Aptitude tests
Verbal reasoning test practice
Read a passage, judge the statements, stay inside the text.
Sample question
Passage
Wexcombe Borough Council introduced a food waste collection service in April. Households receive a small kitchen caddy and a weekly collection from a separate lorry. In the first six months, 18,400 of the borough's 52,000 households joined the scheme. The council had set a target of 40 per cent participation by the end of its first year. Collected food waste is sent to a plant outside the borough, where it is converted into gas that is used to heat local schools. The council says the scheme cost 1.2 million pounds to set up, which was paid for by a grant from central government. Residents who do not wish to join can continue to put food waste in their general waste bin, and no household is charged for taking part.
Statement
The grant also covered the cost of collecting the food waste each week.
Is the statement true, false, or can it not be said from the passage?
Why: The passage says the grant paid for the set-up cost. It does not say who pays for collections.
The most common error is marking something False when the passage is simply silent.
Eight verbal questions in 6 minutes, with a short passage shared by each pair. Shows how fast you were as well as how many you got right.
Practise this format
Choose a format
- Verbal reasoning with six data sheets (Aon-style)True, false or cannot say, checked against six tabbed text sheets. 18 statements in 6 minutes. Right answers earn 1, wrong answers lose half a mark.
- Verbal reasoning in five modules (Cappfinity-style)Five short modules: Adaptability, Comprehension, Dexterity, Interpretation and Reasoning. A clock counts up, you can go back and forth, and you can rate your confidence.
- Swift-style aptitude: verbal, numerical, diagrammatic (Saville-style)Three timed sections of 8 questions and 6 minutes each: 24 questions in 18 minutes. Shows your ability and your pace.
- Verbal section (Saville-style)Eight verbal questions in 6 minutes, with a short passage shared by each pair. Shows how fast you were as well as how many you got right.
- Verbal reasoning (SHL-style)Read a passage, then decide whether each statement is true, false or cannot be said. Up to 18 questions in 15 minutes, and the difficulty follows your answers.
- Verbal reasoning, timed per passage (Talent Q-style)About 15 questions in groups of three on a passage. The first question on a passage gets 75 seconds, the follow-ups 60. Unused time is lost.
Need extra time or a different format? Every timed practice has 1.25x and 1.5x options. See reasonable adjustments.
About this test
A verbal reasoning test gives you a passage and asks what it supports. Some versions ask for the main idea, the tone or the author's intent. Others give a statement and ask whether it is true, false, or cannot be said from the passage. The skill is reading closely and answering from the text alone, not from what you already know.
We write original passages in a business and finance register and mark each statement against the text. You can practise the real timings, an untimed mode that counts up, or learn mode, which explains why the answer is what it is and what the tempting wrong answer was. Source badges below show which format details are published.
What we know about this format
Each point carries a badge showing where it comes from. Where only candidates have reported something, the badge says so.
What do the confidence badges mean?
- Vendor-published Stated in the test publisher's own document or practice site.
- Academic From peer-reviewed research.
- Official employer Stated on the employer's own page.
- Near-official Near-official: an employer-run practice portal, or a vendor or employer-quoted press release naming the employer.
- Candidate-reported Reported by candidates. Treat as likely but unconfirmed.
- Third-party From prep sites, press or forums. Not confirmed by the employer or publisher.
- Vendor-published
Adaptive verbal test in the format we call SHL-style: up to 18 items in 15 minutes on passages, covering main idea, tone and author intent.
Source · Publisher fact sheet, 2018.
- Third-party
An older True/False/Cannot Say passage format is reported at around 30 items in 17 to 19 minutes.
Source · Prep site. Not confirmed by the publisher.
- Vendor-published
Aon-style verbal uses True/False/Cannot Say statements against tabbed information sheets. One client's guide states 18 statements in 6 minutes, with +1 right, -0.5 wrong and 0 blank.
Source · One client's settings only.
- Vendor-published
Cappfinity-style verbal has five modules: Adaptability, Comprehension, Dexterity, Interpretation and Reasoning. Reasoning uses True/False/Can't Say or picks one or two answers.
Source · Public demo.
- Official employer
Talent Q-style: a passage on the left, the question and options on the right, inside a shared timed cognitive section.
Source · Older Bank of England guidance sheet.
- Academic
Retake studies find an average gain of about a quarter of a standard deviation on cognitive tests, levelling off after a few sittings.
Verbal reasoning with six data sheets (Aon-style)
- Vendor-published
18 statements in 6 minutes in one employer's set-up
Source · Prep sites report the full version as 37 statements in 12 minutes, the same pace.
- Third-party
37 statements in 12 minutes for the full version
Source · Reported by a prep site.
- Vendor-published
True / False / Cannot say, checked against 6 tabbed data sheets
- Vendor-published
Numbered boxes show the current statement and the ones you have answered; the test submits itself when time runs out
- Vendor-published
Marking: +1 for a right answer, -0.5 for a wrong answer, 0 for a blank
Source · Published for one employer's set-up only. Other employers may mark differently.
Verbal reasoning in five modules (Cappfinity-style)
- Vendor-published
A count-up Time Taken clock with Previous and Next buttons
Source · From the provider's public demo.
- Vendor-published
Five verbal modules: Adaptability (match replies to messages by style), Comprehension (fill the gap), Dexterity (click a word to fix spelling or grammar), Interpretation (rank statements by how positive they are), Reasoning (true, false or cannot say)
Source · Kvanta writes its own items for each module.
