Cubiks / Talogy Assessment: Complete Guide to LOGIKS & Factors Tests

Cubiks was founded in 2000 as a UK-based psychometric assessment company, developing aptitude tests and personality questionnaires for graduate and professional recruitment. For two decades, Cubiks became one of the leading assessment providers in the UK public sector, financial services, and international graduate schemes — most notably through its LOGIKS aptitude test suite.

In 2021, Cubiks merged with PSI Services, a large US-based assessment group, and the combined entity rebranded as Talogy. Despite the rebrand, the tests themselves — particularly LOGIKS and the Factors personality questionnaire — remain unchanged. The Talogy platform is still widely referred to as "Cubiks" by candidates searching online, and invitation emails from employers frequently still reference the Cubiks name or link to cubiks.com.

Talogy is now used by over 2,000 organisations globally, with particular prevalence in the UK public sector, the NHS, financial services, utilities, and graduate recruitment schemes. It sits alongside SHL, cut-e (Aon Assessments), and Korn Ferry Talent Q as one of the dominant assessment providers in British and European recruitment.

The flagship aptitude product is LOGIKS — an acronym standing for Logical, Organised, Global, Intelligent, Knowledge and Skills. LOGIKS comes in two main variants: LOGIKS General (adaptive) and LOGIKS Intermediate (fixed format). Both assess the same three reasoning areas — verbal, numerical, and abstract — but differ significantly in how questions are delivered and scored.

LOGIKS General is an adaptive test — the difficulty of each question adjusts dynamically based on your response to the previous one. This means every candidate who sits LOGIKS General sees a completely different set of questions. Two candidates sitting the same test on the same day will not encounter the same questions, and it is impossible to compare question difficulty between them after the fact.

How the Adaptive Algorithm Works

The test begins at a medium difficulty level. From there:

• Correct answer — the next question is harder, earning more score weight
• Incorrect answer — the next question is easier, with lower score weight
• Final score is based on difficulty-weighted performance across all questions, not simply the raw count of correct answers

This scoring model means that a candidate who answers ten hard questions correctly scores higher than one who answers fifteen easy questions correctly — even though the latter answered more questions right in absolute terms. Consistent accuracy at high difficulty levels is the goal.

Format and Timing

The full adaptive session typically lasts approximately 12 minutes, though some employers administer the three modules (verbal, numerical, abstract) in separate timed blocks. Areas assessed: verbal (word relationships, analogies, vocabulary), numerical (arithmetic, percentage calculations, ratios), and abstract (visual patterns, shape matrices). Because the session is adaptive, there is no fixed question count — you answer questions continuously within the time window.

Speed matters disproportionately in adaptive tests. Answering quickly and correctly maximises your score by allowing you to reach and sustain higher difficulty levels for longer. Spending excessive time on a single question and then answering it correctly earns less net benefit than answering two medium-difficulty questions correctly in the same time.

LOGIKS Intermediate is a fixed-form test — all candidates see the same questions in the same order, delivered at the same difficulty level. This makes it more comparable to traditional psychometric assessments like the standard SHL Verify battery, and allows employers to conduct fairness auditing and norm comparisons across large cohorts with greater consistency.

Format Details

The standard LOGIKS Intermediate format is 36 questions completed in 25 minutes. Some versions, particularly for more senior roles or specific sectors, run to 40 questions in 30 minutes. The three modules — verbal, numerical, and abstract — may be administered together as a combined session or separately as standalone modules, depending on the employer's configuration.

Scores on LOGIKS Intermediate are norm-referenced: your raw score is compared against a standardised norm group. Employers choose their norm group at the point of set-up — common options include the graduate population, management population, or general working population. This means the same raw score can yield a very different percentile ranking depending on which norm group applies to your application. A score at the 70th percentile in the general population norm might be at the 55th percentile in a graduate norm.

When is LOGIKS Intermediate Used?

LOGIKS Intermediate is the preferred format when employers need consistent, comparable results across large applicant cohorts — for example, the Civil Service, NHS, and local government authorities who must demonstrate equal opportunity and fairness in selection. Its fixed format allows direct score comparisons between candidates, which the adaptive LOGIKS General does not permit. It is also commonly used when employers want to assess candidates at a specific, pre-defined difficulty level rather than allowing the test to calibrate dynamically per individual.

Whether you sit LOGIKS General or LOGIKS Intermediate, all versions of the test assess the same three core reasoning domains. Understanding what each module tests — and how it differs from equivalent tests at other providers — is essential for targeted preparation.

Verbal Reasoning

The LOGIKS verbal module tests vocabulary breadth, word analogies, and logical sentence evaluation. This is a key differentiator from SHL's verbal reasoning: rather than the True/False/Cannot Say comprehension format used by SHL, LOGIKS verbal asks you to complete word relationships, select synonyms, identify analogies, and evaluate the logical completion of statements.

