Non-Verbal Reasoning · Sequences

Shape & shading sequences 11+ practice

Track multiple changing visual features across a sequence.

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The key idea

Understand the rule first

Record shape, number, position, orientation and shading separately. Discover each pattern before combining them to predict the missing figure.

Worked example

An arrow turns 90° clockwise while colour alternates black, white. Terms: up-black, right-white, down-black. What follows?

Continue the rotation: down becomes left.
Continue the colour alternation: black becomes white.
Combine the two features.

left-white

Watch for this

A common misconception

Following one obvious feature while ignoring a second alternating rule.

Reusable method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.

Question 1 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
A shape sequence is circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle, __. What comes next?
- Atriangle
- Bsquare
- Ccircle
- Dpentagon
Need a hint?
Identify the repeating block of three.
Show worked answer
Answer B: square
The block circle, triangle, square repeats, so square is next.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 2 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
An arrow sequence points up, right, down, left, up, __. What comes next?
- Aleft
- Bup
- Cright
- Ddown
Need a hint?
Each term is a quarter-turn clockwise.
Show worked answer
Answer C: right
After up comes right.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 3 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
Shading follows black, black, white, black, black, white, __. What comes next?
- Awhite
- Bstriped
- Cblank
- Dblack
Need a hint?
Find the repeating three-term block.
Show worked answer
Answer D: black
The pattern black, black, white repeats; black comes next.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 4 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningexam-style
Sides increase 3, 4, 5, 6 while shading alternates white, black. What is term 5?
- A7-sided white shape
- B7-sided black shape
- C6-sided white shape
- D8-sided white shape
Need a hint?
Continue both the side count and the alternating shade.
Show worked answer
Answer A: 7-sided white shape
Term 5 has 7 sides and returns to white shading.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 5 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningexam-style
A dot moves clockwise through the four corners while the count rises 2, 4, 6, 8. After bottom-left with 8 dots, what follows?
- Abottom-right with 10
- Btop-left with 10
- Ctop-right with 8
- Dtop-left with 12
Need a hint?
Continue the corner cycle and add two dots.
Show worked answer
Answer B: top-left with 10
The dot returns to top-left and the count becomes 10.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 6 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
The arrows follow the sequence shown: up, right, down, __. Which direction comes next?
- Aup
- Bright
- Cleft
- Ddown
Need a hint?
Each arrow turns 90° clockwise.
Show worked answer
Answer C: left
After up, right and down, the next 90° clockwise direction is left.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 7 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
The shading repeats: black, white, white, black, white, white, __. What comes next?
- Awhite
- Bstriped
- Cgrey
- Dblack
Need a hint?
Find the repeating group of three.
Show worked answer
Answer D: black
The repeating unit is black, white, white, so the next item is black.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 8 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningcore
A sequence uses shapes with 3, 4, 5 and 6 sides. How many sides should the next shape have?
- A7
- B8
- C9
- D10
Need a hint?
The number of sides increases by one.
Show worked answer
Answer A: 7
The sequence is triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, so the next shape has 7 sides.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 9 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningexam
A triangle turns 90° clockwise each step while a dot alternates inside, outside, inside… The first three steps are up/inside, right/outside, down/inside. What is step four?
- Aup/outside
- Bleft/outside
- Cleft/inside
- Dright/inside
Need a hint?
Continue the rotation and the dot rule separately.
Show worked answer
Answer B: left/outside
The triangle turns from down to left, while the dot alternates from inside to outside.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.
Question 10 of 10
Non-Verbal Reasoningstretch
A growing diagram contains 1, 2, 4, 7 and 11 marks. How many marks come next?
- A14
- B15
- C16
- D17
Need a hint?
Inspect the increases between terms.
Show worked answer
Answer C: 16
The increases are +1, +2, +3 and +4. The next increase is +5, so 11 + 5 = 16.
Quick method: Make a small table with one row per changing feature.

Understand the rule first

An arrow turns 90° clockwise while colour alternates black, white. Terms: up-black, right-white, down-black. What follows?

A common misconception

A shape sequence is circle, triangle, square, circle, triangle, __. What comes next?

An arrow sequence points up, right, down, left, up, __. What comes next?

Shading follows black, black, white, black, black, white, __. What comes next?

Sides increase 3, 4, 5, 6 while shading alternates white, black. What is term 5?

A dot moves clockwise through the four corners while the count rises 2, 4, 6, 8. After bottom-left with 8 dots, what follows?

The arrows follow the sequence shown: up, right, down, __. Which direction comes next?

The shading repeats: black, white, white, black, white, white, __. What comes next?

A sequence uses shapes with 3, 4, 5 and 6 sides. How many sides should the next shape have?

A triangle turns 90° clockwise each step while a dot alternates inside, outside, inside… The first three steps are up/inside, right/outside, down/inside. What is step four?

A growing diagram contains 1, 2, 4, 7 and 11 marks. How many marks come next?

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