Victoria Police Entrance Exam - Abstract Reasoning

This exam video tutorial explains what’s involved in the abstract reasoning component of the Victoria Police Entrance Examination.

Victoria Police Entrance Exam - Abstract Reasoning Transcript

Hi, my name is Chris Anderson and I'm an adult educator.
This video explains what's required in the abstract reasoning test in the Victoria Police Entrance Examination and gives advice about how to solve abstract reasoning questions.
This section of the exam measures your ability to think clearly, to solve problems, and to quickly identify patterns and logical rules based on abstract visual patterns.
The questions test your ability to recognize the rule or rules that govern the progression of a pattern from one diagram to another in a series.
It also tests your ability to identify the part which is missing from a diagram.
In policing, reasoning skills are important because they help you to solve problems, see relationships, evaluate information, and make connections between situations and events.
There are 45 questions in this section of the exam, and you only have 20 minutes to complete them, so you will need to work quickly.
The questions are multiple choice, and you will answer them on a computer.
You'll need to click on the box next to the correct answer. Only one answer is right.
With multiple choice, it's a good idea to eliminate answers you know are wrong straight away.
You won't be penalized for getting the wrong answer. So, make sure you have a go and click on an answer even if you aren't 100% certain.
The questions in the abstract reasoning test may ask you to find shapes or diagrams that are alike or different.
Find shapes or diagrams that are missing.
Put shapes or diagrams in order.
Find shapes that complete a pattern.
Using a systematic approach can help you to find the answers to abstract reasoning questions.
Before we look at some specific examples, here are some strategies to help you with abstract reasoning.
Firstly, it's important to observe specific details about the shapes in each of the diagrams. For example, ask yourself, what types of shapes are there in each diagram?
How many shapes are there?
How many sides do the shapes have?
Are the shapes black, white, or filled with pattern?
Are the shapes inside or outside another shape?
And are they touching another shape?
Are the lines broken or continuous?
Secondly, to answer abstract reasoning questions, you'll need to look for rules and patterns.
Ask yourself, are the shapes moving in a certain way?
Are they being added to or taken away?
Are they rotating or flipping?
Is the number of sides increasing or decreasing?
Are the shading or patterns in the shapes changing?
Be aware that there may be more than one step in the pattern.
For example, in this pattern, the triangle is moving clockwise around the square. The triangle is also changing from black to white.
A good strategy is to eliminate answers that you can see are not following the pattern.
This will narrow down your options and give you a better chance of choosing the right answer.
We are going to look at examples of different types of abstract reasoning questions.
While we can't cover all the different types of questions, taking note of how we apply the strategies to the examples will help you with other types of questions.
In this question, you need to select the option either A, B, C, D, or E, that is most like the diagrams in the top row.
First, you should note details about the shapes in each diagram.
In each diagram, there are two shapes, a square and a circle. This allows us to eliminate options C and D because they don't have a circle. Both the square and circle are white, but there is a shaded area where they overlap.
Option B has a circle that is mostly shaded and in option E, the circle is fully shaded. This does not fit with the diagrams in the top row. So these options can be eliminated.
Option A has a white circle and a white square with a small, shaded area where the shapes overlap. This is consistent with the diagrams in the top row.
So the correct answer is A.
In the next question, you need to select the option that fits into the blank box to complete the pattern.
First, let's note details about the shapes and the pattern.
Each of the boxes contains a triangle. Each of the triangles is tilted slightly to the left. The triangles are decreasing in height.
As we look from left to right, we can see that options A and C are not tilted. They don't fit the pattern. So we can eliminate them.
Option D is tilting the opposite way. So we can eliminate this as well.
The triangles are decreasing in height. So the first diagram will have the tallest triangle. Option E best completes the pattern because it is taller than all the triangles in the top row.
In this next type of question, five shapes are shown. You need to place these in logical order so that you can identify the one in the middle.
Looking at the five shapes, we can see that the heart is rotating.
One way to find the correct shape is to number the shapes from 1 to 5 in the order that they are rotating.
You could write the numbers in order on a piece of paper.
Number three is the middle number. So option A is the correct answer.
You may be able to visualize the shapes in the correct order and pick the correct option without writing the numbers. Do this if you can because it will allow you to work more quickly.
This is the last type of question we are going to look at.
In this type of question, you will see three shapes in a frame with one shape missing. You need to choose one of the five alternatives that best completes the pattern.
Again, let's observe the details in the shapes.
On the right side of the frame, there are two triangles inside a square. The triangles are both touching the square in different ways.
The triangle at the top is touching the bottom of the square. The triangle at the bottom is touching the top of the square.
At the bottom left of the frame, there is a grey circle inside a rectangle. It is touching the top of the rectangle, copying the position of the triangle to the right.
Using what we have observed, we can reason that the missing square will have a grey circle inside a rectangle and the position will copy the triangle at the top right. That is the bottom will be touching the rectangle.
Looking at the answers, we can see that only option A and E have a grey circle. So we can immediately eliminate options B, C and D.
Comparing the two remaining options, we can see that option A best completes the pattern. It has the same size grey circle with just its bottom touching the rectangle.
I hope this has helped you to answer the questions in the abstract reasoning section of the Victoria Police Entrance Exam.
You can improve your abstract reasoning by attempting patent-based puzzles.
You can also read the chapter in practice now Victoria Police Entrance Examination on Abstract Reasoning.
It goes over the points we have been talking about. Read over the explanations and have a go at the practice questions.
Practice now is produced by ACER.
It describes a range of the types of questions you're likely to find in the exam and provides detailed explanations of how correct answers may be reached.
It's available from ACER bookshop and commercial book sellers.
There are also practice tests on the Victoria Police Entrance Exam web page.
Please be sure to view our other entrance exam tutorials to assist with your exam preparation.
I wish you all the best with your exam preparation.

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Updated 31 December 2025