Numerical reasoning

Numerical test · Numerical critical reasoning · Data interpretation test

Timed practice set

5 questions, 7 minutes.

What it measures

Whether you can read a table or chart, pick out the figures a question needs, and do the right sum with them under time. It is not a maths exam: the arithmetic is GCSE level. What is tested is choosing the right operation, on the right row, in the right units, quickly.

How it appears

Table or chart with multiple choiceOne data source (a table, a bar chart, a line graph, sometimes two of them) and a question with four or five options. Several questions may share one source.
InteractiveThe same reasoning, but you answer by dragging a bar to a value, filling a cell, or moving a slider, so the options are not there to prompt you.

Timing

18 questions in 25 minutes.

graduatesfirst.com's guide gives 16 questions in 20 minutes for the same test, and 10 questions in 18 minutes (108 seconds each) for the interactive version. Employers configure length; treat 60 to 110 seconds a question as the range.

Source

Standard multiple-choice SHL Verify numerical: "18 questions" that "typically lasts 17-25 minutes depending on job level", assessmentday.com's SHL page, read on 14 September 2026. The drill uses the 25-minute end. SHL's own practice-test intro screen states the figure for the practice version but sits behind the TalentCentral sign-in.

How to tell it apart

CalculationCalculation gives you the sum already set out (fractions, decimals, a missing operator) with no table to read. Numerical reasoning makes you find the figures first.
Working with informationWorking with information asks you to apply written rules to a table and pick the rows that qualify. Numerical reasoning asks for a computed figure, not a selection.

The method

A numerical question is four decisions, then one sum.

Read the question before the table. Mark what it wants, a figure, a percentage, a ratio or a difference, and for which row and period.
Put a finger on the row and the column the question names. Read the header for the units, thousands, millions, pounds or per cent.
Decide the operation. Percentage of is part divided by whole times 100. Percentage change is new minus old, divided by old, times 100. A ratio is simplified by the highest common factor.
Estimate before you calculate. Round the figures, get a rough answer and cross out every option far from it.
Calculate with the exact figures, keeping one more decimal than the options show.
Check the scale before you answer. A table in thousands means a figure of 45 is 45,000.
If you are behind the pace, choose the option closest to your estimate and move on. Stalling costs the questions after it.

Traps to know

Right sum, wrong row
The most common distractor is the correct calculation done on a neighbouring row or column. It looks right because the working is right; only the figures are wrong.
Setup A table shows units sold by region. North rose from 120 to 165 across the year; East, the row below it, rose from 200 to 240. The question asks for North's percentage rise.
The trap Reading East's figures gives 20 per cent, which is offered as an option.
The escape Say the row label to yourself before you copy any figure. North: 120 to 165, a rise of 45 on 120, which is 37.5 per cent.
The wrong base
A percentage change is measured against the starting figure. Dividing by the finishing figure gives a smaller number that is nearly always among the options.
Setup North's sales rose by 45, from 120 to 165.
The trap 45 divided by 165 is 27.3 per cent, and 27.3 per cent is an option.
The escape The base is where you started. 45 divided by 120 is 37.5 per cent.
Thousands in the header
Tables state their scale once, in the header or a footnote. An answer read straight off the table is out by a factor of a thousand or a million.
Setup A table headed "units sold (thousands)" shows a difference of 45 between two quarters, and the question asks how many more units were sold.
The trap Answering 45.
The escape The header says thousands, so the difference is 45,000 units.
Percentage points are not per cent
When a figure that is already a percentage moves, the question may want the change in points or the relative change. They differ, and both appear as options.
Setup A profit margin rises from 8 per cent to 10 per cent.
The trap Calling that a 2 per cent increase, or calling the 25 per cent relative rise a change of 25 points.
The escape Read the wording. "By how many percentage points" wants 2. "By what percentage" wants the relative rise: 2 on 8, which is 25 per cent.

Worked examples

Example 1

Units sold by region, 2024 (thousands)
Region	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
North	120	135	150	165
South	90	96	102	108
East	200	180	220	240
West	60	75	45	80

By what percentage did the number of units sold in the North increase from Q1 to Q4?

A27.3%
B37.5%
C45.0%
D20.0%
E25.0%

Show the working

The question wants a percentage change, for the North row, from the Q1 column to the Q4 column.
North: Q1 is 120, Q4 is 165. The rise is 165 minus 120.
Estimate: 45 on 120 is a bit more than a third, so somewhere near 35 to 40 per cent. That already rules out C, D and E.
Exact: 45 divided by 120, times 100.
The header says thousands, but a percentage has no units, so no scaling is needed. The answer is B.

Why not the others

A. The rise of 45 divided by the finishing figure of 165. A change is measured against the starting figure.
C. The rise itself, 45, read as if it were a percentage. It is a number of thousands of units, not a rate.
D. The right calculation on the wrong row. East rose from 200 to 240, which is 20 per cent.
E. The right row but the wrong column. From Q1 to Q3, North rose from 120 to 150, which is 25 per cent.

Example 2

Monthly spend on two services (£)
Month	Broadband	Mobile
January	30	18
February	30	24
March	36	21
April	36	25

Over the four months shown, what is the ratio of total broadband spend to total mobile spend, in its simplest form?

A3:2
B2:3
C3:1
D5:3
E12:7