How the verbal test works
You are given a passage of information and four statements about it. For each statement you choose one of five answers, based solely on the passage: Definitely True, Probably True, Insufficient Information, Probably False or Definitely False.
Test Partnership describes the task as distinguishing between what is stated, implied or cannot be determined. The test adapts as you progress, and harder questions contribute more to the final score.
The five-point scale
Test Partnership’s instructions define each point. Definitely True means true beyond a reasonable doubt from the passage alone. Probably True means more likely to be true than false, but not beyond reasonable doubt. Probably False and Definitely False mirror these.
Insufficient Information is for statements the passage gives you no evidence to decide. Between the definite and the probable answers, the dividing line is reasonable doubt, so a statement the passage makes likely but does not settle is Probably True rather than Definitely True.
- Judge only on the passage, as the instructions say. Outside knowledge does not count.
- Ask first whether the passage bears on the statement at all. If not, it is Insufficient Information.
- Then ask whether any reasonable doubt remains. If it does, the answer is a Probably, not a Definitely.
Timing: what Test Partnership publishes
Test Partnership’s own figures differ. Its verbal product page lists 20 minutes and 15 questions, its example Insights Verbal test has 20 questions with a maximum of 15 minutes, and a longer verbal practice test runs to 32 questions in 24 minutes. Check your invitation for the version you have been set.
In each case the instructions ask you to work quickly and accurately, to attempt every question before the end of the time limit and, if you cannot answer a question in time, to use your best guess.
How our practice version works
Our version gives you five passages with four statements each, 20 in total, answered on the same five-point scale. Each passage has its own 180-second clock covering the reading and all four statements, and you cannot go back to an earlier passage.
Our passages are our own writing, and difficulty adapts on a ladder of our own. Nothing is deducted for a wrong answer, so, as Test Partnership’s own instructions advise, guess rather than leave a statement blank.