EPSO Abstract Reasoning: visual patterns and a solving method
What the abstract reasoning test is like
Last updated: 26 May 2026
Of the three reasoning tests, abstract reasoning is the one you can least “cram” for. There is no syllabus, no vocabulary and no arithmetic. Only figures and the hidden rule that orders them. And that is the good part: since everything comes down to a short catalogue of rules that EPSO reuses again and again, your score takes off as soon as you have them identified.
How the test works
You see a series of 4 to 6 geometric figures and must decide which one continues it, choosing from several options. The figures play with shapes (circles, squares, triangles, lines), with their position (rotations, movements), with the number of elements and, now and then, with colour or fill.
The clock is tight: in AD5 2026 there are 10 questions in 10 minutes, about one minute per question. The number of questions and the pass marks are set by each Notice of Competition.
EPSO’s catalogue of rules
Don’t be misled by the word “catalogue”: what follows are the basic patterns, the ones worth mastering before anything else, but it is not a closed list. EPSO mixes them, plays with variants and occasionally comes up with a combination that doesn’t fit neatly under a single label. The good news is that recognising these families gives you the basis to break down almost any figure, however convoluted it looks at first sight.
Rotation
A figure turns by a fixed angle at each step (45°, 90°, 180°). The shape doesn’t change: its orientation does. The most common slip is confusing the direction of rotation, clockwise versus anticlockwise. A simple example: an arrow pointing up, then right, then down… once you have seen the first three steps, the fourth is obvious, but only if you have watched which way it turns rather than the arrow itself.
Translation
An element moves across the grid in a constant direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal or zigzag. What changes is the position, never the shape. The usual distractor adds an extra element that is only there to confuse you and follows no rule. Imagine a black dot that moves down one square in each figure while the rest of the drawing stays still: the temptation is to look at the whole, when the key is to follow that single travelling dot.
Increase or decrease
The number of elements grows or shrinks progressively: arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4…) or geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8…). Count before looking at the options, so you are not carried away by appearances. If one figure has one square, the next two and the next four, you should already be expecting eight before you even look at the answers. Count first, decide later.
Alternation of shape or colour
Two states that take turns: filled and empty, white and black, circle and square. It rarely comes alone; it is combined with another rule (rotation plus alternation), and that is exactly where candidates short of time stumble. Think of a circle that goes filled, empty, filled, empty… and also rotates slightly at each step: two rules overlapping, and if you only see one, you get it wrong.
Combined rules
Two or three patterns acting at the same time on different elements of the same figure. For example: a triangle rotating 90°, a circle doubling and a square changing colour, all in parallel. The way out is to break the figure down and study each element separately. It sounds like more work, but it is actually the opposite: once you isolate each element and name its rule, the problem shrinks and stops being intimidating.
A four-step method
- Identify the elements: how many shapes are there in each figure? Are they the same in all of them?
- Separate what changes from what stays the same: what doesn’t change is rarely the clue; the clue lives in what moves.
- State the rule quietly to yourself: describe it in one sentence (“turns 90° to the right and adds a dot”). If you can’t put it into words, you haven’t seen it yet.
- Apply it to the next figure and check against the options: choose the only one that respects ALL the rules, not the one that meets just one.
The mistakes that cost the most
Candidates’ errors almost always show up in the same places, and hardly any of them has to do with intelligence: they have to do with rushing and looking in the wrong place.
- Falling for the first option that “fits”: the eye looks for what feels familiar and settles on the answer that resembles the series, even if it breaks one of the rules. Before choosing, check that the option respects all of them, not just the most obvious one.
- Looking at the whole figure at once: when there are two or three rules at the same time, trying to take everything in at a glance is a recipe for getting stuck. Element by element, no shortcuts.
- Fighting an impossible question: spending a minute and a half on a figure only to get it wrong anyway has also cost you the two easy questions that came after it. Flag it and move on.
- Forgetting to count: with progression patterns, people guess instead of counting, and intuition misleads more than it helps here.
Practise with real course tests
EPSO reasoning questions are best trained with a large, timed question bank with detailed explanations. The EU Campus Reasoning Module includes timed practice tests in verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, with explanations, mock exams and progress statistics.
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Frequently asked questions about EPSO abstract reasoning
Can you prepare abstract reasoning without doing mock tests?
Hardly. What sharpens your eye for spotting rules is the volume of practice. Reading about the patterns gives you a useful mental framework, but without hundreds of solved questions behind you, your level won’t rise.
How many different patterns does EPSO use?
There are five large families that cover most of what you will see: rotation, translation, progression, alternation and combined rules. But it is not a sacred number: each family has variants and, above all, EPSO almost never uses them alone, but mixes two or three at a time. Mastering these five doesn’t mean you have seen everything; it means you have the tools to take apart almost any figure.
What do I do if I can’t see the pattern within 20 seconds?
Choose your best guess and move on. Getting stuck on one figure costs more here than in verbal or numerical, because there are many of them and time is tight. It is better to get 14 out of 18 right than to get stuck and leave 3 unanswered.
Does the colour of the figures matter?
When it appears, it is almost always part of the rule. But in most questions the figures are black and white and colour doesn’t come into play.
Further resources for your EPSO competition
- EPSO reasoning — overview of the three tests.
- EPSO verbal reasoning — types of distractor and strategy.
- EPSO numerical reasoning — tables, ratios and quick estimation.
- Structure of the EPSO 2026 tests — stages, the TAO platform and scoring.
EU Campus is a leading online academy in Europe for preparing EU competitions (EPSO): AD5 Graduates, AD7, AD8, AST and CAST, in six languages, with teachers who have worked in the EU institutions. To train verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning: Reasoning module (Graduates AD5).
Originally published on EU Campus.
