Syllogisms, conditional statements and cannot-be-concluded questions, in the formats employers actually set. Every question below comes with the logic explained, not just the answer.
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A deductive reasoning test measures how well you apply general rules to reach a conclusion that must be true. Employers use it to sift applicants for roles that rely on sound reasoning before interview. You are given statements or conditions and asked which conclusion logically follows, choosing the best answer from the options provided. It rewards precise reasoning rather than guessing or general knowledge.
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| Score | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| 9 to 10 | Comfortably above the bar for most graduate schemes |
| 7 to 8 | Around the typical pass mark. Worth practising for speed |
| 5 to 6 | Below most employer thresholds. Focus on method before speed |
| 4 or fewer | Work through the worked solutions above before retrying |
Employers set their own thresholds and many sift on the top percentage of applicants rather than a fixed mark, so treat these as a guide.
One test tells you the style. A pack gives you the pace: batches under time pressure, marked, with the working shown.
Most tests are built from a small number of recurring formats. Each guide below covers one, with the method that works.
Chain the premises and use only what is stated. The trap is checking conclusions against the real world instead of the premises.
How syllogisms workIf P then Q guarantees Q from P, and nothing in reverse. Direction errors cost the marks.
How conditionals workTreat it as the answer until the premises rule it out. Most marks are lost filling gaps with common sense.
How to avoid the trapA deductive reasoning test measures whether you can draw the conclusion that must be true from a set of stated facts, and how quickly you can do it. It is a test of valid reasoning, not of knowledge. You are given the premises, and exactly one of the answer options follows from them with certainty.
The questions are deliberately abstract. They do not rely on any job-specific expertise or culturally specific knowledge, which is what lets an employer use the same test across very different candidates. Everything required to answer is in front of you, so bringing in an outside assumption is usually how a wrong answer is chosen.
Employers use it because the skill transfers directly to work. Someone who can take a policy, a rule or a contract clause and say precisely what does and does not follow from it is doing the same thing a lawyer, an analyst or an engineer does every day. It is judgement about what the evidence actually supports.
Most employers score you against other candidates, not against a fixed pass mark: your raw score becomes a percentile. Competitive graduate schemes commonly sift at around the 70th to 80th percentile. Attempting questions matters, because most tests are built so few candidates finish, and guessing usually pays: negative marking is rare, but check the instructions.
You will usually have in the region of a minute per question, and the tests are built so that few candidates comfortably finish. ** A minute lost early is a question you never reach at the end, and both cost the same mark.
Results from our deductive reasoning test.
Source: Practice Aptitude Tests
Based on 449 completed practice sittings, all time. Checked 14 September 2026.
The 75th percentile marks the boundary of the top quarter of recorded scores; tied scores can share that boundary. These are our practice results, not employer pass marks.
We use all-time completed, scored attempts at this practice test. Repeat attempts count separately, so the sample is sittings rather than unique people.
The average is the mean score across those sittings. The 75th percentile comes from their recorded score distribution. The “checked” date is when we retrieved the figures, not the period when the tests were taken.
Sharing these figures? Please credit Practice Aptitude Tests and link to this page.
Deductive reasoning tests are standard in graduate and professional hiring across law, finance, consulting, technology and the civil service. If a role turns on interpreting rules and evidence, expect one.
Most employers license their tests from a small number of publishers, and the timing and question style vary between them, so find out which publisher your employer uses before you prepare seriously. It is usually named in the invitation email. Our test publisher guides cover each format, and the employer guides cover specific companies’ processes.
What candidates ask us most often
No. Deductive tests are designed to be self-contained: every fact you need is in the question, and no subject knowledge or general knowledge is assumed. The risk runs the other way, as bringing in an outside assumption is one of the most common reasons a candidate picks a wrong answer.
Most run between about 15 and 20 minutes, at roughly a minute a question. SHL’s is around 18 minutes for 20 questions. The exact length is usually in your invitation email, and it is worth checking, because the time pressure is as much a part of the test as the questions.
Attempt every question you can. Graduate deductive tests rarely use negative marking, so a considered guess is worth more than a blank, and unanswered questions cost you position against candidates who attempted them. Check the instructions for the rare test that penalises wrong answers.
Usually there is little to calculate, since deductive questions are built on logic and word problems rather than arithmetic. Where a question includes a data table, any sums are kept simple. If a calculator is allowed it will be stated in your instructions, but it is rarely the thing that decides the mark.
Practise under the real time limit from the start, and review every answer you got wrong; untimed work builds accuracy but not the speed the test measures. The deductive reasoning guide goes deeper.
Deductive reasoning works from general rules down to a conclusion that must be true: if the premises are true and the logic is valid, the answer cannot be wrong. Inductive reasoning works from specific examples up to a probable conclusion, usually in visual pattern form. The difference decides what counts as a correct answer, so check which your invitation names.
Rated 4.7 out of 5 across 86 reviews. A selection:
I liked that you as an individual have to take note of fine details, especially when it comes to patterns and shapes. I disliked that it takes time to read and understand the longer questions, which lessens your time to actually answer the question.
I loved this test because it will help you with your maths and it will give you solutions if needed. Also, it will give you your percentage score and how much the average pass mark should be. Such an amazing site.
the last one seemed impossible to me, but it was fun!!Of course, there is a solution and I do not question that. Not everyone should be able to solve all of them :D
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