Hidden shapes: 11+ non-verbal reasoning
A small shape is hidden in one of five figures, among other lines. It’s the same size and the same way up.
What the questions look like
A simple shape on the left and five tangles of lines. One tangle has the shape in it, exactly the same size and the same way up. Others have it turned, flipped, or with one side missing.
Pick a corner to look for
Choose the shape’s most unusual corner or longest side.
Trace round from there
Follow the shape’s sides in the option, one at a time.
Check size and direction
The shape must be the same size and the same way up, with every side there.
A worked example
Which figure has the shape hidden in it?
The shape is an L: a tall left side, a short top, a step in, and a long base.
In this figure, the long base and the tall left side are there, near the middle.
Trace round: the short top, the step in and down, and back along the base. The whole L is there, the same size and the same way up.
Try 8 questions
New questions every time, in the style of GL Assessment’s papers, and marked when you finish.
The usual mistakes
Accepting a turned shape
The shape turned or flipped over isn’t the same way up.
Missing a side
A shape with one side missing looks complete at a glance.
Ignoring the size
A bigger or smaller version of the shape doesn’t count.
The other kinds of question
Each has its own page with a worked example and questions to try. What non-verbal reasoning is, and who tests it.
With Exam Prep, Thena sets practice papers in your child’s test’s style and goes over every mistake with them on her board: £49 a month with the Solo plan.
Questions about hidden shapes
How do you find a hidden shape?
Pick the shape’s most distinctive corner or its longest side, find lines in each option that could be it, then trace round the rest of the shape from there. If a side is missing, or the shape only fits turned round, that option is out.
Can the hidden shape be turned?
Not in these questions: it has to be the same size and the same way up. An option with the shape turned or flipped over is there to catch a child who matched the outline without checking its direction.
Thena goes over every question your child gets wrong
She draws it on her board, finds where it went wrong and works it through with them, then gives them one like it to do alone.
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