How the Understanding Instructions test works
This is TestGorilla’s entry-level instructions test, previously called Following Instructions. Fifteen scored questions share one 10-minute clock, after a few practice questions that do not count.
The questions cover three skill areas. Written: a policy or procedure, such as a discount rule, and a question on what it allows. Visual: pictures to check against a rule, such as which workers meet a dress code or which object on a shelf sits where the instruction says. Spoken: a short audio briefing played through your speakers, then a question on what you heard.
Some questions ask you to select every answer that applies. These use checkboxes instead of circles and do not say how many answers are right. TestGorilla aims the test at entry- to mid-level roles in manufacturing, services, construction and maintenance.
How to answer instruction questions
Treat every instruction as a set of conditions to test, not a story to follow:
- Pick out each condition in the instruction and the small words that set its limits: only, must, never, unless, at least, more than, before.
- Check each option against every condition. An option fails if it breaks even one.
- Follow the instruction as written, even where your own workplace would do it differently.
- On select-all questions, tick every option that meets the conditions and nothing else. There is no fixed number to find.
- For spoken briefings, note numbers, names and times on paper while you listen.
Worked example: a select-all question
Rule: staff may refund a customer without a manager if the item cost less than £50, was bought in the last 28 days and the customer has a receipt. Sale items can be exchanged but never refunded. Which requests can a staff member refund alone? Select all that apply.
A: a £35 kettle bought 10 days ago, with a receipt. B: a £50 lamp bought 5 days ago, with a receipt. C: a £20 sale jumper bought 3 days ago, with a receipt. D: a £12 mug bought 30 days ago, with a receipt. E: an £8 candle bought two weeks ago, with a receipt.
A and E meet every condition. B fails because £50 is not less than £50. C is a sale item, so it can only be exchanged. D was bought more than 28 days ago. The answer is A and E, and nothing else.
Tips for the real Understanding Instructions test
- Bring headphones or check your speakers before you start. The spoken questions need sound, and TestGorilla asks candidates to enable speakers or headphones.
- If you rely on captions, turn on live captions in Chrome before the test.
- Allow about 40 seconds a question. The pictures can take longer than the written rules, so do not linger on the easy written ones.
- Do not add a sensible extra step the instruction does not ask for. It still makes the answer wrong.
- Choose an answer even when unsure. Skipping scores the same as a wrong answer.
Practise Understanding Instructions on CogniPrep
Ours has 15 questions on one 10-minute clock: 10 written and 5 picture questions from our own bank of 60. The real test’s spoken questions are not in our version yet, so expect audio on the day that you will not have practised here. Our pictures are simple drawings with a key, not photographs. Select-all questions use checkboxes and are marked all or nothing. One question per screen, no going back and a skip marked wrong. You get a raw percentage and a percentile against CogniPrep players, with harder questions weighted more, plus feedback on written and picture questions and on any select-all answers you got partly right.