How the Matrigma test works
Each item is a 3x3 grid with eight figures and a question mark in the bottom-right square. The figures change by rules across the rows and down the columns, and you pick the one option out of six that completes the pattern.
The adaptive form, which Assessio calls the most common version, opens with three unscored practice items. The test then starts with easier items and chooses each next one from how you are doing. It runs for 12 minutes on screen with a minute per item, and you will see at least 12. The options are shuffled every time, and how fast you answer does not affect your score.
The classic form is fixed: 35 items in up to 40 minutes, of which 30 count. Assessio calls that time fairly generous, so difficulty rather than the clock is meant to stop you.
Both forms give a C-score from 0 to 10. On the adaptive form, 54 per cent of people score 4 to 6, and 23 per cent fall at each end.
How to solve a Matrigma matrix
Work through each item in this order:
- Read across the top row and name what changes: number, shape, size, shading, position or rotation.
- Check the same rule holds in the second row, then read down the columns for a second rule.
- Picture the missing figure before you look at the six options.
- Find the option that matches. If two are close, test each against every rule and drop the one that breaks any.
- If no rule appears within about half your time, rule out options that break what you have found and choose from the rest.
Worked example
Each square holds some dots on a white, grey or black background, and each row runs white, grey, black from left to right. Top row: 1 dot, 2 dots, 3 dots. Middle row: 2 dots, 2 dots, 4 dots. Bottom row: 3 dots, 1 dot, then the question mark.
The counts do not rise by a fixed step, so try another rule. In both full rows, the third square holds the first two added together: 1 + 2 = 3 and 2 + 2 = 4. The bottom row gives 3 + 1 = 4, and the third square is always black, so the answer is 4 dots on black. An option with 4 dots on grey breaks the colour rule, and 2 dots on black would follow a subtraction rule the top two rows do not support.
Tips for the real Matrigma test
- Take it well rested, as Assessio advises for its aptitude tests.
- Use a laptop or desktop. Assessio recommends one, because a small screen can make the figures harder to see.
- On the adaptive form, use your minute. Speed is not scored, so a quick answer gains nothing.
- Have an option selected before an item’s minute runs out.
- Expect it to feel hard. The adaptive form raises the difficulty after correct answers, so a run of tough items usually means you are doing well.
- On the classic form, 40 minutes for 35 items is just over a minute each. Keep a steady pace rather than racing the early items.
Practise Matrigma on CogniPrep
We have both forms, using a pool of 135 items with six options each. Adaptive Matrigma gives you 12 minutes with a 60-second clock on every item, starts easy and moves you between three difficulty bands as you answer, for up to 40 items. Classic Matrigma gives you 35 items on one 40-minute clock, of which 30 are scored. In both you cannot skip or go back, and an item that times out with nothing selected counts as wrong.
Your score out of 100 leads with the hardest band you cleared on the adaptive form and with accuracy on the classic one. The feedback translates it into an approximate C-score band.