SHL Verify G+ (General Ability Test): Format and Cutoffs

The SHL Verify G+ is a 30-question general ability test scored against three sections: numerical, inductive, and deductive reasoning. The whole thing takes 36 minutes, which works out to roughly 72 seconds per question. Almost every major graduate scheme that screens with SHL uses Verify G+ as the gating round, and most of them set their cutoff between the 70th and 85th percentile. Below that, your CV does not reach a human.

This article covers what the test actually measures, how the question time per section shakes out, what raw score maps to what percentile, and which employer tier cuts where. Numbers come from the published SHL technical reports plus candidate-side reports from 2025 to 2026 graduate cycles at the named firms below.

Quick takeaways

• The standard Verify G+ has 30 multiple-choice questions split 10 numerical, 10 inductive, 10 deductive, with a 36-minute total cap, not per-section.
• The Interactive Verify G+ is the newer variant: 24 adaptive questions, same 36 minutes, mobile-first, and the difficulty shifts based on your last answer.
• SHL converts your raw score into a percentile against a norm group and assigns a grade band: A is roughly top 15 percent, D is bottom quartile.
• Most competitive employers set their cutoff at the 80th percentile. Magic Circle law and MBB consulting typically expect the 85th percentile or higher.
• Time pressure is the real difficulty: candidates who finish report sub-60-second pacing on numerical and inductive, with deductive eating the bigger chunks.
• The same raw score becomes a different percentile depending on the norm group SHL applies. A graduate norm and an investment banking analyst norm score the same paper differently.

The card below summarises the format at a glance, then the rest of the article works through what gets tested where, how to read your percentile, and what each employer tier actually cuts at.

What SHL Verify G+ actually measures

Verify G+ is SHL's flagship cognitive ability test, sitting at the centre of the full SHL assessment family. It is designed to predict general workplace problem solving by combining three reasoning subtests into one composite score. The three subtests are not interchangeable, and the question style for each is different enough that practice on one does not transfer cleanly to the others.

The numerical section runs 10 questions over data tables, percentage shifts, ratios, and short word problems with embedded financial or commercial framing. Questions tend to be short to read but heavy on calculation. Calculator use is allowed, and most candidates lose points by burning time on lookup rather than on arithmetic. The numerical depth is similar to the standalone SHL Numerical Reasoning Test, just compressed into a tighter section.

The inductive section is the pattern-recognition piece. 10 questions, each showing a visual sequence of shapes that follow a rule, and your job is to pick what comes next or which item breaks the rule. There is no language to parse and no math to do. The trap is that the rules layer (rotation plus colour shift plus position change), so candidates who try to solve it intuitively miss the second rule and get the answer wrong with confidence.

The deductive section is verbal logic: short premises followed by candidate conclusions, and you mark which conclusion follows. 10 questions. This is where most candidates lose the most time because the reading is dense and the conclusions sound similar. SHL writes these to look like reasonable inferences when they actually require a stricter "must follow from the stated premises" standard.

The two versions: standard MCQ and Interactive

Most employers still use the standard Verify G+, where you see all 30 questions in a fixed order and submit multiple-choice answers. The Interactive Verify G+ is the newer mobile-optimised variant. It has 24 questions instead of 30, runs the same 36 minutes, and the question difficulty adjusts based on your previous answers. The Interactive version is also more drag-and-drop than tap-an-answer, which slows candidates who practiced on the static version.

If your invitation email mentions "Verify Interactive" or shows the test on your phone first, you are likely on the Interactive variant. If it routes you to a desktop browser with a question counter showing "1 of 30," you are on the standard MCQ version. The percentile bands the employer sees are calibrated to be comparable across both versions, but the candidate experience is meaningfully different.

How the 36 minutes actually splits

The test is not divided by section. You get 36 minutes for the whole 30-question paper, and you can move between sections. In practice, candidates who finish report this split:

The "total reported" column overshoots 36 minutes because not every candidate finishes. SHL does not penalise unanswered questions the same way it penalises wrong ones, but skipping reduces your raw score and that maps directly to percentile. Faster pace on inductive is the most reliable way to bank time for deductive, where the reading load is heaviest.

Score bands, grades, and the percentile system

SHL converts your raw score (out of 30) into a percentile by comparing your performance against a norm group. The norm group depends on the role level the employer selected when they bought the assessment. A graduate norm sets the bar lower than a senior analyst norm, so the same 23 out of 30 raw score can land at very different percentiles for different employers.

The percentile then maps to a letter grade. The exact thresholds shift slightly per norm, but the SHL Verify scoring documentation places A at roughly the top 15 percent and D at the bottom quartile.

The infographic below shows the four grade bands, the typical percentile range each one covers, the employer tiers that cut at each level, and the raw score range candidates report hitting at each band.

The same logic applies in reverse. If you are aiming at a 75th-percentile employer cutoff, you are not aiming at "23 out of 30" because the conversion is non-linear. You are aiming at a performance level that beats 75 percent of the relevant norm group. That is why employers like Deloitte will publish "we use the 70th percentile" rather than "you need to score above 21," and why some candidates pass with a raw score below what they expected.

Employer cutoffs by tier (2026)

These are the cutoffs candidates report from 2025 and 2026 graduate and lateral cycles. Where the firm publishes its threshold, the published number is used. Where it does not, the consensus from rejected and accepted candidates at the named firm is used.

Two caveats. First, the same firm runs different cutoffs for different roles. Goldman's quants get a higher cut than its broader analyst class. Second, SHL allows employers to weight the three subsections, so a quantitative role can push numerical above the other two, and a research role can do the same for deductive.

Why this test is harder than candidates expect

Three things trip people who otherwise score well on practice papers.

