Cubiks Logiks Practice: The 12-Minute General Ability Battery at BP, Shell, and Santander
Cubiks Logiks is what you get when you take the CCAT and give it to a European assessment firm. Same 50 questions. Same 12-minute clock. The difference is how the three sections are structured and how Talogy reports your results to employers. If your target company uses the Logiks battery (Talogy, formerly Cubiks), you have about the same time pressure as a Wonderlic but a slightly different question flavor.
By PrepClubs Editorial Team, updated April 18, 2026
Cubiks Logiks General is a 50-question, 12-minute general ability battery published by Talogy (formerly Cubiks, acquired by PSI in 2019). It splits items across verbal (24 questions), numerical (16 questions), and abstract reasoning (10 questions) inside a single 12-minute window. The test is heaviest in European hiring at BP, Shell, Santander, and Aviva. Talogy reports raw score, percentile against role-specific norm groups (graduate, manager, professional, technical), and per-subtest percentiles. There is also a harder Logiks Advanced variant: 30 questions in 20 minutes, used for graduate schemes and senior roles.
Source: Talogy (talogy.com) Logiks documentation and published norm-group conversion data.
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What Cubiks Logiks actually measures
Cubiks, now operated under the Talogy brand (formerly PSI Talent Management, which acquired Cubiks in 2019), publishes the Logiks General suite in two main levels: Logiks General Intermediate (50 questions in 12 minutes, the one most commercial candidates encounter) and Logiks General Advanced (30 harder questions in 20 minutes, used for graduate and senior professional hiring). Retail, banking front-line, and early-career screens use the Intermediate version. Consulting, graduate schemes, and specialist roles use the Advanced version.
The test blends numerical reasoning (16 questions), verbal reasoning (24 questions), and abstract reasoning (10 questions) into a single 12-minute window. Unlike the CCAT, which shuffles all three types randomly, Logiks typically presents the subsections in sequence with an internal time allocation per section, though the total clock is a single 12-minute chunk.
What Cubiks measures is speed of reasoning across three contexts: reading short passages and pulling inferences, doing percentage and ratio math quickly, and pattern-matching shapes. The employer pool skews European: BP, Shell, Santander, Aviva, and a long list of UK public and private employers. North American candidates see it less often.
The three Logiks subsections and how they feel
Each subsection has its own difficulty curve. Knowing the pacing before you start saves you 40 seconds of orientation on the real test.
Numerical (16 questions)
Percentages, ratios, and basic chart interpretation. No calculator. Each question takes 15 to 30 seconds if you stay sharp on mental math. This subsection has the tightest per-item budget.
Verbal (24 questions)
Synonyms, antonyms, and short-passage inference. The 24-question count makes this the longest subsection. Vocabulary is UK-flavored, so North American candidates occasionally stumble on one or two items.
Abstract (10 questions)
Pattern continuation and odd-one-out among shapes. Fastest subsection if you have trained your eye. 6 to 10 seconds per item is achievable. Skipping practice here is a common mistake.
Internal clock pacing
Many Logiks deployments allocate roughly 5 minutes to verbal, 4 minutes to numerical, and 3 minutes to abstract. Some versions show sub-timers, others show only the main 12-minute clock. Always assume the latter and pace by question count.
Cubiks Logiks vs CCAT vs Wonderlic vs SHL: which 50-question battery does your employer actually run?
Four short-format cognitive screens that look interchangeable from a job listing. The publishers, norm groups, and section mixes differ enough to matter at prep time.
| Spec | Cubiks Logiks | CCAT | Wonderlic | SHL Verify G+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questions | 50 | 50 | 50 | 30 |
| Time limit | 12 min | 15 min | 12 min | 36 min |
| Sec per question | 14.4 | 18 | 14.4 | 72 |
| Sections | Verbal, numerical, abstract | Verbal, math, spatial | Mixed (no announced sections) | Numerical, inductive, deductive |
| Adaptive? | No | No | No | Yes (IRT-adaptive) |
| Calculator allowed | No | No | No | Yes on numerical |
| Heaviest employer pool | BP, Shell, Santander, Aviva, UK public sector | Vista Equity SaaS portfolio | NFL, retail, logistics, insurance | Big 4, Magic Circle adjacent, FMCG graduate |
| Norm-group reporting | Graduate, manager, professional, technical | Role-specific percentile | Role-band by Wonderlic Inc. | General adult, graduate |
| Wrong-answer penalty | No | No | No | No (but adaptivity penalizes errors) |
| PrepClubs questions | 400+ | 1,350+ | 400+ | Not covered (see notice) |
Inside Talogy norm groups and the publisher journey from Cubiks to Talogy
The Cubiks to PSI to Talogy ownership trail
Cubiks was founded in 1999 as a UK assessment firm. PSI Talent Management acquired Cubiks in 2019. PSI rebranded to Talogy in 2022. The Logiks product line continued under each new owner with the same item bank and norm tables, though some questions have been refreshed to keep the bank from leaking through online forums.
What this means for candidates: a recruiter who says 'we use Cubiks' is referring to the same product that another recruiter calls 'Logiks' or 'Talogy.' The test, the timing, and the scoring approach are identical. Older online prep that references Cubiks branding is still relevant. Newer Talogy-branded marketing materials describe the same core item bank.
