SHL Deductive Practice Test - All The Details You Must Know To Pass (2024)

Deductive reasoning tests evaluate your ability to take general ideas that are considered true and reach a specific, logical conclusion.

Let’s see what deduction looks like in one of its simplest examples:

1. All dogs are mammals.
2. All mammals are warm-blooded.

Using deductive reasoning, you can conclude that all dogs are warm-blooded.

While deductive reasoning uses general statements to reach specific conclusions, inductive reasoning uses specific observations to reach a general conclusion.

Now:

Many employers value employees with strong deductive and logical skills. That’s why they use assessment tests, such as SHL’s ones, to ensure they hire candidates with these abilities.

The SHL Deductive Reasoning test is a pre-employment assessment that measures logical thinking skills. Included are questions such as identifying the strengths and weaknesses of arguments, analyzing scenarios, and drawing conclusions from data. Additionally, SHl has devised three versions, including an interactive and two non-interactive multiple-choice format versions.

Many companies, like Rolls Royce, include the SHL Deductive Reasoning Test as an essential part of their recruitment process. 

The version of the SHL deductive test you'll get will depend on the hiring company. Each version differs in its question types, time limits, and difficulty levels.

Below, we have provided an overview of each test version plus some sample questions, so you start to get a feel for the test.

Number of questions: 12

Time limit: 18 minutes

Unique instructions: the instructions will specifically say “…an activity-based test that allows you to drag, drop, and interact…”

The SHL Interactive Deductive Reasoning test is a new assessment that's completely different from the classic multiple-choice version.

On this test, you’ll have questions such as scheduling an interactive calendar, deducing the ranking of people based on different criteria, arranging meeting rooms, and more.

That’s why this version is considered more difficult, and each question takes longer to answer.

(Nevertheless, you have only 1.5 minutes per question)

To get a better understanding of what makes this interactive version so unique, check out the following example of a question type you’ll likely see on the test:

Number of questions: 18

Time limit: 20 minutes

Unique instructions: “After each question, there are four or five response options.” And “Click on the answer…” indicates it’s not an interactive assessment.

The non-interactive SHL Deductive reasoning test is a multiple-choice test with five responses to choose from and only one correct answer to each question.

You’ll have three types of questions on this test:

• Paragraph or statements followed by the question - “which statement must / cannot be true?”
• A paragraph with specific details followed by the question - “which assumption underlies the above argument?”
• Tables loaded with details and numbers followed by a detailed question about them.

The following is an example for the third question type:

Number of questions: 18

Time limit: 20 minutes

The SHL Verify CEB Deductive test is easier to recognise as you’ll CEB’s logo on the top left corner of the test’s opening screen. As of 2023, only several companies use this version, as most other companies that use SHL’s assessments shifted to the newer interactive and non-interactive versions.

This version is pretty similar to the non-interactive one in terms of the deductive skills under examination, however, its format and graphics look more outdated.

Check out the following sample question that has one of the most common question formats:

Sitting the SHL Deductive Reasoning test without any prior preparation can be hard.

Even if you have solid deductive skills, it takes time to get used to the question types. Especially if you’re taking the interactive version, which is the complete opposite of the classic multiple-choice tests you’re used to.

Problem is, you don’t have time to get comfortable with the unique question types if you decide to start the test without prior prep. Except for a few warmup sample questions, you need to quickly dive into the cold water and start answering questions.

So, the safest way to ensure you pass the SHL Deductive test is by following a thorough practice plan beforehand (preferably tailored to your specific test version).

There are three options available for that right now:

1. SHL Direct’s practice test
2. Our free SHL practice test
3. JobTestPrep’s accurate SHL preparation pack

Your SHL assessment invitation email usually includes a link to SHL Direct, SHL’s practice site containing several sample questions and free practice tests.

That said, there are a few problems with that:

• The invitation email doesn’t tell you which SHL version you should practise for (interactive or non-interactive - which differ greatly).
• The score report you get at the end (only for the non-interactive version) doesn’t say which questions you got right or wrong, so you can’t tell what areas to focus on. Also, you don’t get any solutions, feedback, or explanations, thus you’re unable to learn from your mistakes.
• SHL Direct’s practice tests include only a small fraction of the actual question types. Additionally, some of the questions’ difficulty level is easier than the real test. SHL even mentions that on their page by saying that the practice tests’ level may not reflect the real thing.

And this leads us to the next option...

After you finish the SHL deductive assessment, you’ll receive a score report named “Candidate Assessment Report.”

The scores you see on this report, as well as SHL’s general scoring, are comparative. This means the scores are compared to a large group of candidates who previously took the same test.

Your test results range from A to E, as you can see in the illustration below:

The higher your score is, the closer you’ll be to group “A”. And it’s safe to say that candidates who score in groups “A” and “B” are likely to pass the test.

So, even if the scoring system is comparative to other test-takers, you should still strive to score as high as possible.

We at JobTestPrep find the assessment tests world highly diverse and fascinating. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge in the aptitude tests world, or you want some extra practice before your test, we've got you covered!

Check out these fantastic free practice tests (all are completely free):

Free Aptitude Test | Free Psychometric Test | Free Numerical Reasoning Test | Free Verbal Reasoning Test | Free Cognitive Test | Free Critical Thinking Test | Free Abstract Reasoning Test | Free Spatial Reasoning Tets | Free Personality Test | Free Inductive Test | Free Mechanical Reasoning Test