How to use these questions
Real IQ test questions are kept secret. Publishers protect them so a test still works when the next person takes it, which means any page showing "real IQ test questions" is showing look-alikes. The ten below are original questions written to use the same kinds of reasoning, so you can learn the method without spoiling a real test.
- Try each one before opening the answer. Pick an option to check it, or open "Show the worked answer" underneath.
- Read the explanation even when you are right. The method matters more than the answer, because it carries over to new questions.
- Notice which types slow you down. Most people have one type that is clearly harder for them. That is useful to know before a full test.
None of these questions is from the LifeScore test, so working through them does not spoil it.
Ten IQ test questions with answers
Four picture matrices first, then six word, number and logic questions. They run roughly from easy to hard within each group.
Find the rule in the rows and columns. Which piece completes the grid?
Tap an option to check your answer. This is a practice item, not part of the scored test.
Show the worked answer
Read across each row: the shape never changes inside a row (circles, then squares, then triangles). Read down each column: the colour never changes (blue, red, yellow). The missing cell sits in the third row and third column, so it is a triangle in the third column colour, yellow.
Find the rule in the rows and columns. Which piece completes the grid?
Tap an option to check your answer. This is a practice item, not part of the scored test.
Show the worked answer
Two rules run at once. Down the columns the shape stays the same (hexagon, triangle, circle). Down the rows the size increases: small, then medium, then large. The missing cell is in the third column (circle) and the third row (large), so it is a large blue circle. Every shape is blue, so colour carries no information.
Find the rule in the rows and columns. Which piece completes the grid?
Tap an option to check your answer. This is a practice item, not part of the scored test.
Show the worked answer
Three attributes change independently. Fill follows the row: solid, outlined, solid. Colour follows the column: red, blue, yellow. The number of triangles forms a Latin square, so each row and column contains one, two and three triangles once. The bottom row already has three and one, so the missing count is two. The last column is yellow and the last row is solid: two solid yellow triangles.
Find the rule in the rows and columns. Which piece completes the grid?
Tap an option to check your answer. This is a practice item, not part of the scored test.
Show the worked answer
Shape, colour and size each form their own Latin square, so every row and every column holds all three circles, squares and triangles once, all three colours once, and all three sizes once. The bottom row already has a triangle and a circle, red and yellow, medium and large, so the missing cell is a small blue square. The fourth attribute, fill, follows the column instead: the middle column is outlined and the other two are solid. The last column is solid, so the answer is a small solid blue square.
3, 6, 12, 24, ?
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Show the worked answer
Answer: 48. Each number is double the one before: 3 × 2 = 6, 6 × 2 = 12, 12 × 2 = 24, so 24 × 2 = 48.
2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 17, ?
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Show the worked answer
Answer: 23. Look at the gaps between numbers: +1, +2, +3, +4, +5. The gap grows by one each step, so the next gap is +6 and 17 + 6 = 23.
5, 10, 8, 16, 14, 28, ?
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Show the worked answer
Answer: 26. Two operations alternate: double, then subtract 2. 5 × 2 = 10, 10 − 2 = 8, 8 × 2 = 16, 16 − 2 = 14, 14 × 2 = 28, so the next step is 28 − 2 = 26.
Author is to book as composer is to ?
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Show the worked answer
Answer: Symphony. An author creates a book. The relationship is creator to creation, so a composer creates a symphony. An orchestra performs the music and a piano is a tool, so neither fits the relationship.
Which number does not belong? 27, 64, 125, 100.
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Show the worked answer
Answer: 100. The other three are perfect cubes: 27 = 3 × 3 × 3, 64 = 4 × 4 × 4 and 125 = 5 × 5 × 5. 100 is a perfect square (10 × 10), not a cube.
All bloops are razzies. All razzies are lazzies. Which statement must be true?
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Show the worked answer
Answer: All bloops are lazzies.. If every bloop is a razzie and every razzie is a lazzie, then every bloop is a lazzie. The reverse does not follow: there could be lazzies that are not bloops.
A method that works on any IQ question
The worked answers above all follow the same few moves. Learn them once and they apply to every type.
| Type | First thing to check | Common trap |
|---|---|---|
| Matrix | What stays the same along each row, then each column | A feature that never changes, but looks like part of the pattern |
| Number series | The gaps between numbers, then the gaps between the gaps | Two sequences interleaved in one line |
| Analogy | Name the relationship in the first pair in a few words | A word that is related, but in a different way |
| Odd one out | One property the others all share | Choosing on a surface feature such as size or colour |
| Logic | Write the facts in one line or a small diagram | Assuming a statement works in reverse |
Timing is part of the method too. On a timed test, an unsolved question is worth the same as a wrong one, so a sensible order is: answer what you can see quickly, make a best guess on what you cannot, and return to the guesses if time allows. Spending two minutes on one hard item usually costs more points than it wins.
