Kent Test-Style Mock 4
Kent Test-Style Mock 4 gives further practice at the verbal reasoning content of the Kent Test's Reasoning paper, which combines verbal and non-verbal reasoning questions within a single timed section on behalf of Kent County Council. This mock focuses on number-and-letter code and sequence questions, a different family of verbal reasoning question from the word-meaning and letter-shift codes covered elsewhere.
Method
- For a letters-standing-for-numbers code, write out the given code as a simple key (for example, A=1, B=2) before trying to decode or encode a new word or number, rather than working it out fresh each time.
- For a number sequence, calculate the difference (or ratio) between each pair of consecutive terms first, since spotting whether the difference is constant, increasing or a repeating pattern usually reveals the rule immediately.
- For a number code that combines two numbers into one (such as adding, multiplying or concatenating digits), test your suspected rule against every given example, not just the first one, before applying it to the unknown case.
- Keep track of which direction a rule runs (for example, whether a code adds a value to get from the real word to the code, or from the code to the real word), since applying a correct rule backwards is a common cause of an otherwise careful answer being wrong.
- Where a question gives several worked examples of a code before asking you to apply it, use at least two of the given examples to check your rule, since one example alone can sometimes fit more than one possible rule.
- Move through code and sequence questions briskly once a rule is confirmed, since these questions typically carry the same single mark as any other question on a mixed reasoning paper.
Worked example
In a code, A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on through the alphabet, with each letter's code number being its position in the alphabet. Using this code, a word is represented by adding together the code numbers of its letters. What is the code total for the word 'BAD'?
- Find the code number for each letter: B=2, A=1, D=4.
- Add the code numbers together: 2 + 1 + 4.
- Calculate: 2 + 1 + 4 = 7.
- Final answer: the code total for BAD is 7.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Using the same code (A=1, B=2, and so on, added together), what is the code total for 'CAB'?Show answer
Answer: 6 (C=3, A=1, B=2, 3+1+2=6).
Q2A sequence starts 3, 7, 15, 31. Describe the rule in words and give the next term.Show answer
Answer: Each term is double the previous term plus one. The next term is 31 x 2 + 1 = 63.
Q3Find the next number in the sequence: 100, 91, 83, 76, ?Show answer
Answer: 70 (the gap decreases by 1 each time: -9, -8, -7, -6).
Q4In a code, each letter is represented by the number of the letter that comes immediately before it in the alphabet (so B=1, C=2). What number represents the letter F?Show answer
Answer: 5 (F is the 6th letter, the letter before it, E, is the 5th letter).
Q5Find the missing number: 4, 9, 16, 25, ?, 49.Show answer
Answer: 36 (these are square numbers: 2 squared, 3 squared, 4 squared, 5 squared, 6 squared, 7 squared).
Q6In a number code, each pair of digits represents a letter's position in the alphabet (so 01=A, 02=B, and so on). What word is represented by the code '030120'?Show answer
Answer: CAT (03=C, 01=A, 20=T).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a 11+ exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
In a code, each letter is represented by its position in the alphabet doubled (so A=2, B=4, C=6). Using this code, decode the sequence of numbers 16, 2, 32, 32, 50 back into a word, showing your working for each letter.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 5 available
Look at this number sequence: 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, ?. Find the next number in the sequence and explain the rule you used.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the kent test-style mock 4 worksheet pack - 20 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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