We provide free practice tests and assessment tips for individuals wanting to know more about tests and how to do well on them. There is information on both ability testing and personality profiling.

There are many different types of ability tests and there are practice items and sample test items provided for many of these on this site.

We have sample and practice items for:

• General Mental Ability (GMA or IQ)
  
• Verbal Comprehension and Fluency
  
• Verbal Reasoning
  
• Numerical Reasoning
  
• Diagramming Skills
  
• Visual Speed and Accuracy

In most instances ability tests are designed to measure either a natural or learnt ability to do something well compared to others. 

While doing practice items and being prepared can assist you to do your best, you are not going to change you natural ability to do things overnight. 

Things you can do to be well prepared for ability testing:

1. Be well rested
2. Pick a time of the day you are at your mental best and sharpest
3. Postpone your testing session if you feel particularly tired or stressed
4. Take your time between tests (if doing multiple) to have a short rest
5. Make sure you understand the test fully before starting and get all the practice questions correct or know what you should do differently if you get some wrong
6. Ask lots of questions of the test administrator (if there is one)

Some of these tests can be done online and unsupervised, whereas many still need to be done in a supervised setting where an administrator takes you through the process.

Most ability tests are timed and are designed so it is hard to finish them in the time limit.  This is so you can be compared to others in a fair setting where not only is your accuracy measured but also your ability to do the test quickly is also important.   

All good ability tests are standardised in their administration and interpretation, to ensure any individual has an equal opportunity to do well in the test. 

In addition, well constructed assessments have gone through scientific research to ensure their rigour, validity and reliability.

You will be compared to others who take the test and you can be compared to different groups (typically referred to as norms) on a test. 

Ability test results are reported as a standardised score.  A standardised score shows how you compare to others in a normal distribution curve and uses the mean and standard deviation of the group to calculate your standardised score from your raw score achieved (most often the number correct) in the time allowed.

Different types of standard scores are as follows:

• Percentiles - this standard score has the mean at 50 and the normal distribution between 0 and 100.  The easiest way to explain a percentile is to think of it as a ranking system.  If you were compared with 100 people who took the assessment then where would you rank?  Better than 30 (30th percentile), better than 80 out of 100 (80th percentile).
  
• T-Scores - this standard score has the mean at 50 and the normal distribution between 20 and 80.  Every 10 T-Scores away from the mean is 1 standard deviation away from the mean.
  
• Stens - this standard score has the mean at 5.5 and the normal distribution between and including 1 and 10.  Every 2 Stens away from the mean is 1 standard deviation away from the mean.
  
• Standard (z) score – this standard score has the mean at zero and the normal distribution between -3.0 and +3.0.  This is most often used in statistical methods and rarely will you receive your test scores as a z score.

In many countries the area of Psychometric testing at present is both open to psychologists and those people who are briefly trained on the tests by the test makers. However, there is a difference between the expertise and ethical requirements of two groups which can impact upon the value of assessments and candidate experience.

While a Registered Psychologist has many years of study and ethical guidelines to guide their behaviour, the same cannot be said for non-psychologists. Psychologists in NZ are ethically required to give you feedback on any assessments you complete, however many non-psychologists will not give you feedback on your results and are under no obligation to do so.