How the Numerical Reasoning test works
A few unscored practice questions come first. Then the 12 scored questions run on one 10-minute clock shown at the top of the screen, beside a count of how many you have answered. On a computer the question and any table or chart sit on the left and the four options on the right: pick one and press Next.
The questions are spread evenly across four skill areas: number patterns; numbers, fractions and percentages; text and tables; and charts, graphs and diagrams. TestGorilla’s own sample set has a number series, a work-rate word problem, a four-year company table with values to infer, and a chart of customers by gender and age group.
Each candidate gets a fresh random draw from the bank, so you can learn the question types but not the questions.
How to approach each question type
Each of the four areas has its own quick route to the answer:
- Number series: write the gaps between terms. If they are not constant, try ratios, then gaps that grow, then two series taking turns.
- Percentages and fractions: write down what each percentage is a percentage of before you calculate. 25% of 60% of a budget is 15% of it, not 85%.
- Work-rate problems: turn people, hours and days into one total, such as person-hours, then divide it by the new crew.
- Tables: find the relationship that holds in the complete rows or years, then apply it to the gap.
- Charts: before any arithmetic, note the two or three values the question needs and the units on the axis.
Worked examples
A series. What is the next number in 4, 9, 19, 39, ? Options: 59, 69, 78, 79.
The gaps are 5, 10 and 20, doubling each time, so the next gap is 40 and the answer is 39 + 40 = 79. Check it another way: each term is double the last plus one (4 × 2 + 1 = 9, and 39 × 2 + 1 = 79). Both rules agree.
A table. A café took £12,000 in the first quarter and £15,000 in the second. Its costs were 60% of takings in both quarters. By how much did its profit rise? Options: £600, £1,200, £1,800, £3,000.
Profit is the 40% left after costs: £4,800 in the first quarter and £6,000 in the second, a rise of £1,200. £3,000 is the rise in takings and £1,800 the rise in costs, the two traps in the list.
Tips for the real Numerical Reasoning test
- Have a calculator, pen and paper on the desk before you start. TestGorilla allows all three; AI tools are not allowed.
- Budget about 50 seconds a question. If one has taken 90 seconds and you are no closer, pick your best option and move on.
- Never skip. A skip is marked wrong and a wrong answer costs nothing, so a guess is a free one-in-four chance.
- Press Next well before the clock runs out. An answer you have selected but not submitted is lost when time is up.
- Use the practice questions to learn the screen. They do not count and the employer does not see them.
- Stay in full-screen. Leaving it hides the question while the clock keeps running.
Practise Numerical Reasoning on CogniPrep
Our version follows TestGorilla’s published format: 12 questions on one 10-minute clock, three from each skill area, four options each, one question per screen, no going back and a skip marked wrong. Questions come from our own bank of 60. At the end you get a raw percentage and a percentile against CogniPrep players, with harder questions weighted more as TestGorilla does, plus feedback on each skill area.