Raven's Progressive Matrices Test: Format, Scoring & How to Prepare (2026)

The Raven's Progressive Matrices (often shortened to Raven's matrices, RPM or just "the matrices test") is one of the most widely used non-verbal reasoning tests in the world. It was devised by the British psychologist John C. Raven in the 1930s and first published in 1938. Each question shows a 3×3 grid of abstract designs with the bottom-right piece missing. Your task is to work out the rule that governs the pattern and choose the option that completes it.

Because there is no reading, no arithmetic and no general knowledge involved, the test is designed to measure fluid reasoning — your ability to spot relationships and solve new problems without relying on what you have learned at school. That makes it attractive to employers recruiting internationally, to organisations assessing candidates whose first language is not English, and to psychologists who want a measure that is less affected by education or culture.

In recruitment, you are most likely to meet the Raven's test as the Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) or the newer Raven's 2, usually delivered online and sometimes supervised. It is also used in graduate programmes, military and public-sector selection, and in research. If you are used to commercial tests such as the SHL inductive reasoning test or an abstract reasoning test, the Raven's will feel familiar — it is the classic format those tests were built around.

The original test has been adapted several times. Understanding which version you face tells you how hard to expect it to be and how to pace yourself.

Item counts and timings can vary by publisher edition and by how the employer configures the test, so treat the figures above as typical rather than guaranteed. Your invitation email or the instructions screen will confirm the exact number of questions and the clock you are working against.

Why the APM matters most for jobseekers

The APM was built to separate people at the upper end of the ability range, where easier tests produce ceiling effects. That is exactly what a competitive graduate employer needs, so if you are applying to a selective scheme, expect Set II-style puzzles: multi-rule matrices where two or three transformations operate at once.

Every item is a 3×3 matrix of shapes with one cell missing. The rows and columns obey one or more hidden rules. You scan the options (six or eight alternatives, depending on the set) and select the one that satisfies every rule at once.

Research on the test by cognitive psychologists, most notably the analysis by Carpenter, Just and Shell (1990), found that almost all items can be explained by a small set of rule types. Learning to name them is the fastest way to speed up.

Harder APM items combine several of these rules, and add perceptual distractors: options that match some of the rules but break one. Your job is to confirm every rule against your chosen answer, not just the most obvious one.

Scoring is straightforward: one mark per correct answer, with no penalty for wrong answers in the standard versions. The raw score is then compared with a norm group to give a percentile or standardised score.

• Raw score: the number of items answered correctly out of the total (for example, out of 36 on APM Set II).
• Percentile rank: the percentage of the comparison group you scored equal to or higher than. A 75th percentile result means you outperformed roughly three quarters of the norm group.
• Standardised scores: scores converted to a common scale (such as a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15) so different tests can be compared.
• Time-adjusted scores: some digital versions factor in speed as well as accuracy, so check the instructions to see how you are being assessed.

Employers set their own thresholds. Some use the Raven's result as a simple pass/fail filter at a chosen percentile; others combine it with other assessments or look at it alongside personality data. For more on how percentile cut-offs work in practice, see our guide to what is a good SHL score — the logic of norm groups is the same.

The Raven's test is rarely advertised by employers, but it appears in several contexts:

• Graduate and professional recruitment: usually APM or Raven's 2 as a general-ability screen, sometimes alongside verbal and numerical tests. See our graduate scheme aptitude tests guide for the wider picture.
• Public sector and armed forces: non-verbal reasoning tests descended from the matrices format have been used in military selection for decades.
• International and multilingual hiring: because the test requires no language, it suits global employers hiring across many countries.
• Clinical, educational and research settings: where it is used as a measure of fluid intelligence rather than a job-selection tool.

Many commercial test publishers sell their own matrix-style tests that follow the same principles — for example the cut-e / Aon scales, Korn Ferry Talent Q and Cubiks/Talogy abstract tests, and the Criteria CCAT spatial section. Practising genuine matrix puzzles therefore pays off across several different employers.

• Work systematically: check rows first, then columns, then diagonals. Most items are solved by one of these three views.
• Look at one attribute at a time: examine shape, then size, then shading, then orientation, then position, rather than trying to take in the whole image.
• Eliminate aggressively: rule out options that break a single rule. Even when you cannot see the full solution, you can often narrow six or eight options down to two.
• Do not stay stuck: because difficulty rises gradually, your most valuable marks are on the early and middle items. Make a best guess and move on if an item exceeds about a minute.
• Guess when time runs out: there is generally no penalty for wrong answers, so never leave an item blank.
• Trust the rule, not the picture: options that look visually symmetrical or tidy are often distractors.
• Use scrap paper if allowed: sketching a quick table of how each attribute changes across a row can unlock stubborn items.

Alongside matrices practice, work on the sister skills that build the same mental muscles: spatial reasoning for mentally rotating shapes, and diagrammatic reasoning for following rule-based flows. Try our free timed practice tests to get comfortable with the on-screen interface as well as the puzzles.