Get the Most Accurate SHL Inductive Reasoning Practice (2025)

Inductive reasoning tests, sometimes known as abstract or logical reasoning tests, measure your problem-solving skills using non-verbal and non-numerical questions. These tests require you to recognise patterns and consistencies among sets of objects to predict a future trend.

Here’s an example for one of the most common Inductive Reasoning question types on SHL’s tests:

Did you manage to answer it correctly? Don’t worry if you didn’t get it right. Further below we’ll show you exactly how to solve such question types.

Because on the real SHL Inductive Reasoning test, you’ll have a little more than 60 seconds to answer each of these questions, so it's important to come prepared.

Some job candidates need to take both inductive and deductive assessment tests. And while they may seem similar, they actually measure different abilities.

Inductive reasoning is usually (but not always) evaluated using abstract tests. These require you to examine figural data, look for patterns, and reach a conclusion. Inductive reasoning question types include finding the next figure in a series, which part of a puzzle is missing, or which figure should replace the empty cell in the matrix.

Deductive reasoning, on the other hand, will often be verbal. The test taker is given a set of rules or premises and then must use them to decide whether certain conclusions can be drawn from them.

Now, Let’s see what you’re about to face on the SHL Inductive tests.

As of 2020, there are three different versions to the SHL Inductive Reasoning test, which differ in their time limits, question types, and difficulty level:

• SHL Verify G+ Inductive Reasoning Test (Interactive)
• SHL Verify G+ Inductive Reasoning Test (Non-Interactive)
• CEB Verify Inductive/Logical Reasoning

Here’s an overview of each version, plus sample questions, so you start to get a feel for the test:

Number of questions: 15

Time limit: 18 questions

Unique instructions: the instructions will specifically say, “…an activity-based test that allows you to drag, drop, and interact…

The Interactive SHL Verify G+ Inductive test is one of SHL’s new assessments that changes the way standard assessment tests look and feel.

On this test, rather than simply choosing an answer option, you fully interact with the question. You’ll need to drag lines to finish sequences, tap to fill the next image in the sequence, memorise button behaviour, and more.

This, in turn, makes the questions much harder, as it takes more time to understand what they want from you and plan how you’re going to solve it.

(All of that in about 70 seconds per question!)

Let’s see an example of a question type you’ll likely see on the interactive version.

Number of questions: 18

Time limit: 24 minutes

Unique instructions: “After each question, there are four or five response options.” And “Click on the answer…” indicates it’s not an interactive assessment.

The non-interactive SHL Verify G+ Inductive test, unlike the interactive version, is a classic multiple-choice test.

Similarly to the older test version of the CEB SHL Logical Inductive test, most of the exam includes figural series and pattern completion questions.

(Though the CEB SHL Inductive version has 24 questions in 25 minutes)

Let’s see an example that resembles some of the questions you’ll see on the real test (in both of these non-interactive versions):

Seeing these inductive reasoning questions for the first time might be overwhelming.

No one teaches you how to solve these in high school, and some questions look like they have no logic behind them. Also, it feels impossible to answer all of them under such tough time pressure.

That’s why preparation is the ultimate tool for passing these tests.

By preparing beforehand, you’ll know exactly what question types to expect (what you’ve seen above is only a small fraction). And more importantly, you’ll learn how to solve each question type.

Because, after all, every inductive reasoning question follows a certain rule or logic. And once you master them, everything becomes clearer.

Now:

Today there are three available practice options:

1. The SHL Direct Inductive Reasoning practice test and sample questions
2. Our free SHL practice test
3. JobTestPrep’s complete SHL Inductive Reasoning practice pack

The SHL direct practice is usually the first prep option you see, as it often appears in the assessment invitation email.

This site includes a few sample questions (with no explanations) and two practice tests for the interactive and non-interactive SHL Inductive tests.

That said, there are three immediate problems with the SHL Direct practice site:

• SHL mentions that the practice tests' difficulty level doesn’t mirror the real test’s level. This means that you can’t really diagnose your level of knowledge nor predict how well you’ll do on the actual assessment.
• If you take the interactive practice test, you won’t get any score report whatsoever. If you choose the non-interactive one, you only get a score report that tells you how many questions you got right and wrong, without mentioning which one. So, you can’t know what question types to practice harder.
• The non-interactive score report doesn’t have any solutions or explanations. This means that you’re unable to learn from your mistakes and you must search for other online sources to improve your solving skills.

And this leads us to the second practice option...

Every candidate that completes the SHL Inductive test receives a PDF named ‘Candidate Assessment Report’.

In this report, you’ll see your test results and general feedback. Note that the scores are comparative, meaning they are compared to a large group of test-takers who took the same test in the past.

So, the report will indicate if your /inductive /reasoning ability is likely or unlikely to be a strength compared to the comparison group.

Your result will be placed in one of five grade groups, from A to E:

The higher your score is, the closer you’ll be to group A. Unfortunately, the SHL Inductive Reasoning average score is unknown as SHL doesn’t disclose this information.

The cut-off scores, however, differ depending on the hiring company. So, while one company’s cut-off might be in the 80th percentile, others might be in the 90th.

Since most companies don’t reveal their cut-off scores, your main goal should be prepping beforehand and scoring as high as possible.

• Usually, in figural series and pattern completion questions, 2 to 3 answer choices are far off the correct answer. So, if you see you’re short on time or can’t identify the exact pattern of the question, try to disqualify those answers quickly.
• In figural series problems that have a question mark (?) in the middle, first, look at the longest sequence available to the left/right of the question mark. Then, quickly eliminate distractors and try each of the remaining answer choices until you find the correct shape.
• The majority of the test’s questions involve identifying a hidden logical rule to answer them. To improve your ability to spot these rules quickly, try practising number and letter series questions. While these questions differ in their format and structure from inductive reasoning questions, they help develop and sharpen this crucial skill.

We at JobTestPrep find the assessment tests world highly diverse and fascinating. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge in the aptitude tests world, or you want some extra practice before your test, we've got you covered!

Check out these fantastic free practice tests (all are completely free):

Free Aptitude Test | Free Psychometric Test | Free Numerical Reasoning Test | Free Verbal Reasoning Test | Free Cognitive Test | Free Critical Thinking Test | Free Abstract Reasoning Test | Free Spatial Reasoning Tets | Free Personality Test | Free Inductive Test | Free Mechanical Reasoning Test