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Many employers send an online aptitude test before the first interview: timed questions on numbers, words, patterns or shapes. Here are 9 timed practice tests with original questions, guides to the tests SHL, Pearson, Criteria, PI and Thomas sell to employers, and a plan for the days before your test.
Practice tests, not the real thing. Every question on IQ Metrics is original. A practice score is not a publisher’s score, and IQ Metrics is not affiliated with SHL, Pearson, Criteria Corp, The Predictive Index, Thomas International, Wonderlic or any other test publisher.
Pick the test that matches the format in your invitation. Each one runs against a clock and gets harder as you go. Not sure of the format yet? Start with the logical reasoning test and the Wonderlic-style test: between them they cover patterns, numbers, words and logic.
Number and letter series, figure series, odd one out, analogies and matrices, from easy to hard. This is what most employers mean by a logical, inductive or abstract reasoning test.
Words, math, number patterns and logic mixed together against a short clock: the speed format of 50-question hiring tests such as the Wonderlic, the CCAT and the PI Cognitive Assessment.
Twenty workplace scenarios, four in each of five areas: teamwork, communication, integrity, customer focus and decisions under pressure. Pick the most effective response to each one.
Number series, data interpretation, quantitative comparison, estimation and number matrices. Employer numerical tests lean harder on tables and charts; this test trains the number reasoning underneath them.
Vocabulary, word analogies, odd word out, reading comprehension, and layouts you build in your head from sentences alone: the reading and word skills behind verbal reasoning tests.
Mental rotation, mirror images, paper folding, cube nets and shape assembly: turning shapes over in your head, as technical and mechanical aptitude tests ask you to.
Matrices and figure patterns with no words or numbers, in the style of Raven’s Progressive Matrices, the model for many abstract reasoning tests.
Twenty questions across verbal, numerical, spatial and abstract reasoning, a hard 10-minute cap and no going back: practice for working fast when you cannot check every answer, as on short speeded hiring tests.
Thirty questions covering all four domains, verbal, numerical, spatial and abstract reasoning, in one sitting: the closest thing here to a full general-ability battery, with a score broken down by domain.
An aptitude test measures how well you reason with new information, such as numbers, words, patterns or shapes, usually against a tight time limit. Employers use aptitude tests, also called pre-employment or psychometric ability tests, to compare applicants on the same questions before they meet them. The questions do not depend on knowing the job.
Most aptitude tests are cognitive ability tests under another name. Some measure one skill at a time, such as a numerical or verbal reasoning test; others mix several types into one short, fast test. Employers usually buy them from a test publisher such as SHL, Pearson, Criteria Corp, The Predictive Index or Thomas International, and each publisher has its own format, clock and scoring. That is why it pays to know which one you will face.
An aptitude test is not a personality test. A personality questionnaire asks how you usually behave and has no right answers; an aptitude test has right answers and a clock. Many employers use both; see IQ vs personality.
Invitation emails often name the type of test rather than the publisher. These are the types you are most likely to see, what each one asks of you, and where to practice it.
| Type | What it tests | What the questions look like | Practice it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numerical reasoning | Reasoning with numbers and data | Number series, percentages and ratios, questions on tables and charts | Numerical IQ Test |
| Verbal reasoning | Understanding written information | Word meaning and analogies; a passage, then true, false or cannot say | Verbal IQ Test |
| Logical (inductive) reasoning | Finding a rule from examples | Series, odd one out, analogies, matrices | Logical Reasoning Test |
| Abstract reasoning | The same skill with shapes only | Figure series and matrices, no words or numbers | Culture-Fair IQ Test |
| Spatial reasoning | Picturing and turning shapes | Rotations, mirror images, folded paper, cube nets | Spatial IQ Test |
| Critical thinking | Judging arguments and conclusions | Statements, then: does this conclusion follow? | Watson-Glaser guide |
| General cognitive ability | Several of the above, at speed | About 50 mixed questions in 12 to 15 minutes | Wonderlic-Style Practice Test |
| Situational judgement | Choosing how to act at work | Workplace scenarios with responses to pick or rank | Situational Judgement Test |
If your invitation names the publisher, read its guide before you practice. The clock, the scoring and whether a wrong answer costs points all differ from one test to the next.
Reasoning tests such as numerical, verbal and inductive, reported as a percentile against a comparison group the employer picks. SHL sets no pass mark, and each candidate gets different questions.
Read the guide Pearson40 questions in about 30 minutes on recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments and drawing conclusions. Pearson publishes no pass mark. Law firms are among its best-known users.
Read the guide Criteria Corp50 questions in 15 minutes on verbal, math and logic, and spatial reasoning, with no penalty for wrong answers. Criteria reports a median of 24 out of 50.
