How the Bridge Numeriek test works
Each screen shows a table or chart next to a question. The manual’s examples are dense business tables: mortgage rates and fees across four lenders, and costs per branch over two years. You choose from five answers, A to E, and E is always “None of the above”, Geen van alle on a Dutch sitting.
There are 25 questions on one 17-minute clock, about 41 seconds each including finding the figures. Several questions share each table. You can skip a question and return to it, a clock shows the time left, and a bar shows the share of time used. Three repeatable practice questions come first, before the clock starts.
In the manual’s examples you find the right cell and then do at most one step, such as a percentage of an amount. The English manual tells you to have a calculator at hand, and also to practise harder sums without one.
If you sit it in Dutch, expect Dutch number formatting, with a decimal comma and a thousands dot: € 1.749,30 is one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine euros thirty.
How to solve a Bridge Numeriek question
Work in this order:
- Read the question first and note exactly what it asks for: an amount, a percentage, a difference, a year.
- Find the row and column you need. Check the year, the unit and the branch before you read the number.
- Estimate the answer roughly before you calculate, so a slip by a factor of ten stands out.
- Calculate, then compare with the options. If none matches your answer, check your working once, then choose None of the above.
Worked example
Table: energy costs per office in 2025. Amsterdam € 12,400, Rotterdam € 9,800, Utrecht € 7,600.
Question 1: “By what percentage were Rotterdam’s energy costs higher than Utrecht’s?” Options: A 22.4%, B 28.9%, C 2.2%, D 29.5%, E None of the above. The difference is 9,800 − 7,600 = 2,200. Divide by Utrecht’s figure, because the question compares against Utrecht: 2,200 ÷ 7,600 = 0.289, so 28.9%, option B. Option A divides by Rotterdam instead (2,200 ÷ 9,800).
Question 2: “What were the three offices’ combined energy costs?” Options: A € 28,900, B € 29,600, C € 30,800, D € 29,900, E None of the above. 12,400 + 9,800 + 7,600 = 29,800. No option shows 29,800, so the answer is E.
Tips for the real Bridge Numeriek test
- Treat None of the above as a real answer. It appears on every question and is sometimes correct.
- Have a calculator ready, but practise percentages and differences by hand so you are not slowed down without one.
- If you practise in English and sit the test in Dutch, get used to reading 12.400 as twelve thousand four hundred and 3,6% as three point six per cent.
- Skip a question that needs several steps and come back to it. Not finishing is normal on this test, and a blank does not lower Efficiëntie the way a wrong guess does.
- The manual suggests reading the economics pages of a newspaper and explaining tables and charts to yourself in words.
Practise Bridge Numeriek on CogniPrep
Our Bridge Numeriek has 25 questions on one 17-minute clock, grouped on business tables and charts, with five options where the fifth is always None of the above. You can skip, go back and use the overview, and a bar shows the share of time used. A calculator is allowed. At the end you get a score out of 100 with its sten equivalent and our versions of the four Bridge scores. The arithmetic is kept light, and our tables use English number formatting.