Get the aptitude test questions and answers PDF
Download the free PDF (no login, no email). The questions come first and the answer key, with the method for each item, sits on its own pages at the back.
Fifteen numerical items and five each of verbal, logical and abstract, then two mechanical and two situational judgement. On this page each answer sits right under its question, so cover it with a sheet of paper as you go. For a realistic run, set a timer for 35 minutes and do the whole set in one sitting.
Numerical aptitude questions with answers
1. Numerical, percentages. A jacket costs $80. The price goes up 25%, then the new price is cut by 20%. What does it cost now? A) $76 B) $80 C) $84 D) $85. Answer: B. Turn each change into a multiplier: up 25% is times 1.25, down 20% is times 0.8. So 80 times 1.25 times 0.8 is 80. Percentage changes multiply; they never simply add, which is why $84 looks right and is wrong.
2. Numerical, percentage change. The North region sold 240 units in the first quarter and 300 in the second. What was the percentage increase? A) 20% B) 25% C) 60% D) 80%. Answer: B. Change divided by the starting value: 60 divided by 240 is 0.25. The 20% trap comes from dividing by the end value instead.
3. Numerical, ratio. A cleaner is mixed 3 parts concentrate to 5 parts water. How much concentrate goes into 40 litres? A) 12 B) 15 C) 24 D) 25. Answer: B. Add the parts (8), find one part (40 divided by 8 is 5), then scale up (3 times 5 is 15). This one method covers almost every ratio item you will meet.
4. Numerical, rates. A delivery van covers 150 km in 2 hours 30 minutes. At the same speed, how far does it go in 4 hours? A) 220 km B) 240 km C) 250 km D) 260 km. Answer: B. Find the rate for one unit first: 150 divided by 2.5 is 60 km an hour, then 60 times 4 is 240. Turn minutes into part of an hour before you divide. Two hours 30 minutes is 2.5 hours, not 2.3, and that slip is what the 260 option is waiting for.
5. Numerical, data table. Staff by office: London 120 staff, 25% remote. Leeds 80 staff, 40% remote. Bristol 50 staff, 60% remote. How many staff work remotely in total? A) 82 B) 92 C) 104 D) 125. Answer: B. Work out each office, then add: 30 plus 32 plus 30 is 92. Never average the three percentages. That gives about 41.7% of 250, or 104, because it treats a 50-person office as if it were as big as a 120-person one.
6. Numerical, data and change. A shop took $50,000 in 2024 and $46,000 in 2025. Its costs were $40,000 in both years. By what percentage did profit fall? A) 4% B) 8% C) 40% D) 60%. Answer: C. Profit is takings minus costs: $10,000, then $6,000. The fall is 4,000 divided by 10,000, so 40%. The 8% option is the fall in takings, the number most people reach for because it is the one printed.
7. Numerical, time and work. Ana can paint a fence in 6 hours. Ben can paint the same fence in 3 hours. Working together, how long do they take? A) 1.5 hours B) 2 hours C) 3 hours D) 4.5 hours. Answer: B. Add the share of the job each does in an hour: Ana does 1/6, Ben does 1/3, so together they do 1/2 an hour, and the whole fence takes 2 hours. The answer must be faster than the faster person alone, which rules out 3 and 4.5 straight away.
8. Numerical, time and work. Four workers build a wall in 6 days. At the same rate, how long would three workers take? A) 4.5 days B) 7 days C) 8 days D) 9 days. Answer: C. Count the job in worker-days: 4 times 6 is 24. Three workers need 24 divided by 3, which is 8 days. Fewer workers means more days, so 4.5 is the trap of scaling the wrong way.
9. Numerical, simple interest. You put $2,000 in an account paying 5% simple interest a year. How much interest do you earn in 3 years? A) $100 B) $300 C) $315.25 D) $3,000. Answer: B. Simple interest is paid on the starting amount only: 5% of 2,000 is 100 a year, times 3 is 300. $315.25 is what compound interest would give, so check which kind the question names.
10. Numerical, compound interest. You put $1,000 in an account paying 10% a year, compounded yearly. What is the balance after 2 years? A) $1,100 B) $1,200 C) $1,210 D) $1,221. Answer: C. Each year's interest is paid on the new balance: 1,000 times 1.1 is 1,100, and 1,100 times 1.1 is 1,210. The $1,200 option is simple interest, which forgets the interest earned on the first year's interest.
11. Numerical, profit and loss. A trader buys a phone for $250 and sells it for $300. What is the profit as a percentage? A) 16.7% B) 20% C) 25% D) 50%. Answer: B. Profit percentage is worked out on the cost price unless the question says otherwise: 50 divided by 250 is 20%. Dividing by the selling price gives 16.7%, the usual trap.
