1. A patchwork cushion cover is pieced from one patch shape, some patches turned and some flipped over. One patch is still to be sewn on. Which of the patches A to D belongs in the gap?
Free OC and Selective Thinking Skills practice
Thinking Skills tests reasoning rather than school content. The Department says no previous knowledge is required. In its practice tests the section is 30 questions in 30 minutes at OC level and 40 in 40 minutes at selective level.
Last updated: 5 October 2026
Three kinds of question
Critical thinking. Many questions are about an argument. Which statement supports it, or weakens it? What has someone assumed? What must be true if the facts given are true? A common format shows two people's reasoning and asks whether one, both or neither is right.
Problem solving. Puzzles with one right answer. Your child might put people or things in order from a set of clues, work with timetables and dates, crack a code, or work out who is telling the truth.
Spatial questions. A smaller share: folding a net into a cube, picturing an object from above, or fitting pieces together.
Where marks go
- Reading the argument, not the topic. The question is never whether a statement is true in real life. It is whether it supports the argument as given.
- "Must be true" against "could be true". Many wrong options are things that might be true. Only one has to be.
- Clue puzzles without a plan. A quick table or line for the clues is faster than holding them all in your head.
- Time. A minute a question doesn't allow every puzzle to be worked out in full. Leaving a long one and coming back is a skill worth practising.
Sample questions
Try each one first, then open the answer and worked solution under it.
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: D
The whole surface is one shape set different ways round, and those facings come back every second place across and every second place down.
So the gap belongs to the same repeat as the pieces two along and two down from it, and every piece in that repeat faces the same way.
Read that facing off the surface, then pick the one candidate that matches it.
Patch D is the one that belongs in the gap.
2. A prize goes to one senior and one junior. There are 4 seniors and 3 juniors, but two of the seniors are away and cannot be chosen. How many different pairs are possible?
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: B
Each pair takes one senior and one junior, so start by working out how many of each are actually available.
Two of the four seniors are away, so only two seniors can be chosen; all three juniors are available.
Two seniors each pairing with three juniors gives six pairs.
Six different pairs are possible.
3. On Saturday each of the three children does one job, chosen from their own list.
Mia's list: sweeping or washing up.
Ben's list: sweeping or drying.
Tia's list: washing up or drying.
No two children may do the same job. In how many different ways can the three jobs be shared out?
Answer and worked solution
Correct answer: A
Work through Mia's two choices, since every arrangement has to start with one of them.
If Mia sweeps, then Ben cannot sweep and must dry, which leaves washing up for Tia. That is one way that works.
If Mia washes up, Ben may sweep, which leaves drying for Tia, and that works too. But if Mia washes up and Ben dries, Tia has nothing left on her list, so that branch fails. Two ways in all.
The three jobs can be shared out in two different ways.
How our practice works
Our Thinking Skills papers are 30 questions in 30 minutes at OC level and 40 in 40 minutes at selective level. They mix the same three kinds of question: mostly critical thinking and problem solving, with some spatial questions. The worked solutions walk through the reasoning, which matters most here, because the method is the thing to learn.
Common questions
Can my child study for Thinking Skills?
There is no content to memorise. What helps is knowing the kinds of question, and practice at reading an argument closely against the clock.
Do wrong answers lose marks?
No. The Department's practice tests say marks aren't taken off for wrong answers, so it's always worth giving one.
Also in the test: Reading · Mathematical Reasoning
Practise free, no account needed. Every paper is marked the moment your child finishes, with a worked solution on every question.
Free practice draws from a limited set of questions, so some will repeat. Subscribers get the full question bank and fewer repeats.
Question counts, timings and test dates can change from year to year. The NSW Department of Education publishes the current year's details.
Meritly is an independent Australian service and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the organisations that write or run the tests we cover.