Abstract reasoning test practice
Abstract reasoning questions show a sequence of figures and ask which option comes next. Each figure changes according to one or more hidden rules, such as rotation, shading or movement around a border. No language or arithmetic is involved.
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Time pressure
Each item allows well under a minute, and the harder items combine two rules at once. The quickest approach is to test one attribute at a time rather than compare whole figures.
Heuristics that transfer
- Track one attribute at a time: position, rotation, shading, count. Ignore the rest until that one is settled.
- Fix the step size from the first two figures, confirm it on the third, then extend it once.
- Read rotation as clock positions rather than degrees.
- When two rules apply at once, solve each independently and then combine them.
- Eliminate options that break the rule in any attribute, even if they look right overall.
Three worked examples
Try each question before opening the answer.
Example 1
Which figure completes the sequence?
Show the answer and worked method
Correct answer: the second option
The principle
A single radius rotates by a constant 60 degrees clockwise at each step.
Steps
- In the first figure the radius points to 12:00. In the second it points to 2:00, a rotation of 60 degrees clockwise.
- In the third figure it points to 4:00, again 60 degrees clockwise. The rule is a constant 60 degree clockwise rotation.
- A further 60 degrees clockwise from 4:00 gives 6:00.
- The correct figure shows a single radius pointing to 6:00, so it is the answer.
Heuristic to carry forward
Read rotation as clock positions rather than degrees: fix the step size from the first two figures, confirm it on the third, then extend it once. Check the number of line segments too, since a rotation series is often paired with a distractor that changes the count rather than the angle.
Why each other answer is wrong
- the third option
- Applies a rotation of 120 degrees rather than 60, treating the gap from the third figure to the answer as two steps instead of one.
- the first option
- Rotates anticlockwise instead of clockwise, reversing the direction established by the sequence.
- the fourth option
- Points at the correct angle but is drawn as a full diameter rather than a single radius, changing the number of line segments rather than only the angle.
Example 2
Which figure completes the sequence?
Show the answer and worked method
Correct answer: the second option
The principle
Shading advances by one segment at each step, always in the same rotational direction, never resetting or skipping.
Steps
- The circle is divided into 8 equal segments. Count the shaded (filled) segments in each frame: 1, then 2, then 3, always filled starting from the same segment and proceeding in the same rotational direction.
- The shading always advances by exactly one further segment each step, in the same direction, never skipping or reversing.
- The fourth figure must therefore have 4 segments shaded, continuing in the same direction from the third figure.
- Only the correct figure shows exactly one more segment shaded than the third figure, in the correct position.
Heuristic to carry forward
For shading-progression items, count filled segments first, then separately verify they are contiguous and advancing in one direction. A distractor often has the right count of filled segments but the wrong ones filled.
Why each other answer is wrong
- the fourth option
- Repeats the third figure's shading exactly, failing to advance the fill by one more segment.
- the third option
- Reduces the shaded count rather than increasing it, reversing the progression.
- the first option
- Shades a non-contiguous set of segments, breaking the rule that shading spreads as one unbroken, growing block in a single direction.
Example 3
Two independent changes happen each step: a marker moves clockwise around the border by a constant number of cells, and one further interior cell shades in permanently. Which figure continues the sequence?
Show the answer and worked method
Correct answer: the third option
The principle
Two independent rules operate at once: a border marker advances by a fixed step each frame, and the interior shading grows cumulatively by one further fixed cell each frame. Both must be extrapolated together.
Steps
- Track the border marker separately: it advances 3 cells clockwise each frame. Track the interior shading separately: it gains exactly one further fixed cell each frame, keeping all earlier interior cells shaded.
- Extrapolating each rule independently one further step gives the marker's next border cell and the next interior cell to add.
- Only one option advances both the marker and the interior shading correctly at once; the others correctly apply only one of the two rules or apply neither.
Heuristic to carry forward
When a figure changes in two visibly independent ways, isolate and extrapolate each change separately before recombining; a distractor often gets one rule right and freezes or reverses the other.
Why each other answer is wrong
- the first option
- Moves the border marker correctly but freezes the interior growth at the third frame's count instead of adding the next block.
- the second option
- Grows the interior pattern correctly but leaves the border marker at the third frame's position instead of advancing it.
- the fourth option
- Grows the interior pattern correctly but moves the border marker backwards instead of continuing its established clockwise direction.
Every question in the bank has a verified answer key and a worked solution.
Keep going
Related guides: Spotting a constant rotation, Two rules at once, or all worked examples.
Other test types: Numerical reasoning, Verbal reasoning, Logical reasoning. For timed shape matching, try Shapefinder.