Read the guide The Predictive Index50 questions in 12 minutes, scored from 100 to 450. PI says most people will not finish, by design, and wrong answers do not count against you.
Read the guide Thomas InternationalFive short timed tasks: reasoning, perceptual speed, number speed and accuracy, word meaning and spatial visualization. Wrong answers cost points, and percentiles are set against a norm group.
Read the guide WonderlicWonderlic says its current test has no universal good score. The numbers quoted online, from 20 as average to 26 for NFL tackles, come from its older test.
Read the guideMore on hiring tests: what practice actually changes, what hiring tests measure and what they don’t, and IQ tests in job interviews.
Practice raises scores. A review of 50 studies found that people score higher on average when they retake a cognitive ability test, and more after coaching. [2] Most of that gain is familiarity with the format and better pacing rather than a change in ability (see what practice changes), and that is exactly what you want before a test that counts.
Most employer aptitude tests turn your number of correct answers into a percentile: the share of a comparison group, or norm group, that you scored above. Each employer then decides what counts as a pass.
The details differ by publisher. SHL adds T-scores and sten scores to the percentile; PI reports on a scale from 100 to 450; a CCAT result starts as a raw score out of 50. None of the publishers in our guides sets a universal pass mark.
Our practice tests report in two ways. The logical reasoning, situational judgement and Wonderlic-style tests give a raw score out of 30, 20 or 50, with no percentile, because a fair percentile needs a large comparison group; that score is never an IQ. The numerical, verbal, spatial, culture-fair, timed and classical tests are IQ-format tests and report on the IQ scale.
Aptitude test scores do predict job and training performance, but less strongly than the figures quoted for decades. A 2022 re-analysis found earlier estimates for hiring methods were too high by about .10 to .20, and ranked structured interviews first, while concluding that the methods remain useful. [1]
Even on the older, higher figures, a test score explained a minority of the differences in performance between people. It was never a ranking of who will be better at the job. Read more in what a cognitive ability test at work actually predicts.
An aptitude test measures how well you reason with new information, such as numbers, words, patterns or shapes, usually against a time limit. Employers use them to compare applicants on the same questions early in hiring. They do not test knowledge of the job.
Usually one or more of: numerical reasoning (number series, percentages, tables and charts), verbal reasoning (word meaning, reading passages), logical or abstract reasoning (series, odd one out, matrices), spatial reasoning and critical thinking. Short general tests such as the CCAT and the PI Cognitive Assessment mix several types into 50 questions.
Most single tests take 12 to 30 minutes. The PI Cognitive Assessment is 50 questions in 12 minutes, the CCAT 50 in 15 and the Watson-Glaser 40 in about 30. An employer may send two or three tests in a row.
There is no universal one. SHL, Pearson and PI all say they set no pass mark: each employer chooses its own minimum, usually a percentile against a comparison group such as graduates or managers. Read the guide for your publisher on this page to see how its scores work.
Yes, and it helps. A review of 50 studies found that people score higher on average when they retake a cognitive ability test, and more after coaching. Most of the gain comes from knowing the format and pacing yourself, which is exactly what a timed practice test gives you.
They overlap but are not the same. Many aptitude tests measure the same reasoning skills as IQ tests, and some correlate with IQ: Pearson reports .52 between the Watson-Glaser and a full Wechsler IQ score. But employer tests are normed against job applicants, not the general population, and publishers such as PI say their score is not an IQ. The raw scores on our logical reasoning, situational judgement and Wonderlic-style tests are not IQs either.
It depends on the test. The PI Cognitive Assessment and the CCAT do not penalize wrong answers, so never leave a blank. The Thomas GIA does deduct points for wrong answers. Check the instructions before the clock starts.
No. A personality questionnaire asks how you usually think and behave and has no right answers; an aptitude test has right answers and a clock. Many employers use both. Our page on IQ vs personality explains the difference.
The one named in your invitation. If it does not say, start with the logical reasoning test (patterns and rules, 20 minutes), then the Wonderlic-style test (a fast mix of words, math and logic, 12 minutes), and add the numerical or verbal test if the job leans on numbers or reading.
Start with the test that matches your invitation. Not sure which one that is? The logical reasoning test takes 20 minutes and covers five question types, from series to matrices.
Go to the logical reasoning test →Test lengths, scales and scoring rules for SHL, Watson-Glaser, CCAT, PI and Thomas GIA come from the publishers’ own documents, cited in each guide. SHL, Watson-Glaser, CCAT, PI Cognitive Assessment, Thomas GIA and Wonderlic are trademarks of their owners. IQ Metrics is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any test publisher. Our practice tests use original questions, and a practice score is not a publisher’s score.