Example question type: "BRIEF is to CONCISE as OBSCURE is to: a) Enlighten   b) Cryptic   c) Simple   d) Verbose"

The correct answer is b) Cryptic — BRIEF and CONCISE are synonyms meaning short/clear; OBSCURE and CRYPTIC are synonyms meaning unclear/hidden. This type of synonym-analogy question requires genuine vocabulary knowledge rather than reading comprehension skill. Candidates who struggle here benefit most from active vocabulary expansion exercises in the weeks before the test.

Numerical Reasoning

The LOGIKS numerical module is more arithmetic-focused than SHL's numerical reasoning, which relies heavily on reading charts, tables, and graphs. LOGIKS numerical tests speed and accuracy on arithmetic operations: percentages, fractions, ratios, proportions, and basic data interpretation. The questions are shorter to read but must be answered quickly — there is less time per question than in SHL numerical reasoning.

Example question type: "A product costs £45 and is sold at a 35% markup. What is the selling price?"

Answer: £45 × 1.35 = £60.75. These questions are not conceptually difficult, but under time pressure with a 12-minute adaptive session running, mental arithmetic speed and accuracy become the binding constraint. Candidates who practise rapid percentage and ratio calculations without a calculator will significantly outperform those who rely on written methods under pressure.

Abstract / Diagrammatic Reasoning

The LOGIKS abstract module presents sequences of shapes, pattern matrices, or visual series where you must identify the underlying rule and select the next item or missing element. The visual style is slightly different from SHL Inductive Reasoning — LOGIKS tends toward matrix-style pattern completion rather than the end-of-sequence format more common in SHL — but the underlying cognitive skill being assessed is identical: rule identification and abstract pattern recognition.

Use the NSCRP scanning method to work through abstract questions systematically: check for changes in Number, Size, Colour/shading, Rotation, and Position across the pattern. Most LOGIKS abstract questions operate on 1–3 simultaneous rules, and the NSCRP scan identifies them quickly without requiring you to construct an answer from scratch.

LOGIKS vs SHL Verify: Module Comparison

Talogy Factors (formerly Cubiks Factors) is a personality assessment designed for professional and graduate selection. The standard version — Factors/16 — measures 16 personality dimensions; the extended version — Factors/32 — covers 32 dimensions with greater granularity. Both versions are widely used alongside LOGIKS as a combined aptitude-and-personality selection battery.

What Factors Measures

The 16 core dimensions span five broad areas: Sociability (e.g. outgoingness, confidence in social situations), Emotionality (e.g. emotional stability, resilience under pressure), Conscientiousness (e.g. organisation, attention to detail, rule-following), Openness (e.g. curiosity, creativity, tolerance of ambiguity), and Dominance (e.g. assertiveness, leadership orientation). Each dimension is assessed through multiple related questions distributed throughout the questionnaire — you will not see them grouped together by trait.

Questions are presented in either an agree/disagree Likert scale format or a ranking/forced-choice format where you select which of two or more statements best describes you. Neither format has objectively correct answers — this is not an aptitude test. However, consistency across questions about the same underlying trait is assessed carefully, both to verify response authenticity and to produce a reliable trait profile.

How Employers Use Factors

Employers use the Factors output to compare your personality profile against a competency framework defined for the role. For example, a customer-facing role might require high Sociability and moderate Conscientiousness; an audit or compliance role might weight Conscientiousness and Emotionality heavily. Your Factors profile is not assessed in isolation — it is interpreted in the context of what the employer has defined as the ideal profile for that specific role and organisation.

The Factors questionnaire is not timed. Most candidates complete it in 20–35 minutes. You can take as long as you need per question, though most practitioners recommend not overthinking individual items — your instinctive first response is typically more consistent with your overall trait profile than a heavily deliberated answer.

Practical Tips for the Factors Questionnaire

• Answer authentically — your genuine trait profile is more consistent across 100+ questions than a constructed persona. Inconsistency is statistically detectable.
• Avoid extreme responses on every trait — answering "Strongly Agree" to every positive statement and "Strongly Disagree" to every negative one is a classic validity scale trigger. Most people have a nuanced profile.
• Maintain internal consistency — similar questions about the same underlying trait (asked in different phrasings and at different points in the questionnaire) should receive similar answers. If you say you are highly organised on question 12 and highly disorganised on question 67, the system will flag it.
• Map your genuine strengths to the role in advance — the best preparation for a personality questionnaire is honest self-reflection about your real strengths and working style, not practising "correct" answers.

Beyond LOGIKS and Factors, Talogy offers a broader suite of assessment tools used across different hiring contexts. Graduate candidates are most likely to encounter LOGIKS (and sometimes Factors), but it is useful to know the wider Talogy ecosystem in case your employer uses one of these additional instruments.

