💡 Critical Thinking Test

What a critical thinking test measures

A critical thinking test asks two different things of you. First, whether an argument is any good: is it relevant to the question being asked, and does it hold together? Second, how far a conclusion is supported by a body of evidence — which is a matter of degree, not a yes or no. Both require you to set aside whether you agree with the position and judge only the reasoning.

Employers use this format for management, consulting, legal, policy and senior analyst roles, where decisions rest on weighing incomplete evidence rather than computing an answer. It is the reasoning format where personal opinion does the most damage, and where deliberately practising the neutral reading pays back fastest.

The format on Job Tests Portal

The standard run is 20 questions in 15 minutes, with 10, 15, 25 or 40 minutes and 10, 20, 30 or 50 questions available from the selectors. Questions come in two kinds and are clearly labelled as you go.

• Argument strength: a question is posed, an argument is offered, and you answer Strong or Weak.
• Inference classification: a short scenario is given with a proposed conclusion, and you choose True, Probably true, Insufficient information, Probably false, or False.
• Every item comes with a written explanation of why the answer is what it is.
• Your run is scored immediately and saved to your profile when you are signed in.

Question types, with worked examples

1. Strong arguments

Question: should the company introduce a structured mentoring scheme for new joiners? Argument: yes — exit interviews show that new joiners who leave in their first year most often cite a lack of guidance.

Answer: Strong

Why: It is directly relevant to the question and it bears on something important: the stated reason people leave is the thing the scheme would address. A strong argument has to be both on-topic and consequential.

2. Weak arguments

Same question. Argument: yes — several senior staff have said they would enjoy mentoring.

Answer: Weak

Why: It is on-topic but trivial: whether mentors would enjoy the scheme says almost nothing about whether the company should introduce it. Weak arguments are usually irrelevant, minor, or circular rather than obviously false.

3. Inference on the five-point scale

Scenario: in a staff survey, 62 of 100 respondents in the finance team said they preferred hybrid working. The survey was not run in other teams. Inference A: most finance-team respondents preferred hybrid working. Inference B: most employees across the company prefer hybrid working.

Answer: A is True; B is Insufficient information.

Why: 62 out of 100 is a majority of the people who answered, so A follows directly. B extends the finding to teams that were never surveyed, so there is no basis in the scenario either way — that is Insufficient information, not Probably true, however likely it may feel.

A practice method for critical thinking

1. Restate the question being argued. Strength is always relative to a question. An argument can be entirely accurate and still be weak because it answers something else.
2. Ask two things of every argument. Is it relevant, and does it matter? Only arguments that pass both are strong.
3. Separate evidence from conclusion. Mark what the scenario states as fact and what the item is asking you to accept. Mixing the two is the root of most misclassifications.
4. Match the scale to the evidence. True means it follows. Probably true means the evidence points that way with a gap remaining. Insufficient information means the scenario does not address it at all.
5. Watch for the population switch. Evidence about one group being applied to a wider group is the single most common trap in inference items.
6. Check your own reaction. If you notice yourself agreeing with a position, re-read the argument once more before answering. Agreement is not strength.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

• Scoring arguments by whether you agree with the conclusion rather than by the reasoning offered.
• Calling a true statement a strong argument. Relevance to the question is what decides strength, not accuracy.
• Using Probably true as a hedge. It means the evidence leans that way; when the scenario is silent, the answer is Insufficient information.
• Missing the scope of the evidence. Note who was surveyed, when, and where before you judge any inference about them.
• Importing common sense. Facts you know but the scenario has not given you cannot support an inference here.
• Reading the conclusion first. It primes you to find support for it; read the scenario first and the item second.

Where to go next

• Start the critical thinking practice test — argument strength and inference items with full explanations
• Logical reasoning tests explained — how the reasoning formats relate to each other
• Verbal Reasoning Test — the True/False/Cannot Say version of the same discipline
• Deductive Reasoning Test — conclusions that follow necessarily rather than probably
• Situational Judgment Test — judgement applied to workplace scenarios
• All cognitive and aptitude tests — browse the full catalogue and pick your next session