Know what is scored
The official notice allocates 20 questions and 35 minutes to verbal reasoning, 10 questions and 20 minutes to numerical reasoning, and 10 questions and 10 minutes to abstract reasoning. Verbal reasoning has a separate 10/20 pass mark. Numerical and abstract reasoning share a combined 10/20 pass mark.
- Preliminary ranking: verbal reasoning contributes 40%.
- Final ranking: verbal reasoning contributes 35%.
- Numerical and abstract results do not add ranking points once the combined pass mark is met.
Train for decisions, not memorisation
Reasoning performance depends on selecting a defensible answer under time pressure. Build a repeatable process: identify the information required, rule out unsupported options, calculate or infer only what the question asks, and move on when the time budget is exhausted.
Use accuracy-first untimed sessions to learn the process, then timed sets to make it automatic. Review why an option failed, not only why the correct option worked.
A balanced weekly cycle
Alternate targeted practice with mixed sets. Give verbal reasoning extra attention because it affects ranking, while protecting the combined numerical-and-abstract threshold. Track error types so that the next session addresses a specific weakness.
- Day 1: verbal evidence and inference.
- Day 2: numerical ratios, percentages and tables.
- Day 3: abstract transformations and rule combinations.
- Day 4: mixed timed set and error review.