = $1,250. Trap: taking 20% off $1,500, which gives $1,200. A percentage change is always measured from the starting figure.

2. Numerical: two changes at once. "Sales of $200,000 rise 10% and costs of $150,000 rise 20%. What happens to profit?" Sales become $220,000 and costs $180,000, so profit falls from $50,000 to $40,000. Trap: assuming profit rises because sales did. Work out each line, then subtract.

3. Deductive: must be true. Facts: "Every member of the board signs the report. Kai did not sign the report." Then Kai is not on the board. Trap: thinking "Ana signed, so Ana is on the board". Others may sign too.

4. Deductive: ordering. Rules: "Three talks run at 9, 10 and 11. The budget talk is before the hiring talk. The safety talk is not at 9." The budget talk must be at 9, because the hiring talk cannot be first and the safety talk is not at 9. Trap: answering a question about 10 o'clock when the rules still allow two orders. Check whether the rules fix the answer.

5. Pattern: one rule per symbol. In a grid where a filled square moves one place right in each row, and a hollow circle moves one place left, follow each symbol separately. Trap: looking for one rule for the whole row at once. Split it into the simplest moving parts.

6. Pattern: two things changing. A sequence such as "★, ☆ ☆, ★ ★ ★" changes both the count and the fill. Trap: spotting the count rule and picking the first option with the right number of symbols. Check every feature: count, fill, shape and position.

How to prepare

1. Know the shape of the test. Thirty questions in 36 minutes is about 72 seconds a question across all three parts (SHL fact sheet). If one passes two minutes, choose your best answer and move on.
2. Have a calculator ready, unless told otherwise. Use one you know well, and keep pen and paper for intermediate results.
3. Drill percentages and percentage change. Working back from a percentage, profit as a share of revenue and two-step changes cover a lot of numerical questions. Always divide by the starting figure.
4. Read the facts, not the world. In the deductive part, treat every fact as true and add nothing. Watch "all", "some", "no" and "if".
5. Sketch orderings. Number the places, fill the fixed ones first, then the pairs, then check every rule against your answer.
6. Break patterns into parts. For each shape, ask what changes: position, count, fill, size or direction. Most patterns combine one or two simple rules.
7. Try SHL's own practice tests. SHL Direct offers inductive and general ability practice in the standard and interactive styles (SHL Direct), so you can see the drawn shapes before the day.
8. Take full timed mocks. Switching between numbers, logic and patterns for 36 minutes is a skill of its own.

For more numerical and verbal practice in the same style, try our general SHL-style practice test.

How scoring usually works

SHL reports your result to the employer, not to you. The employer who invited you decides how to use it, and SHL's fact sheets do not publish a pass mark.

• Adaptive scoring: SHL says Verify G+ uses computer adaptive technology, which it says gives a more precise test score in a shorter test (SHL fact sheet). Your result reflects how hard the questions you answered were, not only how many you got right.
• Ability scores: for the interactive version, SHL says candidates receive a score for each of the three abilities and a general ability score (SHL fact sheet).
• Cut-off scores: employers set their own for each role and rarely share them.

Our practice score is the number of our own questions you answered correctly, with a breakdown by section, so you can see whether numbers, logic or patterns need the most work. It is a practice score: it is not an SHL score, percentile or cut-off, and it does not predict whether you will pass.

Common mistakes on G+ style tests

• Spending too long on your favorite part. The three abilities share one clock. Keep to roughly a minute and a bit a question.
• Dividing by the wrong figure. Percentage change is the change divided by the starting value, not the new one.
• Skipping the units. A table in $ thousands turns 39 into $39,000. Many wrong options are the right digits in the wrong unit.
• Reversing a rule in the deductive part. "All consultants travel" does not mean "everyone who travels is a consultant".
• Stopping at the first pattern you see. A count rule may hide a fill or position rule. Check that your answer fits every step.
• Expecting the patterns to look like ours. SHL's inductive questions use drawn shapes. Practice the rule-finding here, then look at SHL's own practice tests so the pictures are familiar.