The European center of gravity has held through ownership changes. BP, Shell, Santander, Aviva, and a long tail of UK and European employers continue to use Logiks General Intermediate as their high-volume cognitive screen. Talogy added some North American clients post-2019 acquisition, but the brand is still much heavier across the Channel.
How the four norm groups change your percentile
Talogy reports candidate scores against one of four norm groups: graduate, manager, professional, or technical. The norm group is selected by the employer based on the role family. The same raw score of 35 out of 50 lands at roughly the 70th percentile in the graduate norm, the 65th in the professional norm, the 60th in the manager norm, and the 75th in the technical norm.
What this means in practice: knowing which norm group your employer uses changes the prep target by 5 to 10 percentile points. Most graduate-scheme employers (Shell graduate, BP graduate, Santander graduate program) use the graduate norm. Professional and technical hires (engineering, IT) use the professional and technical norms respectively. Manager norms apply to senior commercial roles.
Asking the recruiter which norm group your test reports against is a fair question. Most are willing to confirm the role family if not the exact norm. PrepClubs Cubiks mocks ship with all four norm-group conversions so candidates can map their prep score to the norm their target role uses.
The 24-verbal-item gravity well and how it eats time
Verbal items are the largest single category on Logiks General Intermediate at 24 questions out of 50. The test is timed in a single 12-minute window with no announced subsection breaks, but the items often appear in clusters by category. Candidates who get stuck on a hard verbal cluster can lose 90 to 120 seconds before they realize they have over-invested.
The trap is UK English vocabulary on a US-trained verbal instinct. Words like 'gauge,' 'mitigate,' 'prudent,' 'judicious,' and 'astute' show up frequently. They are familiar but not always at snap-recognition speed for North American candidates. Adding a 50-word UK business-English flashcard list to prep solves this in two days.
Top scorers run 8 to 12 seconds on verbal antonyms, 18 to 22 seconds on short-passage inferences, 15 to 20 seconds on numerical word problems, and 6 to 10 seconds on abstract pattern items. This pacing produces 36 to 42 correct on a 50-item set, which lands above the 75th percentile in any norm group.
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Cubiks scoring, percentiles, and employer expectations
Cubiks reports a raw score (number correct out of 50) plus percentile rankings against a norm group matched to your target role. Norms are split by function: graduate, manager, professional, and technical. A 35/50 is roughly 70th percentile in the graduate norm group and closer to 80th in the professional norm group.
Typical employer cutoffs for graduate roles at Shell, BP, and similar UK majors sit around the 60th to 70th percentile. Commercial banking roles at Santander push higher, often 75th percentile. There is no wrong-answer penalty on Logiks General, so guess whenever time forces you to.
Cubiks also reports subtest scores separately, so weakness in one area (say, abstract reasoning) can be masked by strong numerical and verbal. Employers who care about a specific trait, like numerical for finance, filter on the subtest percentile rather than the overall score.
Who uses the Cubiks?
Cubiks Logiks is deployed heavily across European energy, banking, and insurance. BP, Shell, Santander, and Aviva are the most prominent users, along with a long tail of UK public sector and consulting employers.
A 6-day Cubiks Logiks prep plan built for the 12-minute gauntlet
Day 1: Untimed diagnostic
Complete one 50-question Logiks-style practice test with no clock. You are measuring accuracy and identifying which subsection you are weakest in. Most candidates discover numerical is their bottleneck, but verbal vocabulary gaps are a close second.
Day 2: Numerical drill
16-question numerical sets at 5 minutes each. Focus on mental math for percentages (specifically 15 percent, 25 percent, 40 percent variants) and ratio conversion. No calculator. Review every wrong answer same day.
Day 3: Verbal drill
24-question verbal sets at 5 minutes. Build a 50-word vocabulary list of UK-flavored business words you are not 100 percent sure on (words like 'gauge,' 'mitigate,' 'prudent'). 15 minutes of flashcard review per day.
Day 4: Abstract drill
10-question abstract sets at 3 minutes. Learn the six rule families (rotation, shape substitution, color inversion, size progression, distribution-of-three, shape addition). By the end of the day you should pattern-match on sight.
Day 5: Full timed mock
50 questions, 12 minutes, no pauses. Compare to Day 1. If you did not gain at least 8 correct, your issue is pacing. Specifically, you are probably spending too long on one hard verbal item instead of skipping.
Day 6: Skip-strategy and rest
Drill explicit skip decisions on a fresh 30-question mixed set. Anything beyond 25 seconds without progress gets flagged and guessed. Then rest. 8 hours of sleep matters more than one more practice session.
Three Cubiks mistakes that cost candidates places
Spending too long on verbal questions
The 24 verbal items are the largest subsection, so a 45-second commitment on any single item compounds fast. If a word is unfamiliar, pick the option that feels closest and move. Second-guessing on vocabulary never beats first-instinct recognition.
Skipping abstract preparation
Only 10 abstract questions feel low-stakes, but they are the fastest points on the test. Candidates who skip abstract prep often leave 2 or 3 of them unanswered at the 12-minute mark, losing 4 to 6 percentage points.
Ignoring UK spelling and vocabulary
Logiks uses British English. Words like 'labour,' 'colour,' and 'organisation' appear in verbal items. Candidates who pattern-match to American spelling briefly stumble. The actual meanings are identical, but the orthography can cost you 3 to 5 seconds per encounter.
Related reading
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