Progressive matrices (Raven's-style)
Matrices practice tests
Raven's Progressive Matrices is a picture reasoning test some schools and gifted programs use because it needs no reading and no math. Each question is a pattern or a grid of pictures with one piece missing, and the child chooses the piece that completes it. Younger children take the Colored version: 36 colored puzzles in three sets of 12 with six choices. Older children take the Standard version: 60 puzzles in five sets of 12, six choices in the first two sets and eight after. Each set starts easy and gets harder, and there is no time limit.
Our matrices-style practice follows that published shape: the Colored form from Kindergarten to Grade 5, the Standard form from Grade 6, in sets of 12 that start easy, with no clock. Every picture is drawn new when your child starts, and every answer comes with a worked rule.
A look at the test
Questions in the matrices-style style
Written by us in the style of the published matrices-style question types.
Colored form: a 2 by 2 grid
Which picture completes the pattern?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerFAcross the top row
The triangle becomes a square.
Down the left column
One becomes two.
Make the row's change to the bottom-left box, and check it matches the column's change from the top-right box.
Final answer
Two medium dark squares.
Remember
Say what changes along the top row, like "one becomes two" or "blue becomes white".
Standard form: a 3 by 3 grid, eight choices
Which picture completes the pattern?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerFLook along the top row, then the middle row, and ask what changes from box to box: the shape, how many there are, their shade, their size.
Each row has all three shapes once.
Each box along a row has one more shape than the box before.
Apply each rule to the bottom row to work out what the empty box must hold.
Final answer
Three small dark circles.
Remember
Take one thing at a time: the shape, how many there are, the shade, the size.
Standard form: adding and taking away lines
Which picture completes the pattern?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
AnswerFCompare the first two boxes of the top row with the third: which lines were kept, and which went?
Try each way of combining on the top row
All the lines, only the shared lines, only the lines that differ, or the first minus the second.
Check the middle row
The third box has every line from the first two.
Combine the bottom row's first two boxes the same way. Final answer: 5 lines: the top side, the right side, the bottom side, the left side and the diagonal from top left.
Remember
Lay the first two boxes of the top row on top of each other in your head and compare with the third.
The test
Forms by grade
| Form | Grades | Questions | Time | Question types in our tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colored form | Kindergarten to Grade 5 | 36 (sets A, Ab, B) | No time limit | Colored patterns with a piece missing, then 2 by 2 grids. Six choices. |
| Standard form | Grades 6 to 8 | 60 (sets A to E) | No time limit | Patterns and 2 by 2 grids with six choices, then 3 by 3 grids of shapes and lines with eight. |
The sets, their lengths, the number of choices and the untimed sitting are the published shape of the two forms. Which grade takes which form is our choice; schools vary. Our pictures and the mix inside each set are ours.
Pricing
Three free practice tests. Unlimited tests and answers are US$49.
A free account includes 3 practice tests. A plan opens unlimited tests and shows your child what they got right, the right answers and how to reach them, on every CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, NGAT, SCAT, InView, matrices and spatial reasoning test. Practicing for more than one kind of test? The US bundle covers them all for US$99.
Gifted test packLaunch price
US$49
for 6 months
- Which questions your child got right, after every practice test
- The right answer to every question
- A worked solution for every question, step by step
- CogAT from Kindergarten to Grade 8, all three batteries
- NNAT and OLSAT from Kindergarten to Grade 12, NGAT to Grade 9
- SCAT-style Verbal and Quantitative for the CTY talent search, Grades 2 to 9
- InView-style practice, all five subtests, Grades 2 to 12
- Matrices-style picture reasoning from Kindergarten to Grade 8, and spatial reasoning for Grades 5 to 8
Every US testLaunch price
US$99
for 6 months
- Everything in every US pack, in one payment
- CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT and NGAT, for gifted and talented programs
- SCAT-style practice for the CTY talent search, Grades 2 to 9
- InView-style practice for gifted screening, Grades 2 to 12
- Matrices-style and spatial reasoning practice
- ISEE and SSAT, for private school entry
- HSPT and TACHS, for Catholic high school entry
- Hunter-style practice, for Hunter College High School
- Math contest practice, Grades 1 to 8
- MAP Growth practice, by grade and subject
- i-Ready-style Math and Reading, Kindergarten to Grade 8
- Early reading practice, Kindergarten to Grade 3
- SHSAT practice for Grades 8 and 9, English and math
- Iowa practice for Grades 3 to 8, all five Core tests
- TerraNova, Stanford 10 and CTP-style practice for Grades 3 to 8
- ACT-style English, Math, Reading and Science for Grades 10 to 12
- SAT-style and PSAT-style practice, Grades 8 to 12, Reading and Writing and Math
- State test practice: STAAR-style and CAASPP-style math and reading, Grades 3 to 8
One payment in US dollars for 6 months of access. No auto-renewal: when the 6 months end, access stops unless you buy again.
Questions
What parents ask
- Are these real Raven's questions?
- No. Real test items are secure. We draw our own puzzles in the published shape of the test: the same kinds of patterns and grids, in sets of 12, with six or eight pieces to choose from.
- Which form should my child practice?
- Children up to about age 11 usually take the Colored form and older children the Standard form. We set the Colored form to Grade 5 and the Standard from Grade 6; if your school gives a different form, practice the grade that matches it.
- Is the test timed?
- The classic forms have no time limit, and neither does our practice. Most children finish the Colored form in under half an hour.
- Does a practice score give an IQ or a percentile?
- No. Our score is the number of puzzles answered correctly. Only the real test, scored by the school against its norms, gives a percentile.
- Is it free?
- A free account includes 3 practice tests. The gifted pack (US$49 for six months) opens unlimited tests, the right answers and a worked rule for each, and covers CogAT, NNAT, OLSAT, NGAT, SCAT, InView, matrices and spatial reasoning. The US bundle (US$99) covers every US test we offer.
Raven's Progressive Matrices is published by Pearson. Scholar Tests is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pearson or any school district. Our matrices-style questions are written and drawn by us in the published shape of the test; they are not real test questions, and a practice score is not a Raven's score, a percentile or an IQ.