- Vendor-published
Response time is recorded or limited, depending on the employer. How it is weighted is not public
Source · Kvanta shows your time but does not turn it into a speed score.
- Official employer
Numerical and verbal modules are timed in a flexible way, about 12 minutes each on average, and both accuracy and time taken count
Source · Employer statement for its own assessment.
- Third-party
Module lengths are not published; about 3 questions per module here
Source · Kvanta's own length.
- Candidate-reported
An optional confidence rating after each answer
Source · Reported by candidates; not confirmed in the demo text we read.
Swift-style aptitude: verbal, numerical, diagrammatic (Saville-style)
- Vendor-published
24 questions in 18 minutes: verbal, numerical and diagrammatic sections of 8 questions and 6 minutes each
- Vendor-published
Separately timed sections built from large item banks
Source · Document is no longer online; read through a search excerpt.
- Candidate-reported
Groups of questions share one stimulus
Source · Candidate-reported. Not confirmed in the provider's published documents.
- Vendor-published
Reports show an ability score (sten, 1 to 10, against a comparison group) and a pace score (your time on completed items against the average time on the same items)
Source · Kvanta's sten is against Kvanta players and its pace line uses our own reference times.
- Third-party
Calculator hint shown on the numerical section
Source · Calculator policy is not officially documented. Check your invitation.
Verbal section (Saville-style)
- Vendor-published
The full test is 24 items in 18 minutes: verbal, numerical and diagrammatic sections of 8 items and 6 minutes each
Source · Kvanta's combined preset runs all three sections. This preset is the verbal section on its own.
- Candidate-reported
Groups of questions share one passage
Source · Candidate-reported. Not confirmed in the provider's published documents.
- Vendor-published
Reports show an ability score and a pace score (your time on completed items against the average time on the same items)
Source · Kvanta's pace line compares your time with an even split of the section clock, not with the provider's averages.
Verbal reasoning (SHL-style)
- Vendor-published
Up to 18 items in 15 minutes
Source · Fact sheet for the current verbal ability test.
- Vendor-published
Adaptive: each question is drawn from a bank according to your earlier answers
Source · Kvanta does not let you go back, because the next question depends on your last answer.
- Vendor-published
Passage-based questions testing main idea, tone and author intent
Source · Kvanta questions are True / False / Cannot say statements about a passage, which is the older format of this test.
- Third-party
True / False / Cannot say statements on a passage
Source · Reported by a prep site for the older version of this test.
- Vendor-published
Real results are percentiles against a named comparison group, with an A to E grade
Source · Kvanta shows your points and, once enough people have taken it, a band against Kvanta users only.
Verbal reasoning, timed per passage (Talent Q-style)
- Official employer
The Bank of England used this provider's online tests in its 2017-19 guidance for candidates
Source · The guidance sheet does not give the per-question times below.
- Candidate-reported
Per-question clocks: about 75 seconds for the first question on a passage and about 60 seconds for follow-ups
Source · Candidate-reported and approximate. Not confirmed by the provider.
- Candidate-reported
About 15 questions, three per passage, not banked: time left on one question does not carry over
Source · Candidate-reported and approximate.
- Candidate-reported
Difficulty follows your answers
Source · Candidate-reported. Kvanta uses a simple difficulty staircase.
Questions people ask
What does 'Cannot Say' mean?
It means the passage does not give enough information to decide whether the statement is true or false. If you would need outside knowledge or an assumption to answer, the answer is Cannot Say. The most common error is marking something False when the passage is simply silent.
How is verbal reasoning different from reading comprehension at school?
You are timed, you have to judge precise claims rather than summarise, and you must ignore what you know about the topic. Words such as 'all', 'most', 'may' and 'will' often decide the answer.
How long do I get?
Published examples include up to 18 items in 15 minutes for an adaptive test and 18 statements in 6 minutes for one Aon-style client. Your invitation is the authority for your own test.
Do the passages assume finance knowledge?
They are usually business-flavoured but self-contained. Real tests are meant to be answerable without specialist knowledge, and ours are written the same way.
Is there a penalty for wrong answers?
Only the Aon-style guide for one client documents it: +1 right, -0.5 wrong, 0 blank. For other formats it is not published, so the safe habit is to answer when you have a reasoned guess.
How should I split my time?
Roughly even time per item is a sensible default, but do not let one passage use up the clock. Use the review grid or skip option where the test offers it. Learn mode lets you practise the reading method with no clock first.
Is verbal reasoning the same as critical thinking?
They overlap. Verbal reasoning is mostly about what a passage states or implies. Critical thinking tests add separate skills such as spotting assumptions and judging how strong an argument is. We have a separate page for critical thinking.
Are these real test passages?
No. Everything is written by us. We do not have real items and we do not reconstruct them.
Where this appears in firm processes
- Deloitte UK Official employer
- HSBC Near-official
- UBS Official employer
See all firm pages. Check your own invitation, because processes change each cycle.
Independent practice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Aon, Cappfinity, Saville, SHL and Talent Q.
Practice builds familiarity. Reasoning scores improve with practice, though the gains level off after a few sittings, and nothing here predicts a real score. Our results are shown against Kvanta users only, never as an official score.
Use Kvanta to practise and learn. In a live assessment, do not use AI tools, notes or another person unless the employer says you may. Read our approach to integrity.