The most important things to know about non-verbal reasoning

Many grammar schools require applicants to sit non-verbal reasoning tests. If your child is sitting a CEM (Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring) test, it will have a non-verbal reasoning component. GL (Granada Learning) Assessment non-verbal reasoning tests are also used by some grammar schools. It is important to check the details of any tests your child might have to sit before considering their preparation.

If your child is sitting a GL Assessment NVR test, it will involve six types of question. They are as follows:

• Odd One Out
• Codes
• Analogies
• Similarities
• Series
• Matrices

All of these question types focus on the acquisition of three basic skills: the recognition of:

• what is similar.
• what is different.
• what is the pattern.

The above skills also apply to the CEM tests but this test provider has introduced three-dimensional rotation questions and variants of the GL Assessment question styles.
Our books fully explain all these question styles and give your child plenty of practice in each one. This enables your child to become familiar with every type of question and helps develop their confidence when answering them under exam conditions.

Many IQ experts believe that NVR is impervious to tuition because it involves skills that are not traditionally taught in the curriculum. However, we have found that children can significantly improve their NVR scores by undertaking the course of study in our books and then practising the acquired skills in NVR tests.