How the Reasoning from Rules test works
TECH is EEI’s battery for technician jobs such as laboratory, telecommunications, drafting, GIS, and testing and relay technicians. It has four paper tests: Graphic Problem Solving, Interpreting Diagrams, Mechanical Concepts and Reasoning from Rules.
EEI describes Reasoning from Rules as reading and applying rules to make decisions and to troubleshoot a logic network. You get a set of rules, often with conditions and exceptions, followed by cases to route, each with four options. EEI does not publish the number of questions or the time limit.
How to apply a set of rules
Read the rules once carefully, then treat each case as a checklist:
- Before the first case, mark which rule overrides others. Phrases like “whatever its type” or “in all cases” usually win.
- For each case, check the overriding rule first, then the general rules in order.
- Read thresholds exactly: “over 6 hours” does not include 6 hours.
- Check every condition in a rule, not just the first one that matches.
- If an option looks right but one condition is unchecked, check it before you move on.
Worked example
Rules: Faults on overhead lines go to Crew 1. Faults on underground cables go to Crew 2, unless the repair is estimated at over 6 hours, in which case they go to Crew 3. Any fault at a hospital or care home goes to the Priority crew, whatever its type.
Case 1: an underground cable fault at a shopping centre, estimated at 8 hours. No hospital or care home, so the Priority rule does not apply; it is underground and over 6 hours, so it goes to Crew 3. Case 2: an overhead line fault at a care home, estimated at 2 hours. The care home rule overrides the line type, so it goes to the Priority crew, not Crew 1.
Tips for the real TECH test
- Spend real time on the rules before the first case. Every case on that set depends on them.
- Expect logic network questions as well as routing cases. Tracing simple logic diagrams step by step is worth practising.
- Mechanical Concepts in TECH is 44 questions in 20 minutes, the only TECH clock EEI publishes. Prepare for it separately.
- Answer every question. A blank can never score.
Practise Reasoning from Rules on CogniPrep
Our game gives 15 generated questions in 15 minutes, a practice clock of our own because EEI does not publish one. Each rule set comes with a few cases to route, with four options per case. You can skip and return, change answers and hand in from a review grid; the score out of 100 counts the whole paper. The logic network part of the real test is not included.