Spatial reasoning means picturing how a shape moves, such as a mirror image or a folding net. Children in Year 3 now sit the OC test in Year 4, on 11–12 May 2027.
Spatial reasoning is seeing shapes in your mind and moving them: flipping, turning, folding and unfolding. There are three kinds your child will meet.
Mirrors: a mirror at the side flips a shape left to right, and top and bottom stay where they are.
Nets: a flat pattern of squares folds into a cube. Faces that touch in the net end up next to each other, never opposite.
Folded paper: a hole punched through folded paper goes through every layer, so it appears again when each fold is opened.
Some children see these at once. Every child can learn to check them step by step.
How does spatial reasoning show up in the OC Thinking Skills test?
Your child sees a picture on screen, often on a grid, and picks the picture or the answer that matches. The Department says Thinking Skills checks critical thinking and problem solving, with no previous knowledge needed, and the section has a range of question types, shown in the practice tests.
The OC Thinking Skills test
What it means for spatial questions
30 questions in 30 minutes
Use the grid to count, not just to look
4 options each
Options often differ in one small detail
There are no marks lost for incorrect answers
Cross out the options that fail one check, then choose
The Department doesn't publish a fixed list of question types. Spatial reasoning is how our lessons group these questions.
Four steps that turn a picture puzzle into counting. Children who don't see the answer at once can still get there this way.
Name the move
Is it a reflection, a turn, a fold or an unfold? A side mirror flips left and right only.
Pick one corner or square to follow
Choose a part that is easy to track, like the foot of a shape or the face with the circle.
Count, don't guess
Count squares from the mirror line: a square 4 columns from the mirror ends up 4 columns away on the other side. For a net, keep one face as the base and fold the others up around it.
Undo folds last first
For folded paper, open the last fold first. Each hole is copied across the fold line, like a mirror.
What do OC spatial questions look like?
Three questions from easier to harder: a mirror on a grid, a cube net and folded, punched paper.
Each one shows the answer and the working, so read them with your child. The explanation says why each wrong option is wrong: ask your child which one looked right at first, because that's the habit to fix.
Worked explanation 1
The grid shows a shaded shape. The dashed line is a mirror.
Which picture shows the reflection of the shape in the mirror?
AA.
BB.
CC.
DD.
Answer: C
Answer: C (a tall bar in the far-right column, with its foot at the bottom pointing left)
A mirror standing at the side flips a shape left to right; top and bottom stay put. Count columns from the mirror.
The tall bar is in column 1, which is 4 columns from the mirror. Its reflection is 4 columns away on the other side: column 4, rows 1 to 3.
The foot is in column 2, row 3, which is 3 columns from the mirror. Its reflection is in column 3, row 3.
Why the other options are wrong
A: This shape has also been turned upside down, so the foot is at the top.
B: This is the shape copied without flipping; in a mirror the foot must point back towards the mirror.
D: This flips the shape top to bottom, but a mirror at the side flips it left to right.
Worked explanation 2
The net below is folded to make a cube.
When the cube is folded, which shape is on the face opposite the circle?
AA.
Heart
BB.
Diamond
CC.
Moon
DD.
Triangle
Answer: B
Answer: B (Diamond)
Keep the circle flat on the table as the base of the cube.
The heart and the moon share edges with the circle, so they fold up as the back and front walls.
The star (joined to the heart) and the triangle (joined to the moon) fold round as the left and right walls.
The diamond is joined to the triangle, so it folds over the top as the lid.
The lid is opposite the base, so the diamond is opposite the circle.
Why the other options are wrong
A (Heart): The heart shares an edge with the circle, so it is next to the circle, not opposite it.
C (Moon): The moon also shares an edge with the circle, so it is next to it.
D (Triangle): The triangle becomes a side wall, opposite the star.
Worked explanation 3
Wiremu is making a sewing card from a square of paper. The paper is marked in a 4 × 4 grid. Each square is named by its column letter and row number, as shown.
A
B
C
D
1
A1
B1
C1
D1
2
A2
B2
C2
D2
3
A3
B3
C3
D3
4
A4
B4
C4
D4
Fold 1: He folds the right half over onto the left half, along the line between columns B and C.
Fold 2: He folds the top half down onto the bottom half, along the line between rows 2 and 3.
Punch: He punches one hole through all the layers, in the spot where square A3 is.
Wiremu unfolds the paper. Which squares have holes in them?
AA.
A2 and A3 only
BB.
A1, A3, C1 and C3
CC.
A2, A3, C2 and C3
DD.
A2, A3, D2 and D3
Answer: D
Answer: D (A2, A3, D2 and D3)
Undo the folds one at a time, last fold first.
The hole is punched at A3, through every layer.
Undo Fold 2: the top half flips back up. Row 2 was folded down onto row 3, so there is a hole in A3 and in A2.
Undo Fold 1: the right half flips back. Column D was folded onto column A, so each hole is copied into column D: D3 and D2.
So the holes are A2, A3, D2 and D3.
Why the other options are wrong
A: This undoes only Fold 2 and forgets that the right half was folded too.
B: This slides each half across instead of flipping it, so the holes land in row 1 and column C.
C: This flips the top half correctly but slides the right half, so column C is used instead of column D.
Which spatial mistakes cost marks?
Most wrong options are the shape moved the wrong way. Each has a quick check your child can run before choosing.
×
Flipping top to bottom for a side mirror: a mirror at the side only swaps left and right, so check that the top stays at the top.
×
Choosing a face that touches in the net as the opposite face: faces joined in the net are neighbours, so look one face further along.
×
Sliding instead of flipping when unfolding: each hole lands the same distance from the fold line on the other side.
What does the Seeing Shapes in Your Mind lesson cover?
Seeing Shapes in Your Mind (lesson preview)
A short preview from the SelectiveReady lesson “Seeing Shapes in Your Mind”, on spatial reasoning for the NSW Selective test.
Published:
Read the video transcript
Okay, let's walk through this together in our minds. Picture a perfect square of paper. Got it? Now fold it exactly in half from the left side over to the right. All right, now imagine you take some scissors and snip a little triangle out of the top right corner of that folded paper. Now for the big moment. What does it look like when you unfold it? And here it is. This is the golden rule you need for every single paper folding puzzle you will ever see. The cut you make doesn't just go through the top layer, it goes through both layers of the paper. That fold line is the secret. It's a perfect line of symmetry. So when you unfold the paper in your mind, that one little cut you made gets mirrored across the fold. You don't end up with one notch on the right side. You end up with two perfectly symmetrical triangular notches, one on each of the top corners. See how that works? Fantastic.
The preview, with English and Chinese captions, folds a square of paper, snips a corner and shows the golden rule for unfolding: a cut goes through every layer. The full app lesson adds reflections, turns, cube nets and common traps. A free account opens one lesson, How and Why Authors Write; the other lessons need a paid plan.
How can my child practise spatial reasoning for free?
Start with Practice test 1, which has Thinking Skills at its real length and time. It's one full practice test with results, with a free account. Every answer is explained, and the results by skill show whether your child loses marks on spatial questions.
After that, the app has drills by section and topic; a free account drills the free test's questions, and a paid plan opens the rest. At home, make it real: fold and punch paper and guess the holes before opening, cut out cube nets from cereal boxes, or hold a drawing up to a mirror.
