Aptitude tests › Numerical reasoning
Numerical reasoning tests: how they work and how to prepare
Numerical reasoning tests show you a table, a chart or a short scenario and ask you to work something out from it: a percentage change, a ratio, a total, which item grew fastest. Many graduate and professional employers use them, from test publishers such as SHL, Kenexa, Cubiks and Criteria. The maths itself is school level. What makes them hard is the time limit and the data you have to find first.
What the questions ask
- Percentages and percentage change: "by what percentage did sales rise from 2023 to 2024?" Practise with percentages and ratios.
- Reading tables: pulling the two numbers you need out of a grid of twenty. Practise with data tables.
- Reading charts: bar, line and pie charts, sometimes two at once. Practise with charts.
- Word problems: rates, costs, mixtures and splits described in a sentence or two. Practise with word problems.
The traps
- Percentage points versus percent. A rate going from 10% to 12% is 2 percentage points, but a 20% increase.
- The wrong base. Percentage change is divided by the starting value, not the new one.
- Units and scales. A column in thousands, or a chart axis that doesn't start at zero.
- Doing sums you don't need. Many questions can be answered by estimating and ruling options out; the full calculation takes too long.
The numerical guide goes through each of these with worked examples. Sent an SHL test? See what SHL says about its numerical tests, or the Civil Service verbal and numerical tests. Other named tests: Aon cut-e, Korn Ferry and Talent Q, Cubiks Logiks.
How to prepare
- Make percentages automatic. Quick mental work with percentages and ratios frees your time for reading the data.
- Practise finding the data fast. Read the question first, then look for only the numbers it needs.
- Practise under time. Every track has a timed mode, and levels adapt as you improve.
- Check whether a calculator is allowed. Some numerical tests allow one and some don't; the invitation from the employer usually says.
Start now
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