Working with information

What it measures

Whether you can take a written set of conditions and apply them to a table, row by row, without missing a condition or misreading a boundary. It sits between checking and numerical reasoning: there is arithmetic, but the difficulty is keeping every rule in play at once.

How it appears

• Which entries qualifyA table of people, orders or products and three or four conditions. You pick the entries that satisfy all of them, or the one that fails.
• How many qualifySame table, same conditions, and the answer is a count.
• Apply a tariffA rule with bands, such as a delivery charge by weight and distance, applied to one entry to give a figure.

Timing

20 questions in 10 minutes.

Thirty seconds is one pass down the table with the rules in front of you. There is no time for a second pass.

How to tell it apart

• Numerical reasoningNumerical reasoning asks for a computed figure from a table. Working with information asks which rows pass a rule; the arithmetic, if any, is a comparison.
• Checking informationChecking asks whether two entries are identical. Working with information asks whether an entry meets conditions written somewhere else.

The method

Turn the rules into tick boxes, then go down the table once.

1. Read the conditions first and turn each into a test with a number in it. At least 21 means 21 passes; more than 21 means 21 fails.
2. Note which conditions depend on two columns at once, such as debt below 40 per cent of income. Work those out per row before you compare.
3. Go down the table one row at a time. For each row, test the conditions in order and stop at the first failure.
4. Mark each row pass or fail as you go. Do not hold the results in your head; the options are built from partial memories.
5. For a count, count the marks. For "which entries", read the marks off. For "which fails", the first fail you marked is the answer.
6. Check the boundary rows, the ones that sit exactly on a limit. They are where the options differ.
7. Past the pace, answer from the rows you have marked and move on.

Traps to know

• The boundary

  A row sits exactly on a limit. Whether it passes depends on whether the rule says at least, more than, up to or under, and the options are built to catch each reading.

  Setup The rule says applicants must be at least 21. One applicant is 21.

  The trap Failing the 21-year-old because the limit is 21.

  The escape At least 21 includes 21. More than 21 would not. Read the rule's words, not its number.

• The forgotten condition

  Three conditions are easy to hold; the fourth is dropped when the first three pass. The option that lists every row passing three conditions is offered.

  Setup Four conditions on a loan application. Dunn passes age, income and employment and has debt above the limit.

  The trap Including Dunn because three ticks feel like a pass.

  The escape A pass needs every condition. Mark rows only after the last condition.

• The two-column condition

  A condition compares one column with a fraction of another. Reading it as a fixed number passes rows that should fail and fails rows that should pass.

  Setup Debt must be under 40 per cent of income. Income £30,000, debt £11,000.

  The trap Treating 40 per cent as a fixed £4,000 or comparing debt with income directly.

  The escape Work out 40 per cent of £30,000, which is £12,000. £11,000 is under it, so the row passes.

• Which fails, read as which passes

  The question flips to ask for the entry that does not qualify. The reader, having marked passes, picks a pass.

  Setup Which of the following orders does NOT qualify for free delivery?

  The trap Picking the first qualifying order on the list.

  The escape Underline not before you start marking. Then read the marks off for a fail.

Worked examples