How Figuurreeksen works
Each question shows a row of four squares. Inside each square sit a few small shapes, and from one square to the next they change in a fixed way. Below the row are four answer options, and you choose the square that continues the series.
PiCompany’s own worked explanation tells you to divide each square in your head into nine cells, three by three, and follow each shape from left to right. In its example a triangle moves three places clockwise every step. In one question, different shapes can move different distances and in different directions.
Before the real questions you get an explanation and sample questions with no time pressure; each sample shows the right answer and why. Then the test adapts: the next question depends on your answers so far, and the part ends once your level is clear.
How to solve a figure series question
Take the shapes one at a time:
- Picture a three by three grid in every frame and number the eight outer cells clockwise from the top-left corner.
- Pick one shape and note its cell in frames 1 to 4. From that, work out its direction and how many cells it moves each step.
- Repeat for every other shape on its own. Never assume two shapes share a rule.
- Predict where each shape lands in frame 5, then find the option that matches every prediction, not just the first one you check.
- If two options are left, compare the one detail that separates them against your rules.
Worked example
Number the outer cells clockwise: top-left, top-middle, top-right, middle-right, bottom-right, bottom-middle, bottom-left, middle-left. In four frames a black circle sits in the top-left, top-middle, top-right and middle-right cells. A white square sits in the bottom-right, bottom-middle, bottom-left and middle-left cells.
The circle moves one cell clockwise each step, so in frame 5 it is in the bottom-right. The square moves one cell anticlockwise each step, so it is in the top-left. The answer is the frame with the circle bottom-right and the square top-left. An option with the two shapes swapped looks almost right, and one with the circle still at middle-right has missed a step.
Tips for the real Figuurreeksen
- Take GITP’s free practice test first. Its explanation and sample questions are the same ones you see in the real test.
- Work through the untimed explanation properly. It is the only part where you can take as long as you like.
- Never leave a question blank. An unanswered question counts as wrong, and a wrong answer costs nothing extra.
- Do not rush. Speed is recorded but not scored, and PiCompany set the clock so that about three quarters of the norm group answer in time.
- If an early question goes wrong, keep going. PiCompany says the adaptive test corrects for it; you just get a few more questions.
- Use a laptop or tablet. The test closes on any other device, and pen and paper are the only aids allowed.
Practise Figuurreeksen on CogniPrep
Our Figure Series game generates fresh questions each run: four frames of shapes on a three by three grid and four options labelled A to D. Like the real part it adapts, stopping after 10 to 15 questions once your level settles, with 90 seconds a question and no going back. Your score is estimated from all your answers, without counting speed, and shown as a percentile among people practising here, converted to GITP’s T-score scale. There are no sample questions first, and the items are ours rather than GITP’s.