Deductive Reasoning Test

Syllogisms, conditional statements and cannot-be-concluded questions, in the formats employers actually set. Every question below comes with the logic explained, not just the answer.

Free · No sign-up · Scored the moment you finish

Question 1 of 10
Question 1 of 10 Conditional reasoning Easy

All members of the choir can read music. James cannot read music. Which conclusion necessarily follows?

Show worked solution

This is modus tollens: if every choir member can read music, then anyone who cannot read music cannot be in the choir, so James is not a member. Claiming that he is a member flatly contradicts this. Concluding that everyone who can read music is in the choir reverses the premise, an illicit conversion. Concluding that he does not enjoy music imports a fact the premises never mention.

What is a deductive reasoning test?

A deductive reasoning test measures how well you apply general rules to reach a conclusion that must be true. Employers use it to sift applicants for roles that rely on sound reasoning before interview. You are given statements or conditions and asked which conclusion logically follows, choosing the best answer from the options provided. It rewards precise reasoning rather than guessing or general knowledge.

Free deductive reasoning test

What's inside
3 easy 4 medium 3 hard
Skills covered

Start the free test. It opens full screen, without leaving this page.

Prefer paper?

Download this test as a PDF.

Worked solutions included. No sign-up.

How to move up the scale

One test tells you the style. A pack gives you the pace: batches under time pressure, marked, with the working shown.

11
Deductive Reasoning tests
210
questions, all solved

Types of deductive reasoning question

Most tests are built from a small number of recurring formats. Each guide below covers one, with the method that works.

Syllogisms

Chain the premises and use only what is stated. The trap is checking conclusions against the real world instead of the premises.

How syllogisms work

Conditional statements

If P then Q guarantees Q from P, and nothing in reverse. Direction errors cost the marks.

How conditionals work

Cannot be concluded

Treat it as the answer until the premises rule it out. Most marks are lost filling gaps with common sense.

How to avoid the trap

What does a deductive reasoning test measure?

A deductive reasoning test measures whether you can draw the conclusion that must be true from a set of stated facts, and how quickly you can do it. It is a test of valid reasoning, not of knowledge. You are given the premises, and exactly one of the answer options follows from them with certainty.

The questions are deliberately abstract. They do not rely on any job-specific expertise or culturally specific knowledge, which is what lets an employer use the same test across very different candidates. Everything required to answer is in front of you, so bringing in an outside assumption is usually how a wrong answer is chosen.

Employers use it because the skill transfers directly to work. Someone who can take a policy, a rule or a contract clause and say precisely what does and does not follow from it is doing the same thing a lawyer, an analyst or an engineer does every day. It is judgement about what the evidence actually supports.

How are deductive reasoning tests scored?

Most employers score you against other candidates, not against a fixed pass mark: your raw score becomes a percentile. Competitive graduate schemes commonly sift at around the 70th to 80th percentile. Attempting questions matters, because most tests are built so few candidates finish, and guessing usually pays: negative marking is rare, but check the instructions.

You will usually have in the region of a minute per question, and the tests are built so that few candidates comfortably finish. ** A minute lost early is a question you never reach at the end, and both cost the same mark.

Practice Aptitude Tests · Original data

How our test takers score

Results from our deductive reasoning test.

Average score77%
75th-percentile score90%
0%50%100%
Average75th percentile

Source: Practice Aptitude Tests

Based on 889 completed practice sittings, all time. Checked 30 September 2026.

The 75th percentile marks the boundary of the top quarter of recorded scores; tied scores can share that boundary. These are our practice results, not employer pass marks.

How we calculate these figures

We use all-time completed, scored attempts at this practice test. Repeat attempts count separately, so the sample is sittings rather than unique people.

The average is the mean score across those sittings. The 75th percentile comes from their recorded score distribution. The “checked” date is when we retrieved the figures, not the period when the tests were taken.

Sharing these figures? Please credit Practice Aptitude Tests and link to this page.

Who uses deductive reasoning tests?

Deductive reasoning tests are standard in graduate and professional hiring across law, finance, consulting, technology and the civil service. If a role turns on interpreting rules and evidence, expect one.

Most employers license their tests from a small number of publishers, and the timing and question style vary between them, so find out which publisher your employer uses before you prepare seriously. It is usually named in the invitation email. Our test publisher guides cover each format, and the employer guides cover specific companies’ processes.

Reviews

Rated 4.7 out of 5 across 86 reviews. A selection:

It is challenging

I liked that you as an individual have to take note of fine details, especially when it comes to patterns and shapes. I disliked that it takes time to read and understand the longer questions, which lessens your time to actually answer the question.

My opinion

I loved this test because it will help you with your maths and it will give you solutions if needed. Also, it will give you your percentage score and how much the average pass mark should be. Such an amazing site.

Very good versatility of questions & logic.

the last one seemed impossible to me, but it was fun!!Of course, there is a solution and I do not question that. Not everyone should be able to solve all of them :D

Start practising today

Take a free test in any format, then upgrade when you know which one you need.