How the Exam 955 Spatial Relations test works
Spatial Relations follows Multicraft at the test centre and is timed on its own. It has two sections. In Matching Parts and Figures you see two or more flat pieces and choose which of four figures shows how they fit together without gaps or overlaps. In Spatial Visualization you see a drawing with top, front and right views and choose which of four objects would have those views.
USPS’s package gives two versions of the length: its contents table says 68 items in 40 minutes, while the paragraph on this part says 65 items in 60 minutes. Plan for the tighter one, about 35 seconds a question.
You click a figure to choose it, and a coloured box appears around it; click another to change your mind. Your score is the number correct with no penalty for guessing, and you can review answers in this part if you finish early.
How to solve each type
Each section has a quick check that removes most wrong options:
- Matching parts: compare the total area first. An option bigger or smaller than the pieces combined is out.
- Then match distinctive edges and angles, such as a long straight side or a sharp point, to the outline of each option.
- Views: take one view at a time. Count the cells in the top view, then check each option’s heights against the front and right views.
- Remember that in a right view the front of the object is on your left.
- Wrong options often match two views and break the third, so check all three before you choose.
Worked examples
Matching parts: two identical right-angled triangles have shorter sides of 2 and 3 units, so together they cover 6 square units. A 2 by 3 rectangle fits; a 3 by 3 square, at 9 square units, cannot, whatever its shape suggests.
Views: an object is made of four cubes. Three sit on the ground in an L, at the front left, front right and back left, and the fourth is stacked on the back-left cube. The top view is an L of three squares. The front view shows a column two high on the left and one high on the right. The right view shows one high at the front, on your left, and two high at the back, on your right. An option with the extra cube on the front-left cube instead gives the same top and front views but a mirrored right view, so it is wrong.
Tips for the real Exam 955 Spatial Relations
- Study the sample questions in USPS’s package, which tells you to study them carefully.
- Keep moving. At about 35 seconds a question, one stubborn item can cost you three easier ones.
- Guess on anything you skip before time runs out. Blanks score nothing and guesses are not penalised.
- Use the practice items at the start of the part to get used to selecting and changing figures.
Practise Exam 955 Spatial Relations on CogniPrep
Our version has 68 questions in 40 minutes, the tighter of USPS’s two timings: 34 matching-parts items and 34 three-view items, generated fresh for each sitting. The pieces can be rotated but not flipped. You get a review screen if you finish early and a raw mark out of 68, not a 70-scale score, because USPS does not publish the conversion. The split between the two sections is ours.