How your abstract test score is interpreted

The way in which the abstract test score is interpreted is similar to that of other aptitude tests (verbal and numerical reasoning). Your score is compared to a benchmark (or a norm group) that includes scores of others at an organisational level and in an occupation similar to the one you are applying for. For example, if you apply for a role in HR and are given an abstract reasoning test to complete, your raw score (or the number of correct responses) is then compared with a large number of scores of people who either work in HR roles or applied for roles in HR. This enables employers to learn how good your abstract reasoning skills are in comparison to those of others in the area you applied for.

As in all other aptitude tests, there is no ’passing’ score for the abstract reasoning test. Your abstract test result is calculated relative to that of other people in similar roles. This means that even if you correctly answered most of the questions in the abstract reasoning test, your result may still be lower than that of other people in similar roles. How is this possible? Let’s look at the following example: you correctly answered 24 of 30 questions. You interpret this to be a ‘good result’. However, other people in similar roles to that you applied for have also very strong abstract reasoning skills and on average answer correctly 26 of 30 questions. This means that your ‘good result’ is actually a ‘bad result’ because it’s lower than the average result of people who work in a similar role to that you applied for.