Follow one feature at a time, and say the rule out loud before looking at the options.
Practice test 1 is free. No card needed.
Shape sequences ask what comes next, or what fills a grid's gap, and your child solves both by tracking one feature at a time. Children in Year 5 now sit ASET Abstract Reasoning on 6 March 2027.
Checked by the SelectiveReady team on 12 October 2026 · Updated 27 October 2026 · How we check facts
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Start by asking your child which type of question it is, because each type hides its rule in a different place. The handbook names 2 question types.
In Next in Sequence, your child must find the rule for the sequence and choose what most logically and simply comes next. In Complete the Pattern, they choose the option that fits most logically and simply into the space marked with a question mark.
Abstract Reasoning comes last of the four ASET tests. Its 35 questions come in 20 minutes, so there's little time for rules that don't fit.
Our three cover both types: two sequences, then a grid, from easier to harder. Each shows the answer and the working. Cover all but the first two figures and build the rule up together.
Which figure comes next in the sequence?
Answer: B
Answer: B
Count the black squares. One more square turns black each step, going clockwise round the corners: none, then one, two and three. Next all four are black, so the answer is B. A is the same as the last picture, and C starts again with none, but nothing in the pattern points to a restart.
Which figure comes next in the sequence?
Answer: D
Answer: D
Follow each shape on its own. The black square moves along the top row to the right, then turns back, like a ball bouncing between two walls, and the white circle does the same along the bottom row, always going the opposite way. Next both are back where they started, so the answer is D. B sends the circle to the same side as the square.
Which figure completes the pattern?
Answer: A
Answer: A
Three rules work together: the number of shapes goes 1, 2, 3 across every row, and each row and each column has one set of circles, squares and triangles, and one set each of white, grey and black. The missing box needs three grey circles, so the answer is A. C has the right shapes, but black is already used in that row and column.
Name one change at a time, in words, before moving to the next. The handbook says the test asks children to recognise connections, make reasoned choices and decide if they make sense. A rule your child can say aloud is one they can test on every figure.
These steps are ours, drawn from the working above.
Number, position, colour, shape or size. Ignore everything else for now.
For example: one more black square each step, going clockwise round the corners.
When two shapes move, track them one at a time. They can go different ways.
Each row and column may use every shape, colour or count exactly once.
Decide what the missing figure must be before looking at the options, then cross out any that break a rule.
These slips come from guessing the rule instead of checking it. As you read the working together, ask which slip might catch your child and use its fix on the next sequence.
Pattern games need only paper and a pencil. The handbook says to work even more quickly than the other tests, so let accuracy come first; the clock can wait until the rules feel easy.
Practice test 1 is free, with a full Abstract Reasoning test timed like the real one, so you'll see whether your child finds each rule fast enough. For more worked shape questions, see our ASET abstract reasoning sample questions.
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.