Firstly, it sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. That’s the case for most CAT4 questions. Once you have practised and familiarised with the question types, there are no surprises - a claim no other entrance exam can make.

There are two types of Quantitative Reasoning questions in CAT4, Number Series and Number Analogy

Put simply, work out the next number in this sequence.

These could be extremely simple: 3, 6, 9, 12, ? > The number is rising by 3 each time, so the answer is 15.

Or more complicated, using a variety of mathematical rules:

• 2, 4, 6, 10, ? > Each number is the sum of the two numbers before it, so the answer is 16.

• 5, 10, 20, 40, ? > Each number is doubled, so the answer is 80.

• 25, 36, 49, 64, ? > Here we have 5², 6², 7² and 8²; so the answer is 9² (81).

Some things to remember

The question mark isn’t always at the end:

• 7, ?, 175, 875, 4375 > The number is multiplying by 5 on each occasion. Although this is less clear as the missing number (35) is the second in the sequence.

The sequence can alternate:

• 5, 15, 10, 20, 15, ? > Here the rule is add 10, subtract five (repeat), so the next number in the sequence is 25.

The sequence can build:

• 0, 6, 18, 36, 60, ? > In this sequence we are adding multiple of 6: 1x6 (6), 2x6 (12), 3x6 (18), 4x6 (24), and so on. So the answer is 90.

Almost any mathematical rule could apply:

• Numbers could be dividing, multiplying, squaring, adding to the previous numbers or even adding to an arbitrary number. But, there will always be a sequence - and when you spot it - you can find the answer.

At first, Number Series can feel a little overwhelming. But with practise the rules become easier and easier to spot.

Good news. Once you’ve become familiar with Number Series then you will find Number Analogies are very similar.

Work out the relationship between the numbers, and apply the rule.

Here’s an example:

• 3>9 4>16 5>? 3² is 9, 4² is 16; so the rule is to square the number. The next number is 5, so 5>? becomes 5>25, so the answer is 25.

We could multiply:

• 7>42 9>54 11>? Each number is being multiplied by 6, so the answer is 66.

Add/subtract:

• 11>130 19>138 17>? The rule here is to add 119 to the number, so the answer is 17+119, 136.

Or divide:

• 112>56 2110>1055 898>? Each number is dividing by 2, so the answer is 449.

Spot the pattern, solve the question!

If you just read the Quantitative Reasoning section, get ready for a little déjà vu.

CAT4 Verbal Reasoning is built on two specific question types: Verbal Classification and Verbal Analogies. Just like in Quantitative Reasoning, the two sections share similarities and practising will hugely influence your result.

Just like every area of CAT4, Verbal Classification questions are (reasonably) predictable and preparation is key.

Spot the similarity between the three words and choose the word that matches.

Let’s start off with a very simple example:

Banana | Apple | Peach

1. Car

2. Toy

3. Pear

4. Toast

All of the three words are fruit, so the answer is (3) pear.

You won’t see an example this simple at 11 Plus level. The classifications tend to fall into:

• Word type (noun, verbal, adverb, adjective)

• Tense (past, future, present)

• Synonyms

• Word category (e.g. mammal, bird)

• Singular or plural

• Spelling patterns

Here’s an example more in keeping with 11 Plus level.

Bus | Train | Aeroplane

1. Walking

2. Drove

3. Travelled

4. Journey

At face value, all of the words have something to do with travel. However, the classification is that all three top words are nouns, so the answer is (4) journey, as walking, drove and travelled are all verbs.

Sound familiar? Just as with Quantitative Analogies, the challenge here is to spot the rule and reproduce.

Let’s look at an example:

Book>Read Frisbee>?

1. Score

2. Fun

3. Throw

4. Make

We read books and throw frisbees, so the answer is (3) throw.

However, things can get a little more complicated:

Firm>Soft Success>?

1. Win

2. Cuddle

3. Hard

4. Failure

Soft in an antonym of firm, so we should be looking for an antonym of success, which is failure.

Again, rules tend to fall into a few categories:

1. Changes in tense

2. Changes in plurality

3. Antonyms

4. Synonyms

5. Word logic (sea pairs with water, where desert pairs with sand).

Non-Verbal Reasoning in CAT4 consists of two very specific questions types, Figure Classification and Figure Matrices.

Similarly to Verbal Classification in CAT4, Figure Classification tasks us with spotting the rule in the original three images, and selecting the image that matches.

This can be fairly straight forward:

In the first three shapes, the hollow circle is inside the shape and the shaded circle is outside the shape.

Only option C follows this rule.

Sometimes the rule can be less obvious:

In Figure Matrices the questions will always be presented in a square box. The task is to recognise the relationship between the different shapes and pick the answer that completes the set.

Let’s take a look:

Here’s another example:

Spatial Reasoning in CAT4 covers both Folding and Hidden Shapes.

Folding questions show us a sheet of paper that is first folder and then has a hole punched through it. The challenge is to select the answer which shows how the piece of paper will look when it is unfolded.

Here’s an example:

When the sheet is unfolded, there will be two holes, one either side of the centre fold, so the answer is D.

Things get a little trickier when there are multiple folds and/or different shaped holes:

The shape on the left is hidden inside on of the shapes on the right.

Here’s a straight forward example:

Sometimes the answer is less obvious: