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SHL numerical reasoning test: what it asks and how to practise
SHL is a test publisher, and its Verify numerical reasoning test is one of the most common numerical tests sent to job applicants. You get a graph, chart or table, do a calculation with it, and answer a short question. SHL has more than one version, and they differ in length and format, so the first job is to find out which one you have been sent. Then practise the skill underneath, which is the same in all of them: reading data fast and getting the arithmetic right.
The versions, as SHL describes them
Verify Numerical Reasoning
| Questions | Up to 18 |
|---|---|
| Time allowed | 25 minutes |
| Question format | Multiple choice |
| Scoring | Adaptive, using item response theory |
| Sittings | One, plus a verification test |
| What it measures | Analysing data in a graph or chart, doing a calculation and answering a short question |
Verify Interactive: Numerical Reasoning
| Questions | Up to 10 |
|---|---|
| Time allowed | 18 minutes |
| Question format | Interactive, activity-based |
| Scoring | Computer adaptive |
| Sittings | One |
| What it measures | Using numerical information to create charts and graphs and fill in spreadsheets |
SHL's fact sheets say the tests are for candidates in roles that use numerical data, such as finance, IT, professional services, production and sales. They are designed to be taken without a supervisor, which is why a verification test can follow.
What the questions ask
SHL's description of the multiple-choice test is one sentence: analyse data in the form of a graph or chart, perform a calculation, answer a short question. Here is what to practise for each part, and where to find it here:
- Reading a table or chart and finding the right numbers. Practise data tables and charts.
- The calculation: percentages, percentage change, ratios and shares. Practise percentages and ratios.
- Business arithmetic in words: costs, rates and splits described in a sentence or two. Practise word problems.
Every practice question here is generated and checked to have exactly one right answer. None is copied from an SHL test.
What preplaud does not do
The Verify Interactive version asks you to build a chart or fill in a spreadsheet yourself. preplaud's questions are multiple choice or typed answers, so it practises the reading and the arithmetic but not that way of answering. SHL publishes example questions (linked below) so you can see the interactive screens before the day.
How to prepare
- Find out which test it is and what is allowed. The invitation says how long it is and whether you may use a calculator and paper. SHL's fact sheets do not say, so do not assume.
- Make percentages automatic. Percentage change, and the difference between percentage points and percent, come up constantly. The numerical guide goes through the traps with worked examples.
- Read the question before the data. Find the two numbers it needs and ignore the rest of the table.
- Practise under the clock. 18 questions in 25 minutes is under 90 seconds a question, and 10 in 18 minutes is under two. Every track here has a timed mode, and the free mock test shows your pacing.
Start now
Practice here is free up to level 3, with 15 new questions a day on a free account and no account needed to try. Levels 4 to 6 and the full-length mock come with paid access.
Other pages: numerical reasoning tests in general, abstract and inductive reasoning.
Sources
- SHL: Verify Numerical Reasoning Test, assessment fact sheet (18 questions, 25 minutes, multiple choice, what it measures, roles, verification test)
- SHL: Verify Interactive, Numerical Reasoning, assessment fact sheet (10 questions, 18 minutes, interactive format, adaptive, what it measures)
- SHL: Numerical Reasoning, example questions (SHL's own examples, to see the screens)