SHL is one of the largest makers of employment tests, and "an SHL test" can mean several different things. The good news is that SHL documents its tests unusually well, and offers free practice for all of them.
Which SHL test have you been sent?
SHL's current aptitude tests sit in the Verify family:
- Verify Interactive. Built for phones, adaptive, with drag-and-drop tasks instead of plain multiple choice. Versions: Numerical Reasoning, Numerical Calculation, Inductive Reasoning, Deductive Reasoning, and G+, which mixes several.
- Verify G+ and Verify Verbal Ability. Adaptive multiple choice.
- Verify Deductive Reasoning and Verify Numerical Ability, which are still listed too.
If a guide describes "SHL Verbal Reasoning" or "SHL Numerical Reasoning" from the first-generation Verify range, it is out of date: SHL retired those tests, along with its Calculation, Checking, Reading Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension tests, in 2024.
Timings
From SHL's own factsheets:
- Verify Interactive Numerical Reasoning: 18 minutes, up to 10 questions, using charts, tables and spreadsheets.
- Verify Interactive Numerical Calculation: 10 minutes, up to 12 questions of entry-level arithmetic.
- Verify Interactive G+: 36 minutes, up to 24 questions.
- Verify G+: 36 minutes, 30 questions, 10 for each ability.
- Verify Verbal Ability: 15 minutes, up to 18 questions.
SHL's online catalogue lists a 23-minute completion time for the Interactive numerical, inductive and deductive tests, which may include the instructions; your invitation will show the time that applies. All of these are designed to be taken unsupervised.
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What the questions look like
- Numerical reasoning: questions about data in tables and graphs: percentages, ratios, changes over time, reading the right number from a busy chart.
- Inductive reasoning (also called abstract or diagrammatic reasoning): spot the rule in a series of shapes and choose what comes next.
- Deductive reasoning: decide what must be true, or cannot be true, from a set of statements.
- Verbal reasoning: read a passage, then judge statements about it, often True, False or Cannot say.
How it's scored
You're scored as a percentile, compared with a reference group. SHL's sample candidate report shows a grade from A to E for each ability, and says results stay valid for about 12 to 18 months, so an employer may accept a recent result rather than ask you to sit it again.
Because the tests are adaptive, the questions change with your answers. Finding them hard isn't a sign you're doing badly; it can mean the opposite.
How to prepare
Use SHL Direct. SHL's candidate site has free practice tests for numerical, deductive, inductive and verbal reasoning, plus situational judgement. They are the closest thing to the real tests.
For numerical tests, practise reading charts fast. The arithmetic is rarely hard; finding the right figure in the right table is where time goes. Practise percentage change and ratios until they're automatic, and check the units and the year before you calculate.
For verbal tests, answer only from the passage. "Cannot say" exists because the passage doesn't settle every statement. Your own knowledge of the topic is a trap.
For inductive tests, look for one change at a time. Rotation, number of sides, shading and position each tend to follow their own rule. Check each property separately.
Prefer a bigger screen for charts. Interactive tests are built for phones, but tables and graphs are easier to read on a laptop.
Where Cohesyve fits
Aptitude tests are usually an early filter. The later stages, interviews and tasks from the job itself, are where you can show what you can actually do. Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs practice job simulations for that kind of stage, with a report on where you lost marks. It won't prepare you for SHL's reasoning tests; SHL Direct will.
Sources
Checked 2 October 2026.