12. Numerical, profit and loss. An item sold for $90 made a 10% loss. What did it cost? A) $81 B) $99 C) $100 D) $110. Answer: C. A 10% loss means the sale price is 90% of the cost, so the cost is 90 divided by 0.9, which is 100. Adding 10% of 90 gives $99, because it takes the percentage of the wrong number.
13. Numerical, averages. The average of five test scores is 72. Four of them are 70, 65, 80 and 75. What is the fifth? A) 68 B) 70 C) 72 D) 74. Answer: B. Turn the average back into a total: 5 times 72 is 360. The four known scores add to 290, so the fifth is 70. Most average questions are quicker this way than by trying options.
14. Numerical, weighted averages. A class of 20 students averages 60 on a test. A class of 30 averages 70. What is the average across all 50 students? A) 64 B) 65 C) 66 D) 67. Answer: C. Rebuild the totals: 20 times 60 is 1,200 and 30 times 70 is 2,100, so 3,300 across 50 students is 66. The 65 option averages the two averages, which ignores that the second class is bigger.
15. Numerical, probability. A bag holds 3 red, 5 blue and 2 green counters. You take two without putting the first back. What is the chance both are red? A) 9/100 B) 1/15 C) 1/5 D) 3/10. Answer: B. Multiply the chances step by step: 3 red out of 10, then 2 red out of the 9 left. 3/10 times 2/9 is 6/90, which is 1/15. The 9/100 option assumes the first counter went back in the bag.
Verbal aptitude questions with answers
16. Verbal, true, false or cannot say. Passage: The library extended its weekday opening hours in March. In April, visits were 12% higher than in April of the year before. Statement: The longer hours caused the rise in visits. Answer: cannot say. The passage puts two facts side by side and never links them. Mark true only when the passage states it, and false only when the passage contradicts it.
17. Verbal, true, false or cannot say. Passage: All new hires complete a two-day induction in their first week. The induction covers safety rules and the expenses system. Statement: New hires first learn the expenses system after their first month. Answer: false. The passage says the induction happens in the first week and covers expenses, which contradicts the statement. False needs the passage to rule the statement out, and here it does.
18. Verbal, analogy. Thermometer is to temperature as odometer is to what? A) speed B) fuel C) distance D) time. Answer: C. Say the link as a sentence, a thermometer measures temperature, then drop each option into the same sentence. Speed is the lure, because that is a speedometer.
19. Verbal, word meaning. The manager's reply was terse. Which word is closest in meaning to terse? A) rude B) brief C) late D) unclear. Answer: B. Terse means using very few words. A terse reply can feel rude, which is why A is the lure. Pick the word that means the same thing in any sentence, not the mood it carries in this one.
20. Verbal, sentence completion. Despite the ______ forecast, the event went ahead and the sun shone all afternoon. A) sunny B) gloomy C) accurate D) cheerful. Answer: B. Despite signals a contrast, so the forecast must clash with the sunshine. Read the linking word first; words like despite, although and however tell you the answer before you look at the options.
Logical reasoning questions with answers
21. Logical, rules. All site supervisors hold a first aid certificate. Dana holds a first aid certificate. Does it follow that Dana is a site supervisor? Answer: no. All A are B runs one way only. Sketch a small circle of supervisors inside a large circle of certificate holders; Dana can sit in the large circle without being in the small one.
22. Logical, rules. Some managers are engineers. All engineers have a degree. Which must be true? A) All managers have a degree B) Some managers have a degree C) No managers have a degree D) Everyone with a degree is an engineer. Answer: B. The managers who are engineers must have a degree, so at least some managers do. Nothing is said about the other managers, which rules out A and C, and D reverses the second rule.
23. Logical, number series. 2, 3, 5, 9, 17, ? A) 25 B) 31 C) 33 D) 34. Answer: C. The gaps are 1, 2, 4, 8, and gaps that double point to a multiply step. Each number is the one before it doubled, minus 1, so 17 becomes 33. Our page on number sequence aptitude tests has more patterns of this kind.
24. Logical, letter series. A, C, F, J, O, ? A) S B) T C) U D) V. Answer: C. Turn letters into their places in the alphabet: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15. The gaps grow by one each time (2, 3, 4, 5), so the next gap is 6 and 15 plus 6 is 21, the letter U.
