Numerical Reasoning Sub-test
Welcome to the Numerical Reasoning Test. This assessment measures numerical reasoning: how quickly and accurately you spot the rule behind a sequence of numbers.
How the test works
This is an adaptive test. It chooses each question based on how you have answered the ones before it, so the questions become harder when you are doing well and easier when you are not. Almost everybody reaches questions they cannot solve, that is the test finding your level, not a sign that you are doing badly.
It is also not the same length for everybody. It stops as soon as it has measured you accurately enough, which on this test is often only eight or nine questions and never more than sixteen. Finishing quickly is a good sign, not a short measure.
Test overview
- Questions: between 6 and 16, decided as you go
- Time per question: 60 seconds
- Time for the whole test: 5 minutes 30 seconds
- Format: multiple choice, one question at a time
What the questions look like
Each question shows a series of numbers with one missing. Consecutive numbers are related by a rule: it may involve addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or more than one of these working in turn. Work out the rule, apply it, and choose the option that gives the missing number.
Before you start
- Pen and paper: yes, and you will want them. Writing the differences between consecutive numbers is the fastest way into most of these questions.
- Calculator: no. The arithmetic is deliberately small enough to do by hand; what is being measured is whether you see the rule.
- Somewhere quiet: the clock does not stop once a question is on screen.
When you are ready, click Begin. You will start with a short untimed practice, which does not count towards your result.