Inductive Reasoning Test: 15 Questions, 15 Minutes
Fifteen questions, fifteen minutes. Inductive reasoning tests give you a set of things and ask you to find the rule behind them — number series, shape sequences, analogies, odd-one-out. Nothing is marked while you work. When the clock stops you get a score, a breakdown by question type, and the rule behind every answer, including why each near-miss fails.
An inductive reasoning test shows you a set of things — numbers, shapes, word pairs — and asks you to work out the rule behind them, then apply it. Nothing is written down for you: the rule has to be reverse-engineered from the examples, which is exactly what makes the format language-independent and popular with employers hiring across countries.
You will meet it as the diagrammatic or abstract reasoning section of graduate-scheme test batteries, in aptitude papers used for technical and analyst roles, and in the non-verbal sections of general ability tests. Speed matters more here than on verbal papers, because a rule you cannot see in thirty seconds is usually a rule built the wrong way round.
This paper runs 15 questions in 15 minutes across four types: number series, shape patterns, analogies and odd-one-out. One point per question, no penalty for guessing. You get no feedback while the clock runs; the report at the end gives your score, your accuracy in each of the four types, and the actual rule behind every question — including why each near-miss option fits some of the sequence but not all of it.
Timed mock test
Sit the timed paper
Find the rule: 15 questions in 15 minutes.
- Questions
- 15 questions
- Time limit
- 15:00
- Scoring
- 1 point per question, no penalty for wrong answers
- Feedback
- No right/wrong shown mid-test
The clock starts the moment you hit start. You can jump between questions and change answers.
Where to go after the report
Frequently asked questions
What counts as inductive reasoning here?
Going from specific examples to a general rule. You see four terms of a sequence and infer the rule that produced them. That is the opposite direction from deduction, where you start with a rule and derive a specific case — and it is why an inductive conclusion is always the best-supported rule rather than a proven one.
Do I need to see the shapes to answer?
No. Every shape question also describes its figures in words, in both the question and the options, so the paper is fully solvable from the text alone. That also means it works with a screen reader.
How long is it?
15 questions in 15 minutes — one minute each, which is close to the pace real diagrammatic papers set. The clock starts when you press start, and you can move between questions freely until you submit.
What if I find a rule that fits but is not the answer?
That is the single most common way to lose marks on this format, and the report is built to catch it. A rule that fits the last two terms but breaks on the first one is the wrong rule. Before you answer, run whatever rule you found back over every term you were given.
Is this the same as an IQ test?
It overlaps with the non-verbal part of one, but the purpose is different. Employers use these papers to compare candidates on a specific narrow skill — spotting structure fast — not to produce a general score about you.