The deepest habit is to predict before you look. Describe the answer in words, then find it among the options. Wrong options are written to be tempting, and they are much less tempting once you know what you are looking for.
Where each question type appears on real tests
Professional tests mix types so they can measure several abilities. This list is based on the publishers' own descriptions.
| Question type | What it asks | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Matrix reasoning | Choose the piece that completes a grid | Raven's Progressive Matrices, WAIS Matrix Reasoning, Cattell matrices |
| Figure series | Choose the figure that continues a sequence | Cattell Culture Fair test |
| Classification | Pick the item that does not belong | Cattell Culture Fair test |
| Figure weights | Balance-scale problems with shapes | WAIS-IV and WAIS-5 |
| Number series | Find the rule and give the next number | Common on aptitude and research tests |
| Vocabulary and similarities | Define words and say how two things are alike | WAIS verbal subtests |
| Digit span | Repeat digits forwards, backwards or in order | WAIS working memory subtests |
| Coding and symbol search | Match symbols to digits quickly | WAIS processing speed subtests |
The LifeScore test uses five picture types: patterns, spatial reasoning, sequences, analogies and rules. It has no vocabulary, digit span or speed tasks, which is why it is a reasoning test rather than a full IQ battery. For a single type in depth, try the pattern recognition test, the number sequence test or the logical reasoning test.
How right answers become an IQ score
An IQ is not a count of right answers. A test counts your correct answers, then compares that count with a large group of people who took the same test. Your position in that group is turned into a score on a scale where the average is 100 and the standard deviation is 15.
| IQ | Percentile | Distance from average |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | 2nd | 30 points below average |
| 85 | 16th | 15 points below average |
| 100 | 50th | Exactly average |
| 115 | 84th | 15 points above average |
| 130 | 97.7th | 30 points above average |
| 145 | 99.9th | 45 points above average |
That is why "I got 20 out of 25, what is my IQ?" has no answer on its own. It depends on how everyone else did on the same questions. For any score you already have, the IQ percentile calculator shows its percentile and rarity.
Try a full test: how it works, and what it costs
Ten practice questions are a warm-up. The full test at the top of this page gives you 25 new picture questions, in five sets that each run from easy to hard.
- 25
- Visual questions
- 12 min
- Time limit
- 0
- Sign-ups to start
- £3.99
- Full report, one-time
Five sets of five, each easy to hard
One timer for the whole test
No account, no email to begin
US$4.99. No subscription
- What you answer. 25 picture puzzles in five sets: patterns, spatial reasoning, sequences, analogies, rules. There is no vocabulary, trivia or school maths.
- How long. One 12-minute timer. You can go back and change an answer until it runs out. When it does, the test ends with the answers you have given.
- What it costs. Starting and finishing the test costs nothing and needs no account. When you finish, you choose a report to see your result. Full report from £3.99 ($4.99), one-time. No subscription.
- What it is not. LifeScore is a 25-question online visual reasoning test. It is not a clinical assessment and is not administered by a psychologist. It is not age-normed, and the result is an estimate, not a diagnosis.
Questions people ask
What questions are on an IQ test?
Can I see real IQ test questions and answers?
How do you answer IQ test questions?
What is a good score on IQ test questions?
Are these questions on the LifeScore test?
How many questions are on an IQ test?
Are IQ test questions multiple choice?
Do practice questions raise your IQ?
Related pages
- Hard IQ testThree hard items and what makes them hard.
- Pattern recognition testSix matrix puzzles with a score.
- Mensa practice testMensa-style questions and the 130 line.
- Raven's Progressive MatricesThe classic matrix test explained.
- Number sequence testMore number series questions.
- IQ percentile calculatorWhat any score means.
Sources
- Pearson Assessments (2024). WAIS-5 overview brochure.
- Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test (overview). Wikipedia.
- Carpenter, P. A., Just, M. A., & Shell, P. (1990). What one intelligence test measures: A theoretical account of the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. Psychological Review, 97(3), 404-431.
- International Test Commission (2005). Guidelines on computer-based and Internet-delivered testing.