TestGorilla is not a test. It is a hiring platform with a library of hundreds of tests, and an employer builds your assessment by picking up to five of them. So the useful question is not what the TestGorilla test is like, but which tests you have been sent. The answer is on the welcome screen of your invitation, which lists them by name. This guide covers the seventeen cognitive ones: what each is, which roles tend to meet it, and the rules that apply to all of them.
The rules every TestGorilla test shares
Whichever tests you have been sent, the screen works the same way, and it catches people out more than the questions do.
Navigation
One question per screen. You cannot go back.
Skipping
Press Next without answering, confirm, and the question is marked wrong.
Wrong answers
No penalty, so always answer.
Clock
One countdown for the whole test, shown at the top.
Time-out
Only submitted answers are saved. The question on screen is lost.
Screen
Enforced full-screen. Leaving it hides the question; the clock keeps going.
Tools
Pen, paper and a calculator allowed. No AI or other tools.
Device
Phones work, but TestGorilla recommends a computer and Chrome.
Each test opens with a few unscored practice questions, which are the same ones shown as previews on TestGorilla's own test pages. After that the clock starts and there is no way back. Tests run one after another, and you can only take a break between them when prompted.
How the score works
Every test is reported as a percentile against everyone who has taken it, with harder questions weighted more than easy ones, and your raw percentage beside it. TestGorilla says there is no pass or fail. The employer decides what to do with the number, usually by ranking applicants or filtering out those below a level they set, so the score you need depends on who else applied. Some tests are built so that almost nobody finishes: on Abstract Reasoning, TestGorilla's own example of a strong performer is 25 right out of 50.
The reasoning tests: graduate and professional roles
These tend to be set for graduate and professional roles. Bain's careers page names TestGorilla as one of its two digital assessment providers without saying which tests it sets; prep sites report Numerical Reasoning, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, and the calculator Bain allows points to a numerical test at least.
12 questions, 10 minutes
Numerical Reasoning
Number patterns, fractions and percentages, word problems with tables, and charts. About 50 seconds a question, calculator allowed.
15 questions, 10 minutes
Verbal Reasoning
Word analogies, and statements you judge true, false or cannot be determined from a short text alone.
12 minutes, count not published
Critical Thinking
Syllogisms, how two statements relate, hidden assumptions, and whether new data strengthens or weakens an argument. The only cognitive test TestGorilla rates Advanced.
12 questions, 9 minutes
Problem Solving
Scheduling and rate problems, ordering puzzles with rules, and tables filtered against requirements. The tightest clock in the library for the amount of working.
13 minutes, count not published
Reading Comprehension
One question per passage of one to three paragraphs: what the passage is mainly saying, or what it implies.
10 minutes, count not published
Computational Thinking
Patterns, algorithms, breaking a problem down and abstraction, with no code. Aimed at software, data and analyst roles.
The screening tests: high-volume and entry-level hiring
10 minutes, count not published
Rapid Cognitive Index (RCI)
A general screener mixing verbal, abstract and numerical questions on one clock, aimed at entry-level and high-volume roles. You have to budget time across the three parts.
50 questions, 10 minutes
Abstract Reasoning
Four panels change by a rule; pick the fifth. No words, about 12 seconds a question, and not built to be finished.
The practical tests: operational, technical and administrative roles
21 questions, 10 minutes
Mechanical Reasoning
Levers, gears, pulleys, springs and moving objects, drawn as diagrams. Aimed at technicians, trades, maintenance and engineering.
10 minutes, count not published
Spatial Reasoning
Rotating a solid, folding a cube net, and assembling a shape from pieces.
16 questions, 12 minutes
Attention to Detail (Textual)
Counting differences between near-identical lines of text, and finding the line that disagrees with the rest.
12 questions, 10 minutes
Attention to Detail (Visual)
Differences between two images, identical pairs, counting shapes in a figure, and finding where a fragment comes from.
15 questions, 10 minutes
Understanding Instructions
Following written, visual and spoken instructions, sometimes by ticking every option that applies. Formerly called Following Instructions.
Four tests, 10 minutes each
The maths tests
Basic Math Calculations (typed answers), Basic Double-Digit Math, Basic Triple-Digit Math and Intermediate Math: arithmetic, time between clocks, rounding, fractions, decimals and percentages.
Six counts TestGorilla does not publish
Critical Thinking, the RCI, Reading Comprehension, Spatial Reasoning, Basic Math Calculations and Computational Thinking have published clocks but no published question count. The welcome screen of your invitation shows the total number of questions across your tests, which is the only reliable figure.
Do not practise on TestGorilla itself
TestGorilla has a job-seeker side: a TestGorilla Profile where you can take tests yourself, up to three a day. It looks like free practice. It is not. You cannot retake a test for three months, your latest score is the one that shows, and recruiters searching TestGorilla's talent pool can see it. TestGorilla says individual scores cannot be hidden. A cold first attempt on your Profile can end up as the score an employer sees.
The only official practice is the handful of preview questions on each test's page, and those are the same questions the real test opens with, so looking at them in advance buys you almost nothing.
How to prepare
1
Read the welcome screen and list your tests
Practise only those. An employer can pick at most five tests in all, and seventeen cognitive tests is too many to prepare for evenly.
2
Practise the one-way format, not just the questions
No going back changes how you pace. Decide in advance how long you will give a hard question before guessing and moving on.
3
Never leave a question blank
A skip scores the same as a wrong answer, and an answer that is picked but not submitted when the clock runs out is lost.
4
Set up for one clean sitting
A computer, Chrome, a calculator, pen and paper, notifications off and nothing else open, so there is never a reason to leave full-screen.
You can practise TestGorilla's cognitive tests on CogniPrep in the same one-way format and at the real clocks, with results broken down by skill area. If you are not sure TestGorilla sent your invitation, the provider guide matches invitation names to publishers, and if you have been wondering about shortcuts, we cover why TestGorilla's screen lock defeats them.