Profiles XT

Profiles XT is a combined cognitive and behavioural assessment designed for matching candidates to specific job profiles. Unlike LOGIKS (which provides a general aptitude score) or Factors (which provides a personality profile), Profiles XT generates a job match score by comparing your results against a pre-defined benchmark profile for the specific role. It is used more frequently in mid-market and SME hiring — particularly in retail, hospitality, and operational management roles — than in graduate or professional services recruitment. If you are applying to a smaller employer and your assessment invitation references "Profiles XT", expect a combined cognitive and personality session of approximately 45–60 minutes.

Other Talogy Assessment Tools

• Workplace Personality Inventory (WPI): An alternative personality questionnaire to Factors, used in some sectors for occupational fit assessment. Similar in format to Factors but uses a different framework of work-relevant dimensions.
• 360-Degree Feedback Tools: Used for development and leadership programmes rather than initial selection. Gathers ratings from managers, peers, and direct reports on leadership competencies.
• Structured Interview Frameworks: Talogy provides competency-based interview question banks and scoring guides for employer use. These underpin the structured interview stages at organisations running full Talogy assessment processes.
• Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs): Custom SJTs can be built on the Talogy platform for specific employer contexts — particularly common in NHS and Civil Service recruitment processes.

For most graduate candidates, LOGIKS is the primary tool to prepare for. Factors preparation (honest self-reflection and awareness of validity scales) is secondary. The other tools in the Talogy suite are less commonly encountered in mainstream graduate recruitment but worth knowing about if your invitation email references them by name.

Talogy's LOGIKS platform is particularly dominant in UK public sector and utilities hiring. It also has significant penetration in financial services, professional services, and energy sectors. The following table summarises major known users, though employer assessment providers do change over time and some organisations use Talogy alongside other platforms for different stages.

It is worth noting that many employers use Talogy as one component of a broader assessment process. For example, an NHS graduate management scheme might use LOGIKS for initial screening, Factors for personality profiling, a structured interview using Talogy's competency framework, and potentially a situational judgement test — all on the same platform. Check your invitation email carefully to understand how many assessment components are included in your process.

Preparing for Talogy LOGIKS tests requires a different strategy from preparing for SHL or cut-e assessments. The adaptive format, arithmetic-heavy numerical module, and vocabulary-based verbal module each reward specific preparation approaches. Here is a structured preparation plan:

• Practise adaptive test strategy: The most important behavioural skill for LOGIKS General is pacing. Attempt every question — never leave a blank. Use elimination for questions where you are uncertain rather than spending extended time trying to calculate the exact answer. A good guess is better than a missed question. Practice this discipline deliberately using timed adaptive-style sessions before your test date. See our timed practice tests to build this habit.
• Numerical: refresh mental arithmetic intensively: LOGIKS numerical is faster and more arithmetic-heavy than SHL numerical reasoning. The focus is on percentages, ratios, fractions, and proportions — not complex multi-step chart reading. Practise calculating percentages (both increase/decrease and of totals) without a calculator until the process is automatic. Practice ratio and fraction simplification under time pressure. Two weeks of 15-minute daily arithmetic drills will produce measurable improvement.
• Verbal: expand vocabulary and practise word analogies specifically: If you struggle with synonyms, antonyms, or analogy-format questions — which differ substantially from SHL's reading comprehension format — target these directly. Read broadly (quality journalism, non-fiction) and actively learn unfamiliar words. Practise analogy questions of the form "X is to Y as A is to ?" using free verbal reasoning resources. Our verbal reasoning guide has targeted preparation strategies.
• Abstract: practise pattern matrices using the NSCRP method: Train yourself to scan each abstract question for changes in Number, Size, Colour/shading, Rotation, and Position (NSCRP) in a fixed order. This systematic scan prevents you from overlooking rules and is faster than trying to intuit the pattern holistically. Our inductive reasoning guide covers this method in detail with worked examples.
• Timed practice is non-negotiable for LOGIKS: The adaptive format makes time wasted on a single question maximally costly — you not only lose time but also miss the opportunity to move to a higher-difficulty question where more score weight is available. Always practice under timed conditions. Untimed practice builds knowledge; timed practice builds test performance.
• Personality (Factors): prepare authentic answers by mapping your genuine strengths: Review the competencies listed in the job description. Reflect honestly on which of those competencies genuinely match your working style and experience. Going into the Factors questionnaire with this self-awareness helps you answer consistently and authentically, rather than trying to construct an answer on the fly for each question.

Related Preparation Resources

If you are comparing providers or applying to employers using multiple assessment platforms, these guides cover adjacent test types:

• cut-e (Aon) assessments — used by Goldman Sachs, Vodafone, and others; different format again from LOGIKS
• Korn Ferry Talent Q — another adaptive assessment provider, common in financial services
• SHL vs Korn Ferry vs cut-e comparison — helps you identify which platform you're facing
• Psychometric test overview and aptitude test guide for foundational preparation principles
• Free timed practice tests — start practising immediately