How scales ix works
Each task shows nine objects. Eight share a rule and one breaks it, and you click the odd one out. Aon’s practice guide says there is exactly one correct answer per task, that the twenty tasks get harder as you go, and that the test is timed so you are not expected to finish.
The rules in Aon’s worked examples are visual and specific: objects rotated 90 degrees to the right, lines in a one, one, two pattern, a shape drawn inside another shape, black and white alternating, every shape having four sides. The skill is noticing which property all but one object share.
How to approach a set of nine
Test one property at a time across all nine objects: orientation, count, fill, enclosure, number of sides. The first property that splits the set eight to one is the rule, and the object on the wrong side of it is your answer.
If two objects seem to break a rule you are testing, that is not the rule, because each task has a single answer. Move on to the next property rather than choosing between the two.
scales cls and scales clx
Aon runs two more inductive tests under the scales name. scales cls, listed as Inductive-logical Thinking, gives 12 tasks in 12 minutes: you work out the common rules in the patterns given, then assign new images to the pattern they belong to. scales clx, listed as Inductive Logical Reasoning, runs for 6 minutes and asks you to observe common patterns and relationships across a group of items.
Aon publishes much less about cls and clx than about ix, which is why they share this page. Check your invitation for the exact test name, because the three are different tasks on different clocks.
How it is scored
For scales ix, Aon publishes no scoring rule of its own. Its candidate preparation page says that in performance tests points are usually added for each correct answer and deducted for every incorrect answer, and it asks candidates to work quickly but carefully because incorrect answers generally have a negative effect on the result.
How our practice versions work
Our scales ix practice gives you 20 tasks on a five-minute clock. Each shows nine black and white objects with one rule-breaker, drawn from rule families like those in Aon’s examples. It runs forward only with a Skip control, and a wrong answer costs one mark while a skip costs nothing.
Our scales cls practice gives 12 tasks in 12 minutes. Each shows two groups of three example grids, each group following its own rule, and an unmarked grid that you place in one group. Aon does not publish its cls rules, so our rule families, some of which use colour, are our own design. Marking matches our ix version, and we have no scales clx practice.