The first is that 72 seconds per question is faster than it sounds. By the time you have read a numerical table or parsed a deductive premise pair, you are 30 seconds in, leaving 40 seconds to calculate and pick. Candidates who do not practice under timed conditions plan a pace that breaks on question 5.

The second is that the inductive section punishes overthinking. The shape series is designed so the correct rule is reachable in under 30 seconds if you spot it, but if you try to verify across every shape in the sequence you lose 90 seconds and still get it wrong. Candidates who outperform the SHL norm on inductive consistently report a "see the rule or skip it" mental rule.

The third is that the deductive section uses logical strictness that does not match everyday English. "Must follow" is not "probably follows." Conclusions that sound reasonable but introduce information not in the premises are wrong. This is the section where candidates who do well on numerical and inductive still lose 4 to 6 questions if they have not practiced the specific "valid syllogism" frame.

A 5-day prep plan that works under time pressure

Day 1 is diagnostic. Take a full 30-question Verify G+ paper under timed conditions, no calculator on numerical for at least the first half so you find your real arithmetic floor. Mark the section where you lose the most questions. That is the section to overweight on Days 2 and 3.

Day 2 hits the weakest section for 90 minutes. Do not move to the others yet. Most candidates discover deductive is the weakest after the diagnostic, and 90 minutes of pure deductive practice with worked solutions raises that section's score by more than spreading time across all three.

Day 3 hits the second weakest section. Same 90-minute block, same worked-solution rhythm.

Day 4 is full-paper mixed practice. Two full 30-question papers under timed conditions, with a 30-minute review between them. The point of Day 4 is to rebuild the pacing across sections, not to keep grinding on accuracy.

Day 5 is light review and rest. One 30-question paper in the morning to confirm pacing, then no test prep after lunch. Going into Verify G+ tired drops your inductive accuracy more than any other section because the visual pattern recognition is the first thing fatigue hits.

For a deeper structure on the per-section prep, the SHL Practice Tests article has worked walkthroughs by section type.

What employers actually see in their report

The employer receives a one-page report that shows your overall percentile, your section-level breakdown, your grade band, and how your performance compared to the norm group SHL applied to your test. Some employers also pay for the comparison-to-incumbents view, which shows how your scores rank against current employees in similar roles. They do not see your raw score in any meaningful way.

This is why begging for "feedback" from a rejection rarely produces a number. The employer is working from a percentile band and a yes/no on the cutoff, not from "you scored 19 out of 30." When firms do release information (Clifford Chance's training contract feedback is a known example), they cite the percentile, not the raw score. The Clifford Chance Watson-Glaser breakdown shows what published feedback at the firm level actually looks like.

FAQ

Is SHL Verify G+ adaptive?

The standard Verify G+ is not adaptive. All 30 questions are fixed, and you can move between sections. The Interactive Verify G+ is adaptive: the difficulty of the next question adjusts based on whether you got the last one right.

How is Verify G+ different from Verify Interactive?

Verify G+ is the standard 30-question fixed-order test. Verify Interactive is 24 adaptive questions optimised for mobile, with a drag-and-drop interface instead of multiple-choice taps. Both use the same 36-minute cap and produce comparable percentile reports for the employer.

What is a good Verify G+ score?

For most graduate schemes, the 80th percentile is the practical pass mark. For Magic Circle law and MBB consulting, you want 85th percentile or higher. For mid-tier corporates and smaller schemes, the 60th to 70th percentile range is usually enough.

Can you retake the SHL Verify G+ if you fail?

Most employers do not allow a same-cycle retake. SHL generates a verification test, a shorter follow-up under stricter conditions, if your unsupervised score looks unusually high. That is a verification, not a retake. Some firms permit a fresh attempt in the next graduate cycle.

Is there a calculator on the SHL Verify G+?

The numerical section allows an on-screen calculator on the standard version. The Interactive variant gives you a calculator panel as well. Mental arithmetic on the easier questions is faster than typing, and most candidates who finish report they only used the calculator on roughly 4 of the 10 numerical questions.

What raw score do I need to pass?

There is no fixed raw score because SHL converts to percentile against a norm group. A raw score that maps to the 80th percentile for one employer can map to the 65th for a different employer using a tougher norm. Aim for the percentile band, not the raw number. The score-bands table earlier in this article gives the raw zones candidates report at each percentile.

Can I prep for SHL Verify G+ in a week?

Yes, with the right structure. The 5-day plan above produces a measurable gain because the failure modes (pacing, the inductive "see the rule" rhythm, the deductive validity standard) are addressable with targeted practice. Going from the 50th to the 80th percentile inside a week is realistic if you start with strong arithmetic.

Do all companies use the same cutoff?

No. Cutoffs are set by the employer per role and per intake. The same firm can run a 75th-percentile cut for its graduate scheme and a 60th-percentile cut for its apprenticeship route. The cutoff table in this article shows typical bands by tier, not fixed firm-by-firm numbers.

Related on PrepClubs

• Pillar. SHL Verify G+ pillar page. Full guide to the test family with a free starter set.
• Deep practice. Practice SHL Verify G+ for $39. 600+ scored questions across all three sections. Pass Guarantee.
• Compare. SHL Practice Tests: Free Walkthroughs by Section. Section-by-section worked examples.
• Article. SHL Numerical Reasoning Test: Format, Practice, and Cutoffs. The numerical section in deeper depth.
• Article. SHL Assessment: All the Tests Explained. Where Verify G+ sits in the wider SHL family.

Practice on PrepClubs

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PrepClubs has a 600-question Verify G+ bank scored to match SHL's norm bands. Each question shows the worked solution, the section it belongs to, and how candidates at your current percentile typically handle it. Numerical, inductive, and deductive each get their own pacing tracker so you can see which section is eating your minutes. $39 one time. Pass Guarantee.

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