Abstract Reasoning Tests 2026: Formats, Rules and Practice

An abstract reasoning test (also called inductive, logical or non-verbal reasoning) shows you shapes that follow hidden rules. Your job is to find the rule and apply it: pick the grids that obey it, complete a matrix, continue a sequence, or build the next frame yourself. Employers use these tests because they measure how fast you learn new patterns without relying on language or prior knowledge. In 2026 graduate rounds, four quite different formats appeared, ranging from 6 seconds per item to more than a minute. This guide explains each one, lists the rules that keep coming back, and gives original practice questions with solutions.

Key facts

None of the observed tests showed signs of being adaptive. All were fixed item sets.

What it looks like: the four formats

Pick-two grids (Aon scales clx)

Two 3×3 example grids on the left follow a rule. You choose the two of four candidate grids on the right that follow the same rule, then press "»" to move on. Every cell holds one of four symbols (circle, triangle, cross, square), and each symbol always has the same colour. There is no item counter, only a 6-minute countdown, so you have about 6 seconds per item. The most common rule is a count (for example "six of one symbol, the other three all different"). Others are uniform columns or rows, diagonals, corners and 180° symmetry. You can't go back.

4×4 multi-rule matrices (eligo)

A 4×4 matrix with one missing cell anywhere (not always bottom-right) and six unlabelled answer tiles in a 2×3 block beside it. Each item has its own 1:00 countdown. Items are dense: two or three independent rules per matrix, often running in different directions, for example one rule along the rows and another down the columns. The rules combine cells in different ways: union (the fourth cell overlays the first three), XOR (elements that appear twice cancel out), intersection (only shared elements survive), "one element dominates", Latin squares, size cycles and rotations. The options usually share the obvious feature and differ in one small corner mark. At some window sizes the bottom row of tiles sits below the fold.

4×4 Culture-Fair matrices (cyquest)

A 4×4 grid with the bottom-right cell missing and eight options A–H in two rows below it. The instruction says, roughly: find the rule by which the symbols are arranged and continue it. There is one 10-minute timer for 14 items, about 43 seconds each. Rules seen include colour permutations (each colour once per row or column), mirroring, 45° rotation with the direction alternating by row, overlaying the first three cells, adding up counts, swapping attributes between rows, symbol pairs that straddle cell borders, and complete sets per column rather than per row.

Build the next frame (Arctic Shores)

Three frames are shown left to right, and the fourth is empty. You build frame 4 from a toolbar. There are four shape buttons, which change per puzzle, five fixed fill patterns (each pattern always has one colour), a rotate button (45° steps), a resize button that cycles sizes, and a 3×3 grid of nine positions inside the frame. A frame can hold several shapes. A stopwatch icon fills while you work, but there is no numeric countdown and no feedback. Rules include colour cycles, growth and shrinking, rotation steps, movement around the border, alternating frames, adding one element per step, and shapes that replace whatever they land on. The difficulty rises from one rule to three or four interacting rules.

The rule toolkit

Almost every item in every format is built from the same small set of rules. Learn to test them in a fixed order.

Work one attribute at a time (shape, then colour, then size, then position) and check a rule on a complete row and a complete column before you trust it.

Question types with original examples

All items are original. Grids are written row by row. C = circle, T = triangle, X = cross, S = square.

1. Pick-two grids

Example 1   Example 2      A       B       C       D
S C S       X T X          T S T   C X C   X S C   S X S
T X C       C S C          C X S   S C T   T X T   X T C
S T S       X C X          T C T   C T S   C S X   S C S

Answer: A and D.

1. Counts first. Example 1 is 4+2+2+1 and example 2 is 4+3+1+1. They differ, so the rule is not a count.
2. Position: in both examples, all four corners hold the same symbol.
3. A has four triangles in the corners and D has four squares. B has three circle corners and one square, so it is one cell off. C has crosses on one diagonal only. That makes exactly two.

2. 3×3 matrix

         col 1          col 2          col 3
row 1    circle (1)     square (2)     triangle (3)
row 2    square (2)     triangle (3)   circle (4)
row 3    triangle (3)   circle (4)     ?

The number in brackets is how many dots sit inside the shape.

Options: A square (4) · B square (5) · C triangle (5) · D circle (5) · E square (3) · F square (6)

Answer: B.

1. Each shape appears once per row and once per column, so the missing shape is a square.
2. The dot count is row + column − 1. Row 3, column 3 gives 5.

3. 4×4 matrix with XOR (missing cell inside the grid)

Each cell is a square with dots in some of its corners (TL, TR, BL, BR).

         col 1        col 2    col 3     col 4
row 1    TL           TR       TL BL     TR BL
row 2    TR BR        BR       TL        TL TR
row 3    BL           ?        TL TR     TR BL BR
row 4    TL TR BR     TR       BL BR     TL BL

Options: A TL BR · B TL · C BR · D TL TR BR · E TR BL · F TL BL BR

Answer: A (TL and BR).

