Read them with your child, and see how each link, code or clue is worked out.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
ACER says Verbal Reasoning tests thinking and reasoning with words, concepts and logic. These 8 worked questions show what that looks like, before the exam in June 2027 Expected.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 3 November 2026 · How we check facts
Independent. Not affiliated with the Victorian Department of Education or ACER.
It asks your child to think precisely with words: name the exact link, or test each option against every clue. Verbal Reasoning shares the second sitting, after a break, with Reading: 55 minutes for both parts.
Our questions have no long passage to read. Instead your child works with single words, short sentences and small logic puzzles. Expect word pairs that share a link, the closest meaning, the odd one out, letter series and codes, and who sits or finishes where.
The questions are multiple choice, with answers shaded in a supplied answer booklet. Vocabulary helps, but in our questions most marks come from careful thinking rather than rare words.
Each one shows the answer and the working, so ask your child to say why each answer is right. We wrote these in the style of ACER's published samples, and none appears in our Practice tests.
SCISSORS is to CUT as BROOM is to ?
Answer: C
Answer: C
Say the link as a sentence: scissors are used to cut. A broom is used to sweep, so C fits the same sentence. A dustpan goes with a broom and a floor is where it is used, but neither is the action the tool does.
"Ava was reluctant to leave the party early, even though she was tired." Which word is closest in meaning to reluctant?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Swap each option into the sentence and check it keeps the meaning. Reluctant means not wanting to do something, so "unwilling" is right. "Unable" is the tempting choice, but it means she could not leave; the sentence says she did not want to.
Which word is the odd one out?
Answer: D
Answer: D
All four words are about a person's qualities, so look at how each word is used. Patience, wisdom and courage are naming words (nouns): you can have patience. Curious is a describing word (adjective): you can be curious. Its noun would be "curiosity", so D is the odd one out.
Which letter comes next in this series? B, D, G, K, ?
Answer: B
Answer: B
Count the jumps through the alphabet: B to D is 2, D to G is 3, G to K is 4. Each jump grows by one, so the next jump is 5, and five letters after K is P. O is the trap: it repeats the jump of 4 instead of growing it.
The second set is harder. Logic questions take longer, so a quick sketch of the places or seats saves time.
Six students ran a race and there were no ties. Ana finished ahead of Ben. Eli finished exactly two places behind Ben. Cal finished immediately behind Dina. Fay finished neither first nor last. Which of these must be true?
Answer: C
Answer: C
Focus on the one place between Ben and Eli and ask who can fill it. Not Ana, who is ahead of Ben, and not Dina or Cal, because they must finish side by side and Ben or Eli would be in the way. So it must be Fay, straight after Ben. A is tempting, but Dina and Cal could finish first and second, with Ana third.
Which pair of words has the same relationship as FRUGAL : MISERLY?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Find the exact link: being frugal (careful with money) is a good quality, and being miserly is the same quality taken so far it becomes a fault. Confidence taken too far becomes arrogance, so A matches. Careful : cautious is the trap: the words are close in meaning, but being cautious is not a fault. Generous : stingy are opposites.
In a code, GARDEN is written as HZSCFM. How is FOREST written in the same code?
Answer: D
Answer: D
Compare each letter with its code letter: G to H is forward one, A to Z is back one, and the pattern keeps alternating. Apply forward, back, forward, back to F, O, R, E, S, T to get GNSDTS. C gets five letters right but moves the last T forward instead of back.
Ava, Ben, Chloe, Dev and Ella sit in a row of five seats, numbered 1 to 5 from left to right. Chloe sits in seat 3. Ben sits next to Chloe. Ava does not sit next to Ben. Dev sits at one end of the row. Which of these must be true?
Answer: B
Answer: B
Try both places for Ben. If Ben is in seat 2, Ava cannot sit next to him, so she is in seat 4 or 5; if Ben is in seat 4, she is in seat 1 or 2. Either way, Chloe sits between them. A is tempting, but Ava could sit in seat 4, so she need not be at an end.
The wrong options come from common mistakes. After the worked questions, ask which one would have caught your child, then read that skill's page.
A loose link: A dustpan goes with a broom, but it isn't what a broom does. Say the link as a sentence, then test each option.
Close in meaning, not the same link: Careful and cautious mean nearly the same, but frugal and miserly is a good quality taken too far.
The word that sounds right: 'Unable' feels close to 'reluctant', yet it changes the meaning. Swap each option into the sentence.
Missing the kind of word: In an odd-one-out set, the answer can be the one describing word among naming words.
Repeating a jump instead of growing it: Check whether a letter series' gap stays the same or grows.
'Could be true' instead of 'must be true': The right option must hold in every arrangement the clues allow.
A code that is nearly right: Check every letter, not just the first few.
Most of these are caught the same way: your child says the link or the rule as a full sentence, then tests every option against it.
Each question belongs to one kind of Verbal Reasoning question and links to its skill page. If one puzzles your child, start there: each page has more worked questions, from easier to harder.
| Skill | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Analogies | Word pairs that share a link |
| Synonyms and opposites | Closest and opposite meanings in a sentence |
| Odd one out | The word that doesn't belong, and why |
| Hidden words and letter series | Codes, letter patterns and words inside words |
| Logic deduction | Races, seats and what must be true |
No, they are ours, written in ACER's published style. On its Prepare page, ACER offers a set of sample questions to download, for the style and format of the exam questions. Which year they come from is not published.
It helps with meaning questions, but not with codes, series or logic. Reading widely and talking about words at home helps most: ACER says the skills the exam measures grow over time, through a culture of learning, varied engaging material and talking freely about ideas.
ACER says Reading tests finding information in texts, and linking, interpreting, reflecting on and judging their ideas, and Verbal Reasoning tests thinking and reasoning with words, concepts and logic.
Our Verbal Reasoning questions use short items and puzzles, so they feel closer to a thinking test. For more on the part, see VIC selective entry verbal reasoning. To try the whole sitting, use our selective entry practice tests: afterwards you'll see results by skill.
Practice test 1 marks every answer and shows results by skill: what your child already does well and the three skills to work on next.
Practise for the real test
Practice test 1 is free. Then packs from A$109 for 12 months, or A$9 a week, per exam.