Maximising Your Performance on Verbal Reasoning Tests in Legal Recruitment

May 27, 2023

Written By Annabel Gooden

A verbal reasoning test is a form of online assessment often set by legal recruiters during the vacation scheme and training contract application process.It is designed to test how you critically evaluate and interpret written information, as critical thinking is a key skill firms look for in their future trainees. This article will provide you with some tips and tricks to help you improve your score on these tests.

Format of the test

The most common format is a short passage to read, followed by a series of statements. For each statement, you must answer true, false or cannot say. Formats might differ from this. For instance, you could be given a passage but then may be asked a multiple-choice question which gets you to pick the correct statement out of a number of false ones, or to pick the most logical statement.

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Deciding if statements are true, false or cannot say

Mark a statement true only if you are sure that the statement is accurate and that it makes sense as a conclusion from the passage. Reading and re-reading the passage on its own before looking at the statements is a good tactic. That means you will already have a good understanding of the information in the passage and can make a quick assessment about the following statement(s).

Statements are false if you have read and understood the passage and are confident that the statement is simply incorrect. This may be because the interpretation of statistics or numerical data is wrong.

Be careful marking statements as ‘cannot say’. Don’t be tempted to answer a statement ‘cannot say’ just because you aren’t sure of an answer or feeling indecisive. To answer in this way, it must be that the information provided in the passage cannot possibly lead the reader to come to that particular interpretation. Look out for statements which contain irrelevant information which isn’t directly based on the passage of text. For example, if the passage discusses the population of gorillas in a zoo, a ‘cannot say’ statement might be one which discusses chimpanzees.

Of course, the distinction is not always so easy to spot. However, consider whether the reader would have needed information from another source to come to a conclusion.

Three key tips for verbal reasoning tests

Accuracy

We suggest you use the guidance above to maximise your performance and apply the techniques to timed practice tests first. When you have completed a practice test, check your answers and unpick where you went wrong. That will help you get to grips with the way the test is designed and assessed.

Speed

Manage your time effectively. The most successful candidates balance accuracy with speed. That means answering carefully, but not spending too long on any given question to answer as many as possible. Divide the number of minutes given for the test by the number of questions. If the test is 30 minutes and you have 15 questions, then you should allow yourself a maximum of two minutes per question, ideally less so that you have plenty of time to check over your answers at the end.

Focus

Focus on the words on the exam. There’s no need to rely on any existing knowledge. This should be reassuring as it means you are on a level playing field with other applicants, whether you have studied a law degree or not. Legal recruiters are more interested in your potential ability to do the job than what you already know about the law. Verbal reasoning tests are entirely about how you interpret the information in front of you.

For tips on how to develop critical reasoning skills more generally, see our dedicated article

Where can I access practice tests?

University careers websites are good places to start. The University of Law provides guidance and tests through its partnership with Assessment Day. If you are a ULaw student or graduate, you can access the full range of resources through Elite, their student portal.

Always check if the firm you’re applying to has any example tests. It’s well worth looking at other firms’ websites too. For example, see Clifford Chance’s free tests. Just remember that the style and content of questions may vary between firms.

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