1. Try union on row 1: TL + TR + TL BL would give TL TR BL, but column 4 shows TR BL. The TL that appears twice has vanished, so the rule is XOR: a dot survives only if it appears an odd number of times.
2. Check it on row 2: TR BR + BR + TL gives TL TR, because the two BRs cancel. Row 4 also works.
3. Row 3: the unknown cell must turn BL + ? + TL TR into TR BL BR. BL and TR already appear once each, so the unknown needs TL (to cancel the TL from column 3) and BR. That gives TL BR.

4. Culture-Fair-style matrix (bottom-right missing)

Each cell holds a circle with a fill (B black, W white, G grey, S striped) and an arrow inside.

         col 1   col 2   col 3   col 4
row 1    B ↑     W →     G ↓     S ←
row 2    W →     G ↑     S ←     B ↓
row 3    G ↓     S ←     B ↑     W →
row 4    S ←     B ↓     W →     ?

Options: A G↓ · B G↑ · C W↑ · D S↑ · E G→ · F G← · G B↑ · H G↑ with an extra ring

Answer: B (grey, arrow up).

1. Fill: each fill appears once per row and per column. Row 4 lacks grey.
2. Arrow: in rows 1 and 3 the arrow turns 90° clockwise per cell. In rows 2 and 4 it turns anticlockwise (→ ↑ ← ↓). Row 4 runs ← ↓ →, so the next arrow is ↑.
3. H adds an element that appears nowhere else, so reject it.

5. Sequence: which frame comes next?

Each frame is a square containing a dot in one corner, a line through the middle, and one shaded quarter.

Options: A top-left / horizontal / bottom-right · B top-left / vertical / bottom-right · C top-right / horizontal / bottom-right · D top-left / horizontal / bottom-left · E bottom-left / horizontal / top-left

Answer: A.

1. The dot moves clockwise, so it returns to top-left.
2. The line alternates, so frame 5 is horizontal.
3. The shading moves anticlockwise (bottom-right → top-right → top-left → bottom-left → bottom-right).

Frame 5 equals frame 1. When all rules have cycles of 4 or 2, the sequence repeats every four frames.

6. Build the next frame

Toolbar: triangle, circle, square, arch. Patterns: blue dots, yellow stripes, green diamonds, purple stripes, orange checks.

• Frame 1: small blue-dotted triangle at top-left, pointing up. Medium yellow-striped circle in the centre.
• Frame 2: the triangle at top-centre, turned 45° clockwise. The circle is now green diamonds.
• Frame 3: the triangle at top-right, pointing right. The circle is yellow stripes again.

Build frame 4: a small blue-dotted triangle at middle-right, pointing down-right (one more 45° turn), and a medium green-diamond circle in the centre.

1. The triangle moves one point clockwise around the border and turns 45° each step.
2. The circle alternates between two patterns and keeps its size.
3. Check every attribute before you submit (shape, pattern, size, rotation, position). One wrong rotation click costs the item.

Traps and how to avoid them

• One-cell or one-mark distractors. In every format, the wrong options usually differ from the right one by a single cell, corner mark or arrow. Check the chosen option against every rule, not just the first one you found.
• Salient but irrelevant features. A full middle line or a striking colour is often shared by the examples and by the distractors. In pick-two grids, the "exactly two" constraint exposes such decoys.
• Rows versus columns. A complete set may run down the columns, not along the rows. A matrix can have one rule per row and another per column.
• The missing cell is not always bottom-right. In eligo matrices it can be anywhere. A "result" row or column can be the first one, not the last.
• Union versus XOR versus intersection. Test all three on a full row before you decide. The difference is often one element.
• Look-alike shapes and rotation (construction tasks). An arch and an upside-down bowl, or an L and a zigzag, look similar. The toolbar shows shapes in their default orientation, so most answers need rotation clicks.
• Answers below the fold. Scroll once at the start so that all options fit on screen.
• Spending a minute on a 6-second item. In speed formats, skip the rare item with two competing rules and bank the easy ones.

How to prepare

One-week plan (about 5 hours):

Time targets: pick-two grids about 6 s per item · eligo matrices under 60 s · Culture-Fair matrices about 40 s · construction puzzles under a minute for simple ones, up to about 75 s for the hardest.

Setup: use a laptop or desktop with a mouse and a large window, so that every option is visible without scrolling. Keep scrap paper for multi-rule matrices: one line per attribute.

Sources

• Aon Assessment help centre, ability test overview (scales clx 6 min; scales ix odd one out, 5 min; switchChallenge as a deductive task)
• Aon, *Candidate Guide on Aon Assessments* (scales cls: tables of letters and numbers sorted into two categories, 12 items in 12 minutes)

Scritto da

Adrian, Specialista

MSc Psicologia, 7 anni di test fatti.

Ultimo aggiornamento: Oct 1, 2026