A verbal reasoning test gives you short business passages and asks whether statements about them are True, False or Cannot tell. This guide explains what the test measures, works through a generic example, explains the difference between False and Cannot tell, and gives practical advice for candidates and employers.

What a verbal reasoning test measures

Much of working life involves reading carefully: a policy, a client email, a contract clause, a report from a colleague. People who read accurately pick out what a document actually says, notice what it leaves out, and avoid filling the gaps with their own assumptions. A verbal reasoning test measures exactly this.

The Viewpoint Verbal Reasoning Test has 40 items in 20 minutes. Candidates read 10 passages, each followed by 4 statements. For each statement they decide:

• True: the statement follows from the passage.

• False: the passage shows the statement is wrong.

• Cannot tell: the passage does not give enough information to say either way.

The test is not about vocabulary or general knowledge. Everything needed to answer is in the passage, and the skill being measured is judging statements against that text alone.

A worked example

The following is a generic illustration written for this article, not an item from the Viewpoint test.

"From January, all staff at the company's three UK offices will be able to work from home for up to two days a week. Managers must agree the days in advance. The policy does not apply to staff in the warehouse, whose roles require them to be on site. A review of the policy will take place after six months."

Statement 1: Warehouse staff cannot work from home under the new policy. True. The passage says the policy does not apply to them.

Statement 2: Staff can choose their home-working days without asking their manager. False. The passage says managers must agree the days in advance.

Statement 3: The company plans to extend home working to three days a week after the review. Cannot tell. A review is mentioned, but nothing is said about its outcome.

Statement 4: The company has offices outside the UK. Cannot tell. The passage mentions three UK offices, but that does not tell us whether there are others elsewhere.

False or Cannot tell?

This is where most marks are lost. A statement is False only if the passage contradicts it. If the passage is simply silent, the answer is Cannot tell, however likely or unlikely the statement seems from your own experience.

A useful check is to ask: "Can I point to a sentence that proves this wrong?" If you can, choose False. If you can only say "it probably isn't true" or "it doesn't say so", choose Cannot tell. Bring nothing from outside the passage, even if you know the subject well.

What research says

Verbal reasoning tests belong to the family of cognitive ability tests, which are among the best-researched selection methods. Schmidt and Hunter's review found that general mental ability predicted job performance and training success across a very wide range of jobs [1], and a UK meta-analysis by Bertua, Anderson and Salgado found that verbal tests predicted both job performance and training outcomes [2].

More recent analysis by Sackett and colleagues suggests that earlier estimates of validity were somewhat overcorrected, while confirming that ability tests remain useful predictors [3]. So a verbal test gives employers objective, comparable evidence, but it should sit alongside interviews and other measures rather than replace them.

Using a verbal reasoning test well

For employers, verbal reasoning is most relevant to roles that involve reading and acting on written information: professional, managerial, graduate, administrative and customer-facing roles. Interpret results in bands from Very Low to Very High as one source of evidence. If a candidate's score falls in a lower band, ask at interview how they approach checking important documents, or give a short work-sample exercise.

For candidates, practise in the same format first. Read each passage once fully, then go back to the relevant sentence for each statement. Work steadily: with 40 items in 20 minutes, you have about 30 seconds per statement, so don't spend too long on any single one.

You can try example questions on the Verbal Reasoning Test page, see our more demanding Verbal Analysis Test, or compare our other ability tests.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the Viewpoint Verbal Reasoning Test take?

It has 40 statements across 10 passages, with a time limit of 20 minutes.

Do I need specialist knowledge?

No. Every answer depends only on the passage. Using outside knowledge is one of the most common causes of wrong answers.

What is the difference between verbal reasoning and verbal analysis?

They use different passage designs and suit different levels of role. Verbal Analysis is designed for roles with more demanding reading.

Is there a pass mark?

No. Results are reported in bands from Very Low to Very High, and employers use them alongside other evidence.

References

1. Schmidt, F. L. & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262–274.
2. Bertua, C., Anderson, N. & Salgado, J. F. (2005). The predictive validity of cognitive ability tests: a UK meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 78(3), 387–409.
3. Sackett, P. R., Zhang, C., Berry, C. M. & Lievens, F. (2022). Revisiting meta-analytic estimates of validity in personnel selection: addressing systematic overcorrection for restriction of range. Journal of Applied Psychology, 107(11), 2040–2068.