How the Clevry mechanical reasoning test works
Each question shows an illustration of a mechanical process, such as gears, pulleys, levers or hydraulics, and asks you to apply basic physics to it, choosing from multiple-choice options. A few practice questions come before the scored test begins.
It is the only Clevry ability test with 20 questions rather than 16, and it exists only at the Essential level, the old Criterion Workforce Series, for operatives, apprentices, team leaders and supervisors. You cannot go back to a question once you have moved on.
The principles to know
Most questions turn on one of these:
- Gears: two meshing gears turn in opposite directions, so in a chain every other gear turns the same way. The smaller gear turns faster, in the ratio of the teeth.
- Pulleys: a fixed pulley only changes the direction of pull. With a moving pulley the load is shared between the rope sections holding it, so two sections halve the effort and double the rope you pull.
- Levers: effort times its distance from the pivot equals load times its distance. A longer handle means less effort.
- Hydraulics: pressure is the same throughout the fluid, so a small piston pushing a large one multiplies the force by the ratio of their areas, and the large piston moves less.
- Balance and stability: an object tips when its centre of gravity moves past the edge of its base. A wide base and a low centre of gravity are more stable.
How to approach each question
At 36 seconds a question, a fixed routine saves time:
- Name the mechanism first: gear train, pulley system, lever, hydraulic press.
- Recall the one principle that governs it before you look at the options.
- For a chain of gears or belts, trace the direction from the driver one step at a time.
- Answer from the principle wherever you can. Few questions need more than a simple ratio.
- Sense-check: a machine that needs less force always needs more distance.
Worked examples
Gears. A gear with 12 teeth drives a gear with 36 teeth. The small gear turns 6 times clockwise. How many turns does the large gear make, and which way? It has three times the teeth, so it makes a third of the turns: 6 × 12 ÷ 36 = 2 turns, anticlockwise, because meshing gears turn opposite ways.
Levers. A 600 N load sits 0.5 m from the pivot. What effort, 1.5 m from the pivot on the other side, balances it? 600 × 0.5 = 300, and 300 ÷ 1.5 = 200 N. Check: 200 × 1.5 is 300 as well, so the lever balances.
Tips for the real Clevry mechanical test
- Bank time early. The first questions are easier, and the average finish is 8 minutes of the 12.
- Use the practice questions to get used to reading the drawings before the clock starts.
- Practise from drawings, not just words. The real questions are all illustrations.
- If one has you stuck, pick the option the principle points to and move on. You cannot come back.
- Ask the employer for extra time before you start if you need it.
Practise the Clevry mechanical reasoning test on CogniPrep
Our version is 20 questions on one 12-minute clock, one drawn diagram per page, easier questions first, drawn from 60 original items split evenly across gears, pulleys, levers, hydraulics and forces. Each has four options, our choice because Clevry does not publish its own. You can change your choice until you press Next, and you cannot skip or go back. Your score is the share you got right, with anything unanswered counted wrong and time not scored, shown as a Clevry-style sten against other CogniPrep players, with feedback on the mechanism type that cost you most.