25. Logical, ordering. Five runners finish a race. Ana finishes ahead of Ben. Cal finishes behind Ben but ahead of Dee. Eve finishes last. Who finishes third? A) Ana B) Ben C) Cal D) Dee. Answer: C. Write the order as you read: Ana before Ben, Ben before Cal, Cal before Dee, Eve at the end. That fixes all five places, with Cal third. A quick line of initials beats holding it in your head.
Abstract reasoning questions with answers
26. Abstract, sequence. Frame one is a triangle with a dot in its top corner. Frame two is a square with the dot one corner further clockwise. Frame three is a pentagon with the dot moved one more corner clockwise. What is frame four? Answer: a hexagon with the dot one corner further clockwise again. Track one feature at a time: the sides go up by one, the dot steps one corner clockwise. Write each rule down first, then check the choices, because wrong options are built to match one rule and break the other. For more, try our free abstract aptitude test.
27. Abstract, count and colour. Frame one shows 1 black circle. Frame two shows 2 white circles. Frame three shows 3 black circles. What is frame four? A) 4 black circles B) 4 white circles C) 3 white circles D) 5 white circles. Answer: B. Two rules run at once: the count goes up by one, and the colour flips each frame. Option A keeps the count rule and breaks the colour rule, which is the usual way a wrong option is built.
28. Abstract, rotation. An arrow turns 90 degrees clockwise each frame, and a small square beside it swaps sides each frame. Frame one: arrow up, square on the left. Frame two: arrow right, square on the right. Frame three: arrow down, square on the left. What is frame four? Answer: arrow pointing left, square on the right. Follow the arrow alone first (up, right, down, so left next), then the square alone (left, right, left, so right next). Splitting the frame into parts is faster than staring at the whole picture.
29. Abstract, odd one out. Four shapes: a square cut into two equal halves, a circle cut into two equal halves, a triangle cut into three parts, and a hexagon cut into two equal halves. Which is the odd one out? Answer: the triangle. Look for what three share and one breaks. Three shapes are cut into two parts; the triangle is cut into three. The number of sides is a distraction here, since every shape has a different count.
30. Abstract, rotation. A straight line sits inside a square and turns 45 degrees clockwise each frame. Frame one: vertical. Frame two: running from bottom left to top right. Frame three: horizontal. What is frame four? Answer: a line running from top left to bottom right. A 45-degree turn moves the line halfway between upright and flat. After horizontal, the next step is the other diagonal. If you are unsure, turn the page and watch where the top of the line goes.
Mechanical and situational judgement questions with answers
31. Mechanical, levers. A plank 3 metres long rests on a pivot 1 metre from its left end. A 50 kg sack sits on the left end. What weight on the right end keeps the plank level? A) 25 kg B) 50 kg C) 75 kg D) 100 kg. Answer: A. Weight times distance from the pivot must match on both sides. The left side gives 50 times 1, and the right end is 2 metres out, so it needs 25 kg. The longer arm always needs less weight, which rules out C and D at a glance.
32. Mechanical, gears. Gear A has 20 teeth and turns clockwise. It meshes with gear B, which meshes with gear C, which has 10 teeth. How does gear C turn? A) Clockwise, twice as fast as A B) Counterclockwise, twice as fast as A C) Clockwise, half as fast as A D) Counterclockwise, half as fast as A. Answer: A. Touching gears turn opposite ways, so A clockwise makes B counterclockwise and C clockwise again. The middle gear does not change the speed; only the first and last tooth counts matter, and 20 over 10 means C turns twice for each turn of A.
33. Situational judgement. A teammate's client report is due tomorrow. You spot a wrong figure in it, and your manager is away. What is the best response? A) Fix it yourself and say nothing B) Tell your teammate today and offer to help check the rest C) Email the client a correction D) Leave it, since it is not your report. Answer: B. The strongest option usually solves the problem early, at the closest level, and leaves the owner in charge. Options that go over someone's head or ignore the problem tend to score lowest.
34. Situational judgement. A customer phones, angry that an order is late. The delay was caused by another department. What is the best response? A) Explain that another department caused the delay B) Apologize, check the order's status, and give a firm time you will call back C) Transfer the call to the other department D) Offer a full refund straight away. Answer: B. Employers usually reward owning the problem and giving the customer a next step. Blaming another team (A) and passing the call on (C) score lowest; a refund (D) may be outside your authority and does not find the order.
How long should this take? At test pace, the 34 items take about 35 minutes: a little over a minute for each numerical item and well under a minute for the abstract and logical ones. If you finished inside that and got most right, the formats are not your problem and timed practice is your next step. If you ran over, note which items ate the time. It is almost always a few questions where you tried a method that did not fit, and those are the ones worth redoing from a clean copy tomorrow.
