What does a diagrammatic reasoning test measure?
A diagrammatic reasoning test measures how well you work out the rule behind
a set of diagrams and apply it to a new situation. It is pure logical
reasoning: there is no maths, no language and no subject knowledge involved,
which is what makes it a fair way to compare candidates from very different
backgrounds.
The skill it targets is following a process. You are shown how a diagram is
transformed, you deduce the rule governing that transformation, and you
predict what a new input produces or what a missing step must be. Employers
such as Deloitte, KPMG, the Civil Service, Amazon and the NHS use it to screen
at scale because it isolates reasoning ability from degree subject, work
experience and communication style.
Almost every question is multiple choice with four or five options, and the
questions get harder as the test goes on.
How is a diagrammatic reasoning test structured?
A typical diagrammatic reasoning test is multiple choice, around 30 questions,
with a time limit of roughly 25 to 30 minutes, which works out at about a
minute per question. The questions become progressively more difficult as you
move through them.
Two structural points change how you should pace yourself:
- Timing model. Some publishers give you one window for the whole test,
so you can spend longer on hard questions and less on easy ones. Others time
each question individually, which means you cannot bank time. Check which
applies before you start.
- Consistent format. The style does not change by industry or role, so a
diagrammatic test for a finance graduate scheme looks much like one for an
engineering role. What varies is the publisher, and that is worth
identifying in advance.
What are operators and how do you work them out?
An operator is a symbol that stands for a fixed change applied to a diagram,
and your job is to deduce what each one does. A question shows you a shape
passing through one or more operator boxes and coming out altered; you compare
the input with the output to work out the rule each box represents.
Work one operator at a time. If a single box turns a diagram from two black
circles into two white circles, that operator swaps colour. If another rotates
the whole figure 90 degrees, that is its fixed job wherever it appears. Once
you have decoded each operator from the examples given, you apply them in order
to a new input to find the answer.
The common trap is order. When two operators act in sequence, applying them in
the wrong order produces a different result, and that wrong result is usually
sitting there as an option. Read left to right, exactly as the diagram lays
them out.
Compare the input and the output and name every single thing that has changed,
because the rule is the complete list of those changes and nothing else. It is
easy to spot one change, assume you have the rule, and miss a second
transformation happening at the same time.
A dependable approach:
- List what is different between input and output: position, rotation,
number, colour, size.
- List what has stayed the same, which is just as much a part of the rule.
- State the rule as a full sentence, covering every change at once.
- Apply it to the new input and predict the output before you look at the
options.
Predicting first is what protects you. The distractors are built to match a
partial rule, so an option that gets the rotation right but ignores a colour
change will look convincing until you have already worked out the full answer.
How do you handle comparing sets questions?
In a comparing sets question you find the single feature that every diagram in
a set shares, then decide which set a new diagram belongs to. Set A follows one
rule, Set B follows another, and your task is to identify the defining feature
of each rather than to complete a sequence.
The feature is usually simpler than it looks, and it is often about one element
while everything else is a decoy. In a well-known example, every Set A block
contains an arrow pointing at a circle, and the size, colour and position of the
other shapes are irrelevant. Once you spot that all six Set A blocks share the
arrow-to-circle feature, a new block either has it, in which case it is Set A, or
it does not, in which case it is Set B or neither.
Test your candidate rule against every member of the set before you trust it. A
rule that fits five of six diagrams is the wrong rule, not a near miss.
Diagrammatic questions are built from a short list of transformations, and
recognising them turns decoding an operator into a quick check rather than a
puzzle.
- Rotation. The figure, or one element of it, turns by a fixed angle.
- Reflection. The figure flips to its mirror image.
- Addition and removal. An element is added, deleted or duplicated.
- Colour or shading swap. Black becomes white, or fills invert.
- Reordering. Elements shift position or cycle around the figure.
- Substitution. One shape is replaced by another according to a rule.
Real operators often combine two of these, so once you suspect one change,
keep checking for a second before you commit.
How are diagrammatic reasoning tests scored?
You are scored on the number of sequences whose rule you identify correctly,
and that raw score is then expressed as a percentile so you can be compared
with others. Diagram questions usually offer four options, so a raw score is
simply the count of correct selections.
The percentile is what employers actually use. It places your result against a
normative group of previous test-takers, which means there is no fixed pass
mark; how far you progress depends on the threshold the employer sets and the
strength of the applicant pool. Because most tests are timed so that few
candidates finish, accuracy and speed are scored together, and leaving
questions blank costs you position against people who attempted them.
Which employers and publishers use diagrammatic reasoning tests?
Diagrammatic reasoning tests are used across graduate and professional
recruitment by large employers who need to screen high volumes fairly.
Deloitte, KPMG, the Civil Service, Amazon and the NHS all use them. Most do not
write their own; they license from a small group of publishers whose formats
differ enough that practising the right one matters:
- Cubiks is known for its Reasoning for Business series, a widely used test
of around 60 questions in 30 minutes.
- Saville Assessment offers a standalone test of about 32 questions in 24
minutes, plus a shorter version within its Swift series.
- SHL provides diagrammatic assessments aimed at technical and analytical
roles, testing your ability to read complex systems and logical sequences.
- Kenexa uses its own timing and question conventions.
Your invitation email usually names the publisher. Identifying it before you
practise lets you rehearse the exact timing and question style you will face.
Is diagrammatic reasoning the same as abstract, inductive or graphical reasoning?
Graphical reasoning is simply another name for diagrammatic reasoning, while
abstract and inductive reasoning are close relatives rather than exact
synonyms. All are non-verbal tests that ask you to find and apply a rule in a
set of figures.
The useful distinction is emphasis. Diagrammatic tests lean towards process
logic, following operators and flowcharts that transform an input into an
output. Abstract and inductive tests lean towards pattern recognition across
sequences and matrices of shapes. In many real assessments the two blur
together, and the reasoning, deductive where the answer is certain and
inductive where it is only the most probable, is the same underlying skill.
Because the skills overlap, practice transfers between them, so working on
diagrammatic questions also prepares you for abstract and inductive tests.
What is the best way to prepare for a diagrammatic reasoning test?
Practise under the real time limit from the start, because reading operators
fast is a skill that only builds under pressure. Working through questions
untimed teaches you the logic but not the pace, and the pace is what the test
is really measuring.
A sequence that works:
- Take one test slowly, reading every worked solution, to learn how
operators and process rules are set up.
- Then work against the clock, aiming for about a minute per question.
- Review the questions you got wrong, and the ones you guessed, so you
understand the rule you missed rather than just the answer.
- Rehearse your publisher’s format once you know who set the test.
Preparation is one of the few variables in a job application you fully
control, and with diagrammatic tests it has a direct, measurable effect on
your score.
