We know psychometric tests are difficult, but which is the hardest?

We’ve been through thousands of numerical, verbal and diagrammatic reasoning tests to find the hardest questions from each.

Take a look and find out just how smart you are:

Numerical reasoning test: trickiest question

What percentage of total revenue growth from year 3 to last year is due to price increases and savings in labour costs?

A) 58%
B) 38%
C) 33%
D) 25%

Solution

Correct Answer: A

Step 1. Calculate total revenue growth from year 3 to last year = £7,500,000 - £6,000,000 = £1,500,000

Step 2. Price increased by 5% in year 2, so 5% of total revenues last year will be due to this price increase = £7,500,000 X .05 = £375,000

Step 3. Labour costs fell by £500,000 from year 3, so total amount of increased revenue due to price increases and labour savings = £375,000 + £500,000 = £875,000

Step 4. Calculate percentage of revenue growth due to price increase and labour savings = £875,000 divided by £1,500,000 = 58%

Results

Of 1,489,864 who took this question, 999,963 got it correct and 489,901 got it wrong. The success rate was 67%.

Verbal reasoning test: trickiest question

Passage

Medicine has long been at the forefront of evidence-based practice. At the core of evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the combination of individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence assembled through systematic research. It requires the clinician to be aware of the available external evidence and to critically appraise it and apply it correctly in their own practice with patients. This latter point is something that critics of EBM have welcomed. Initial concerns about EBM were that it was a cookbook approach that ignores and interferes with individual physicians’ medical judgments.

The greatest doctors are those who use their clinical expertise and experience but combine it with external evidence to make decisions and decide on courses of action/treatment for their patients. Neither approach is sufficient without the other. A clinician cannot be expected to simply apply the course of action deemed to be excellent based on the external evidence when it may not be applicable or appropriate for their own individual situation. Conversely, a doctor who fails to recognise and utilise the external evidence available to them risks failing to know and understand the latest thinking and techniques in their own area of expertise. The doctor who forgoes the evidence-based recommendations in favour of treatments supported by personal experience makes themselves more vulnerable to legal claims being made against them and may appear uninformed and unscientific.

Statement

There are instances where a doctor would not be expected to carry out treatments on patients in line with what the external evidence is saying.

A) True
B) False
C) Cannot Say

Solution

We are told that a clinician cannot be expected to simply apply the course of action deemed to be excellent based on the external evidence when it may not be appropriate or applicable for their own individual situation.

With that in mind, it is true that there are instances where a doctor would not be expected to carry out treatments on patients in line with what the external evidence is saying.

Results

Of 966,231 who took this question, 523,257 got it correct and 442,974 got it wrong. The success rate was 54%.

Diagrammatic reasoning test: trickiest question

The boxes run in a sequence from left to right. You must determine which box (from options A to F) goes in the missing part of the sequence.

Solution

In this question the sequence runs from left to right. The blue ‘row’ of circles runs in the sequence 1-2-3-1-2-3. This means that the correct answer must have three blue circles on the left.

Further, these blue circles move position with each step in the sequence. They move in the order Top-Middle-Bottom-Top-Middle-Bottom. This means that the correct answer must have the three blue circles placed at the bottom of the square.

Finally, there must always be two white and two filled circles at the right hand side of the square. Option B is therefore the only square that meets all three criteria.

Results

Of 393,523 who took this question, 226,958 got it correct and 166,565 got it wrong. The success rate was 58%.

So there you go: the hardest psychometric test questions we created. If you can do these, you’re in very good shape. If you can’t, don’t worry – it’s time to get practicing!